How do you protect your forest for future generations?
Michigan’s Forest Legacy Program offers some options. This program provides the state with funding to either purchase or secure working forest conservation easements on environmentally important forest lands to ensure that those lands will be available for future generations to enjoy.
The Forest Legacy Program is a partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
“The Forest Legacy Program protects forest lands so they will provide the benefits of forests forever,” said Kerry Heckman, forest land administrator for the DNR’s Forest Resources Division. “Well-managed forests are a critical source of the forest products we use every day. Forests help provide clean air and water and the places we love to hunt, hike and fish.”
If you have a parcel that could benefit from Forest Legacy Program protection, consider applying for this nationally competitive program. Download an application and submit it by May 8.
Recent examples of forest lands secured by the program are the Black River Ranch and the Elk Run parcel, which together expanded the Pigeon River Country State Forest by more than 9,000 acres. These two properties, now publicly owned land managed by the DNR, will provide additional public recreation opportunities in the Lower Peninsula’s “Big Wild.”
Over the past 23 years, more than 165,000 acres of forests have been protected in Michigan through the Forest Legacy Program. These projects were awarded program funding because they included forests that would be managed as working forests to keep them thriving while also benefiting the forest products economy, providing prime fish and wildlife habitat and offering outdoor places for the public to enjoy.
The Forest Legacy Program provides an opportunity for landowners to keep forests as forests, encourages sustainable management and supports forest product markets.
All interests in land acquired through the Forest Legacy Program last forever. Agreements must contain language ensuring that rights are perpetual. Michigan’s program requires that Forest Legacy lands are, at a minimum, open to the public for nonmotorized access. Landowners interested in pursuing Forest Legacy Program funding who don’t have an existing forest management plan will need to develop one before a project can be completed.
The DNR will review and prioritize eligible projects and may submit up to three to compete nationally for funding. Projects nominated by May 8 will compete for funding in the fiscal year 2028 federal budget, which begins Oct. 1, 2027. The state can request up to $20 million for projects.
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