Helena NRCS Targeted Implementation Plans include Dalton Mountain area

The Helena NRCS field office is excited to announce two new programs for private landowners in portions of Lewis and Clark County. Using the county-level long range plans and local interest, staff have developed two new Targeted Implementation Plans or TIP's. The two maps included in this article provide a general boundary for each project one of which is located in the Wolf Creek area, the other near Dalton Mountain Road. Staff at the Helena NRCS office are available to assist landowners identify if their properties are included.

While geographically separated the two TIP's which can be thought of as mini grants are both focused on addressing forest health, specifically mitigating impacts from forest pests, and increasing resiliency to wildfire. The projects utilize the national Environmental Quality Incentives Program, commonly referred to as EQIP to provide cost share and technical assistance to eligible private landowners. Eligible NRCS practices for cost share include the following: fuel break, woody residue treatment, tree and shrub pruning, forest stand improvement, and herbaceous weed treatment. More information on each of these can be found on the Montana NRCS website or by contacting the local office.

The official batching or application submission deadline has not yet been released but is expected to be announced between September 30th and the end of the 2021 calendar year. To reiterate, those dates are not the deadline, rather the timeframe in which the deadline is expected to be announced.

Maps and additional details will be released and available online to coincide with the deadline announcement.

If you or someone you know is interested participating in the program, please contact the local NRCS staff, individuals working on delivery include Rebecka (Becky) Ayre (project lead), Jason Saari, and Andrew Kretschmer. The office phone number is (406) 449-5000 extension #3, alternatively staff can be reached by email in the format [email protected]