By Therese Zemlin, MNWWN member
In 2018, my husband and I took ownership of my family’s cabin and property on Indian Lake in Brimson, MN. Spruce budworm was heading our way, and we didn’t think too much about it. It had happened before, and the woods had survived. But this was worse, and by 2020, it was bad. Large swaths of our meandering, lakefront forty acres had turned the copper-oxide green of lichen and the ominous gray of dead spruce and balsam. Then on August 15, 2021, the Greenwood fire broke out approximately 30 miles north of Brimson, burning close to 27,000 acres. We knew this fire absolutely could have been us, and that our luck just might be running out.
After asking around, and combing the internet for all things Firewise, I finally tracked down the acronym EQIP through Gloria Erickson, the Fire Adapted Communities Project Coordinator with Dovetail Partners. I learned that EQIP stands for Environmental Quality Improvement Program, a wide-ranging federal program administered by the USDA. Within a week of making a few phone calls to county offices, I was walking our property with a forester from the North St. Louis County Soil and Water Conservation District (NSLSWCD) and working on a plan for an EQIP application (pronounced “equip,”). The application for the October 2021 deadline did not work out, but we were successful in 2022, and had 8 acres of our property forestry mulched for spruce budworm in the spring of 2023. Our application also included funds for planting 350 trees over three years, and my husband and I are currently preparing to plant 150 of the trees this spring. I’ll be reviewing and signing paperwork for a second EQIP grant next week for property across the lake from the cabin. I also had a stewardship plan drawn up for the property and will hopefully secure DNR cost share funds for pollinator habitat restoration in sections of a three-acre field.
When it comes to EQIP and other financial incentives, I’m certainly no expert. If a DNR, or Soil and Water forester tells you something different than what I’ve written here, believe them and not me. Hopefully some of what follows will be helpful to those of you looking for guidance, and ways to help offset the costs of land stewardship projects.
Your DNR and county Soil & Water Conservation District offices are a good place to start. Your local area volunteer fire department can also be helpful for learning more about Firewise practices and classes, EQIP funding, DNR cost-share, land stewardship plans, and contact information for local resources.
•EQIP grants are currently awarding roughly $1,000/acre for clearing out spruce budworm damage, invasive species, etc. You can use the funds to pay yourself or contractors to do the work. In our case, the EQIP funds paid for 60% of the forest mulching. Some of our neighbors with EQIP grants have had loggers do the work (lop and scatter instead of mulching) for cheaper, and other neighbors are doing the work themselves over the course of five years or so. You can expect to pay more for work on rugged terrain. Additional funds can be written into the grant applications for tree planting or native habitat restoration.
• For pollinator and prairie restoration: the EQIP requirements, recommendations, and procedures are geared more toward cropland and landowners with access to agricultural equipment. Because I can’t reasonably get farm equipment to my property, I’ve been advised to pursue a DNR cost-share instead of another EQIP grant for establishing pollinator habitat. A neighbor has some smaller equipment and can probably help with a couple smaller areas of pollinator habitat in our field.
•If you have a woodland stewardship plan that is registered with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, you are eligible for reduced property taxes (Class 2c Managed Forest Land) or an annual stipend through the Sustainable Forest Incentive Act (SFIA). My application for 2c classification for my 14 small parcels (mostly lake lots) was rejected because the property was platted for development back in the 1950’s. So, I applied for enrollment in SFIA instead, but the covenant through St. Louis County was restrictive and potentially an obstacle to selling the property later, so after a mountain of paperwork and a date-night’s worth of county recording fees, I decided it was not a good fit for us and withdrew my application. Be sure to understand what you are committing to and the length of your commitment before considering these programs.
• The EQIP grants require significant paperwork, but your county forester could help and advise you through every step of the process. Here in Northern St. Louis County, I have found the foresters to be accessible, knowledgeable, and proactive, and enthusiastic. The EQIP grant is a big commitment but is also a huge help. I’m not sure I would have taken on any kind of stewardship without it. (note: not all counties have a forester on staff)
• Find or create or own network of fellow land stewards! Once I started asking around, I discovered four neighbors also have EQIP grants. It’s been helpful to exchange information with them about grants, grant procedures and deadlines, and even coordinating work with contractors. The University of Minnesota Extension Service has many resources and courses, including Master Woodland Steward: Northeast Arrowhead, which I took with Anna Stockstad in 2023. The in-person meet-ups at properties along the North Shore, and the online discussions with classmates certainly functioned as a network, at least for the duration of the class. And, of course, MNWWN deserves a big shout-out. I took a weekend-long chainsaw safety class with Cheryl Jirik and Tish Carr in October of 2022. Learning to use and operate a chainsaw safely was truly empowering, and the subsequent breakfast gatherings with Cheryl and classmates have resulted in an important network of friends and like-minded women landowners for exchanging information, experiences, challenges, and successes of land stewardship.
I think often about the concept of owning land, and how is it that any slice of this interconnected world can be owned. I also realize how lucky I am to have a piece of the northern boreal forest, so close to the southern edge of the Superior National Forest. I have made a personal pact with these 40 acres: for all the peace, joy and awe this place gives me, the least that I can do is to be conscientious and passionate in my efforts to eventually leave this woodland healthier and more resilient than it was in 2020. My thanks to the staff at the DNR office in Duluth and the NSLSWCD office in Virginia for all their EQIP guidance and assistance in making my efforts possible.