USDA Approves Emergency Forest Restoration Assistance for Androscoggin and Sagadahoc Counties
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Executive Director (CED Marcia Hall today announced that Androscoggin County is approved to accept applications for the Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) to address damages due to high wind and rain from the severe storm on October 29, 2017.
EFRP provides payments to eligible owners of nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) land to enable the owners to carry out emergency measures to restore land damaged by a natural disaster. EFRP signup will begin on January 2, 2018, and end on March 2, 2018.
After applications are received, Maine Forest Service will provide technical assistance by evaluating the damage and developing a plan to restore the NIPF land. The local FSA county committee will determine land eligibility and approve applications.
In order to meet eligibility requirements, NIPF land must have existing tree cover or had tree cover immediately before the natural disaster occurred and be sustainable for growing trees. The land must also be owned by any nonindustrial private individual, group, association, corporation or other private legal entity that has definitive decision-making authority over the land. The natural disaster must have resulted in damage that if untreated would impair or endanger the natural resources on the land and/or materially affect future use of the land.
Please contact the Androscoggin County FSA office at 207.753.9400 ext. 2 for more information or visit Disaster Assistance Programs. The Androscoggin County FSA office is located at 254 Goddard Rd in Lewiston 04240.