I'm in the CSP and have completed numerous EQUIP's
The NRCS usually requires a Forest Management Plan CAP 106 to be conducted by a Technical Service Provider (TSP). The TSP listing is based on individuals that have completed extensive training and certification. The 106 documents leave you with a very comprehensive inventory of your timber stands, diversity, timber health and invasive inventory, it's been an invaluable tool for me and for planning. After that, it's your plan and you can choose to implement the practices identified for clear-cut, single-tree selection, alder shearing, invasives, etc. or not.
I completed the Forest Management Plan and selected my own logger; a lot of the recommendations were triangulated by the logger and forester but not all- I would have not reached the same conclusions on my own and it's been nothing short of a great experience for me thus far.

I went to the NRCS office today to drop off my packet. That was my first time ever in there. It was pretty nice- they had a lot of good pamphlets and other resources.
Even though it's federal programs I suppose they vary some by office

I really have almost no idea what to expect with the CSP program. My pre-qual paperwork is turned in so I await the next step from the NRCS conservationist.

AJE, what county are you in ?

The CSP program first came out in 2004 and has morphed quite a bit over the years. Rules and environmental emphasis adjusts, sometimes annually......just like CRP, WRP and other programs have.

No federal program administered by USDA-NRCS requires any land under contract to be opened to the public (not so far anyway and I doubt this will ever change). Yes, several state forestry programs (WI) do allow public access, however - it's not a free for all.

I had several CSP contracts on my farm until I retired from livestock. It is a pretty good program. If anyone has any questions, feel free to talk with your local NRCS District Conservationist (DC) if that's who you prefer to talk with....that's ok.

My grant request will be for my woodland so it'll be interesting to see if I am succesful. I bet farms get prescedent.

NRCS uses a ranking system for all applicants. FWIW, they use different categories within their system, forestry being one of them. They do have conservation practices that rank higher than others, for example ; the pollinators practices rank quite high, managed intensive (rotational) grazing, cover crops (drilling ryegrass into bean fields following harvest, etc. CSP has a history of making changes each year. Overall, I'd say you have as much chance as the next guy. Good luck with your application..

Thanks.

I bet it'll be a slow process. I'm planning to be patient. At least I got my pre-qual papers in.

My site visit is on Thursday. It will be interesting.

Let us know how it goes and what the expertise of the visitor is. You might have to ask a few questions to find that out.

I've had site evaluations by county forester, USFWS, NRCS, and a private nonprofit. By far the best was the private nonprofit, worst was the county forester.
All but the private nonprofit knew very little about the whole ecology of the place.
For example.even tho the NRCS and USFWS had done many "prairie plantings" they both were lost on about 25% of the prairie plants that they saw at my place. Plants that I had grown from purchased seed a couple of years before. They knew the stuff that was in their seed mixes very well other stuff not so well.
Hard to find knowledgeable people.
But I can say that all the site visits I have had are always interesting to be sure.

I'm working on a list of things to go over.

csp is a pain to administer. NRCS generally never promotes it and the program is very much dependent on your soil con, resource con, or district conservationist and how they rank your application. If you have a decent honest person ranking your application - you stand a good chance of getting in. If you have a slouch who doesnt want anyone to get in - you won't. I would encourage you to go through the ranking and answer the questions and not just let your nrcs personnel rank it. It seriously can take over 4-6 hours to complete the ranking if you have multiple land uses. The initial minimum payment of the contract is 1500 per year for five years. For each land use type - you get paid more. Land uses are pasture, range, crop, forest, farmstead etc. Some personnel will try and talk you out of doing something on each land use like the farmstead and then the payment is reduced. Again, personnel at nrcs can make or break it....read up on it and ask many questions and you will quickly determine how helpful your office truly is and if they want to administer the program or not.
Do not forget little things like you have a solar charger so you use solar power....consider all the little things on your farm and how you operate. More efficient and conservation minded you operate - better ranking.

That is helpful info, thanks.

our conservation district, is great with this program, lots of money out there for doing stuff on your own land, stuff that you want anyways.

AJE,
Based on your previous posts, this will be a great program for you ... you're already addressing areas of concern and implementing many best practices.
here's a few that would be good to start on and/or inquire about.
314- Brush Management Implementation Requirements (controlling Honeysuckle and Buckthorn)
612- Tree/Shrub Establishment
E666K - Forest Stand Improvements and Patch Openings
There might be some pollinator opportunities also.
Working with the NRCS has been a great experience for me, I'm in CSP and managing numerous EQUIP's- my local resources have been extremely helpful and a wealth of knowledge.

Make small steps when applying and do your research. You can get yourself in a tight spot by trying to do to much.

Pawnee has very good advice. I would recommend the minimum enhancements allowed for each landuse type. Pick the most important one to you and accomplish it on the smallest acreage possible. Subsequent contracts, the practices or enhancments can always be expanded or you may need to correct something that occurs. For example - I performed an enhancment for tsi work on thinning my forest. It definitely opened up and created tons and tons of multi-flora rose understory. I just re-applied and now need to control the multi-flora rose problem that was created from first contract.

Ok.

I want to get the grant but I don't want it to end up causing me more work than I have time to do.

I will consider that, thanks.

Whatever I do it must jive with my MFL plan & WDNR WFLGP grant

I think what I am going for tomorrow is CSP, not EQIP, but I may be open to either (or both)

It went well. I was impressed with the person & the program. I'm optimistic this will work out well for me. He predicted the site visit would take up to 2 hours, & sure enough he spent 1.75 hours on site. Before things formally get submitted I have to get back to him in the next week or so with a list/notes/ideas to help them finish the submittal. The resource professional had 12 years of NRCS experience in 3 states & seemed dedicated. Those folks have a lot on their plate because they cover not only farms but woodland too.

The programs seem good.

Are CSP/EQIP/WFLGP payments taxable if the funds are used by an individual for their private woodland?