USDA provides storm damage program

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency announced that Marshall and Putnam counties in Illinois are accepting applications for the Emergency Forest Restoration Program to address tornado and severe storm damage.

Sign-up for EFRP began July 1 and will end Aug. 5.

“These programs help private forest landowners clean up and restore their private forests damaged by tornadoes and severe storms,” said Scott Halpin, state FSA executive director in Illinois.

“I encourage all eligible landowners to apply for assistance by the deadline. If you haven’t participated in FSA programs, contact your local FSA office as soon as possible to complete the process of establishing customer and farm records and to determine program eligibility.”

EFRP provides payments to eligible owners of nonindustrial private forest land to carry out emergency measures to restore land damaged by a natural disaster.

The approved EFRP practice under this authorization is EF3 — Mixed Forest Restoration.

Because EFRP funds are allocated based on the number of applications submitted to FSA and the extent of damage as determined by on-site inspections, producers in need of EFRP assistance should submit applications to FSA as soon as possible and prior to starting any cleanup.

After applications are received, local FSA county committees determine land eligibility using onsite damage inspections that assess the type and extent of damage and approve applications.

To meet EFRP eligibility requirements, nonindustrial private forest land must have existing tree cover or had tree cover immediately before the natural disaster event occurred and be sustainable for growing trees.

The land also must 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 event must have resulted in damage that, if untreated, would impair or endanger the natural resources on the land and materially affect future use of the land.