Registration for this year has closed. If you are interested in joining the project email johanna.desprez@wisc.edu.
If you join the project, we will contact you about landowners interested in getting a Forest Stewardship Plan. You must be a current Cooperating Forester to participate. When you join the project, you will be able to identify counties you are able to serve and number of Forest Stewardships plan you can reasonably accommodate every year. We will share an agreement with you that we will ask you to sign to affirm and outline your commitment to the project.
What is a Cooperating Forester?
Cooperating Foresters are consulting foresters or industrial foresters who voluntarily enter into a cooperative agreement with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). As part of the agreement, Cooperating Foresters agree to adhere to the principles of sound forestry and implement sustainable forestry practices in all forest management guidance and assistance they provide to private forest landowners.
To become a Cooperating Forester, specific academic requirements must be met. Cooperating Foresters are required to have a bachelor’s or higher degree in forestry from a school with a curriculum accredited by the Society of American Foresters or an equivalent degree, as determined by the Chief State Forester, under the definition in s. NR 1.21(2)(e), Wis. Adm. Code.
If you would like to become a Cooperating Forester, visit: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/forestmanagement/coopapply
How it works?
To join the project please email johanna.desprez@wisc.edu. After you sign-up a project staff member will give you a call to talk about your availability and expectations of being a project forester. After the conservation you will need to submit a W-9 and signed agreement. Once completed, you can submit your forms here. The project pays $500 per plan, and $9 per acre.
Once you have joined the project, as landowners sign up for a Forest Stewardship Plan, we will share their contact information with you, and ask you to confirm if you are available to write a plan for them. Forest Stewardship plans will be assigned based on counties you have identified you will work in and number of plans a year you have agreed to. Plans are due December 1 of the year assigned.
You will need to complete the plan in the WISFIRS database with Wisconsin DNR using the DNR template. Payment is dependent upon plans being approved by the DNR. After the plan is approved submit an invoice by emailing it to johanna.desprez@wisc.edu.
What needs to be in the Forest Stewardship plan?
The project is grant funded by the USDA Forest Service, therefore the plan is require to include the parts and follow the format of a DNR Forest Stewardship plan. You must create the plan in WisFIRS linked here. The plan must follow these Forest Stewardship Plan Standards and Guidelines.
Forms and Links
W-9 Form- https://woodlandinfo.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/383/2023/12/W9-Form.pdf
Agreement- https://woodlandinfo.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/383/2024/01/Cooperating-Forester-Agreement.pdf
W-9 and Agreement Submission-
Forest Stewardship Plan Submission- https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/forestmanagement/wisfirsintro
If you have any questions, please contact Johanna Desprez, Natural Resources Educator at johanna.desprez@wisc.edu or by phone 608-553-5906.