LIP - Landowner Incentive Program

Preliminary Eligibility:

All private landowners with property in one of our focus areas which include; the Conasauga River and its tributaries (Murray and Whitfield Counties), the upper Etowah River and its tributaries (Cherokee, Pickens, Dawson, Forsyth, and Lumpkin Counties), the Chickasawhatchee Creek watershed, and the Red Hills region (Thomas and Grady Counties).

Purpose:

LIP is designed to provide cost-sharing and incentive payments for practices that benefit endangered or threatened species or other species of conservation concern.

Management Available:

Practices eligible for cost-share or incentive payments vary by focus area and include fencing cattle out of streams, establishing vegetative buffers along streams, planting longleaf pine, and prescribed burning and hardwood removal in open pine forest. Additional practices may be eligible if they are deemed suitable to aid in the conservation of rare species.

Technical/Financial Assistance:

A wildlife biologist will assist the landowner in completing an application form, a written plan, and contract. These documents detail the needed management activities and terms of the agreement. Participation in this program is prioritized depending on the likely importance of the proposed project to the conservation of endangered, threatened, and special concern species.

Notes:

Efforts in Murray, Whitfield, Cherokee, Pickens, Dawson, Forsyth, Lumpkin, Thomas and Grady Counties are aimed at conserving several very rare mussel and fish species.

How to Get Started:

Contact the Georgia Department of Natural Resources at 478-994-1438 (Forsyth). Applications are accepted year-round with rankings and selections being made several times during the year.