Below are the programs and services provided by the agency.

Community Forestry

Community Forestry means conservation activities in city parks, tree-lined streets or other green spaces within the community. Most of North Dakota's residents live in 372 cities and towns. The Community Forestry Program administers financial assistance programs that provide funds for tree planting and other forestry development projects each year. The agency also provides leadership and technical assistance for tree planting plans, management plans, shade tree ordinances, pest surveys and tree workshops.

Fire Management

Fire Management ensures the protection of lives, property and natural resources by training, organizing and equipping North Dakota's 376 rural volunteer and 12 career fire departments. A Cooperative Fire Protection Assistance Program provides departments assistance in organizing, training, planning, purchasing or repairing equipment. A companion program, the Federal Excess Personal Property (FEPP) program, loans surplus federal equipment to departments for enhancing firefighting capabilities. Community protection is improved through grants for wildfire hazard mitigation and "FireWise" landscape projects. Fire prevention is stressed through the distribution of Smokey Bear materials.

Forest Health

Forest Health ensures the productivity and growth of North Dakota's private, community and state forests. Each year the North Dakota Forest Service conducts surveys to assess forest health conditions and trains public and private land managers on insect and disease management. North Dakota participates in the Great Plains Tree and Forest Invasives Initiative to identify contingency measures for minimizing the threat of invasive species such as emerald ash borer.

Rural Forestry

Rural Forestry focuses on improving the management of our forest resources by educating and assisting non-industrial private landowners on how to better manage, protect and utilize their native and planted forest resources. This is accomplished through the development of a Forest Stewardship Plan and direct financial assistance for forest improvement practices.

Information and Education

Information and Education offers youth and adults the knowledge and skills they need to make wise decisions about the conservation and wise use of North Dakota's forest resources. The ND Forest Service sponsors "Project Learning Tree" workshops for teachers and youth leaders working with students in grades K-12. The program also handles the daily requests for forestry information and the publication of educational materials.

State Forests

State Forests provide wildlife habitat, clean air and water, recreational opportunities, forest products, scenic beauty and other conservation benefits. The North Dakota Forest Service owns five state forests comprising approximately 13,278 acres. State Forests play an important role in the economic well-being of several rural communities by attracting hunters, hikers, campers, skiers, snowmobilers, tourists and other outdoor enthusiasts.

Towner State Nursery

Towner State Nursery produces 1.2-million conifer (evergreen) seedlings in over thirty different species and stock types annually for distribution to landowners. The trees are used for farmstead, living snow fence, field windbreaks, wildlife, forestry and other conservation plantings. The nursery is a self-supporting operation, and since 1927 has sold over 78 million trees. The nursery also provides tree improvement services, such as testing, evaluation, selection and development of improved nursery stock for forestry and conservation plantings.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

During the last biennium, the North Dakota Forest Service provided technical, financial and educational assistance to 17 counties, 102 fire departments, 172 communities, 3,890 landowners, 1,875 K-12 teachers and 42,270 K-12 students.

Program highlights included:

Forestry and Fire Management awarded $279,519 in community forestry grant funds for tree planting and other forestry development projects; funded $1,241,518 in cooperative forestry landowner assistance; provided $835,526 in incentives for living snow fence projects protecting interstate, state, county, township and BIA roads; enrolled 655 landowners with 41,370 acres in the Forest Stewardship Tax Law; and provided 8,800 training hours to enhance rural fire department capacity.

The Forest Service reached 1,875 teachers and 42,270 students through educational workshops, poster contests, eco-education camps, conservation days, school presentations and the high school Envirothon program.

Nursery and State Forests produced and marketed 1,395,228 high quality tree seedlings from Towner State Nursery to North Dakota customers for conservation plantings. The trees included 31 species and stock types. Tree orders are shipped to over 700 soil conservation districts, natural resource agencies and private landowners each year. State Forests leased 1,385 acres for haying and grazing to 11 landowners