Private Landowner Services
The Mississippi Forestry Commission offers services to non-industrial, private forest landowners. This includes forest management planning and advice and direct, fee-based maintenance services.
Landowners with large tracts of forestland are routinely referred to private consulting foresters. Here is a list of private Registered Foresters in Mississippi. For more information about available local resources, please contact the Region Office that serves your area to be referred to the correct Area Forester and Area Office.
Most technical assistance and forestry advice is free to the landowner. Direct services are available for a fee. Prices and types of service may vary on an individual job basis. Some of these services may be obtained from private vendors. Contact your local Mississippi Forestry Commission Region Office for requested services.
Services Provided Free-of-Charge
- Conducting compliance checks for state and federal forest improvement cost-share programs
- Providing forest management advice regarding: forest-damaging insects, diseases, invasive species, and Best Management Practices (BMPs) to improve forest productivity and water quality.
Direct Services – For a Fee
- Forest Management Plans
- Hazard mitigation/prescribed burning
- Firelane/firebreak establishment and maintenance
- Logging road/skid trail/loading deck maintenance
- Southern Pine Beetle suppression activities (ground location, flagging, marking, coordination of harvest)
- Vegetation management (only as a last resort if the landowner is unable to find another source) – control of competition, wildlife habitat enhancement, and invasive species control (landowner must provide herbicide and surfactant)
The Mississippi Forestry Commission assists Mississippi timber owners in forest pest management by conducting forest pest surveys and evaluations. Recommendations on practices to salvage timber, reduce, and prevent damage from forest pests, will be provided to landowners upon request.
Private Landowner Programs
Forest Resource Development Program
The Forest Resource Development Program provides financial assistance to landowners who own at least 10 acres of manageable forestland for establishing and improving a crop of trees.
Forest Legacy Program
The Forest Legacy Program is a USDA Forest Service program in partnership with Mississippi that will help support local efforts to protect environmentally sensitive, privately owned forest lands threatened by conversion to non-forest use through land acquisition and conservation easements.
Forest Stewardship Program
The Forest Stewardship Program helps connect private landowners with the information and tools they need to manage their forests and woodlands. The program also offers resources to help landowners develop a forest management plan (also known as a Forest Stewardship Plan) to help keep their land productive and healthy now and into the future.
Mississippi Reforestation Tax Credit
The Mississippi Reforestation Tax Credit provides a Mississippi income tax credit up to 50% of the cost of approved hardwood and pine reforestation practices.
More Information on Private Landowner Services
For more information about the Mississippi Forestry Commission’s Private Landowner Services, contact comments@mfc.ms.gov.
Information on Consulting Foresters
Mississippi Board of Registration for Foresters: www.borf.ms.gov
Mississippi Association of Consulting Foresters: www.msacf.org