Delaware Department of
Agriculture

Forest Legacy Program – Assessment of Need (AON)

Forest Legacy Program

Forest Legacy Sign with wood frame, blue/teal background with a large leaf shape and tree inside. The Forest Legacy Program (FLP) is funded through the U.S. Forest Service’s State and Private Forestry (S&PF) budget. It funds states to protect working forestlands threatened by development or other land uses through outright (fee simple) purchases or conservation easements. A conservation easement allows the landowner to continue to own the forest; however, the easement prohibits non-forest uses such as development. Landowners who choose to sell an easement must also have a forest stewardship plan for their property that describes the activities needed to help achieve their objectives for the property; the Delaware Forest Service can write this plan with the landowner. FLP intends to ensure forestlands continue to yield the forest products we use every day, such as timber, wildlife habitat, and water quality protection. Landowner participation in FLP is entirely voluntary.

To learn more about the Forest Legacy program, visit www.fs.fed.us/

Forest Legacy: New “Assessment of Need”

Updated Legacy AON map States may only use Forest Legacy funds in areas designated in their Assessment of Need (AON). The AON describes the state’s forests, the threats to them, and the areas within the state that contain the most important forests, which are called the Forest Legacy Areas. Once the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approves the AON, the state can receive Legacy funds to purchase land and easements within the designated Forest Legacy areas.

As part of its 10-year update to its Delaware Forest Action Plan in 2020, Delaware updated its Forest Legacy Program (FLP) “Assessment of Need” (AON) to include new areas in the First State to target to receive potential funding from the Forest Legacy Program. The previous AON, approved in 1998, included the following four areas: White Clay Creek, Blackbird/Blackiston, Redden/Ellendale, and Cypress Swamp. In 2020, the proposed areas for inclusion in the new AON were Milford Neck, Marshyhope, Central Sussex, Nanticoke, and Southwest Sussex, plus the Redden/Ellendale Expansion.

Delaware’s update to the AON required approval from its State Stewardship Committee and the U.S. Forest Service, which formally granted its approval on February 25, 2022.

♦ Approved Delaware Forest Legacy Assessment of Need (PDF)