Developing and Harnessing Climate-Smart Commodities from Hardwood Restoration for Small and Underserved Landowners in the Southern Bottomland Region

This project plans to focus on working with small scale and underserved landowners on marketing climate-smart wood products with support for bottomland hardwood afforestation and planting mixed hardwood oak plantations. Full technical and financial assistance is planned for landowners and demonstration sites.

Partners plan to use a forest inventory system to monitor and assess tree stand structure, composition, and health status across the bottomland hardwood forests, and estimate carbon storage and evaluate indicator wildlife populations.

Recruited landowners should allow access to the planting sites for:

• University research team including graduate students, technicians, and postdocs

• Contractors and the necessary equipment for site preparation and planting

• Sample collection such as soil samples for site evaluation and carbon measurements

• Demonstration events and outreach activities including workshops and field trips open to other landowners in the aforementioned watersheds