A bit about Shared Stewardship in the state of North Carolina:

On Sept 26th 2019, USDA's Forest Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the North Carolina Forest Service, and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission signed a Shared Stewardship Agreement.

The purpose of this MOU is to establish a framework for the parties to work collaboratively on accomplishing mutual goals, to further common interests and effectively respond to the increasing ecological challenges and natural resource concerns in North Carolina, whether aquatic or terrestrial.
 
Federal, state and private managers of land in North Carolina face a range of challenges, among them, population increase leading to more development, catastrophic storms, droughts, flooding, insect and disease outbreaks, and invasive species. We recognize that these challenges must be met with proactive measures across all lands including:

• Restoring fire-adapted communities and reducing the risk of wildfire.
• Identifying, managing, and reducing threats to forest and ecosystem health.
• Conserving working forestland.

The USFS and NRCS will work shoulder-to-shoulder with state leaders using all available resources to: 

• Identify land management priorities and priority natural resource concerns.
• Actively and sustainably manage forests and conserve high priority forest ecosystems and landscapes.
• Prevent and/or co-manage ecological health risks and natural catastrophes.
• Protect and enhance water quality and quantity.
• Improve air quality and conserve energy.
• Assist communities in planning for and reducing wildfire risks.
• Maintain and enhance the economic benefits and values of trees, forests and other natural resources.
• Protect, conserve, and enhance wildlife and fish habitat.
• Connect people to trees, forests and other natural resources and engage them in environmental stewardship activities.
• Identify opportunities to integrate bird conservation themes and strategies of the U.S. Committee of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative. 
• Collectively evaluate and examine opportunities to increase or improve public access and recreation and determine the appropriate actions to take.

A key component of the shared stewardship strategy is to prioritize investment decisions on forest treatments in direct coordination with states and other federal agencies.  This will be done by using the most advanced science available to increase the scope and scale of critical forest treatments that protect communities and create resilient forests and landscapes.

"Shared Stewardship offers a great opportunity to coordinate and prioritize land management activities in tandem," said Jim Hubbard, USDA Under Secretary. "The USDA and its agencies have a long and strong history of collaboration with the State of North Carolina. This agreement will make that working relationship even stronger." As Jim Hubbard mentioned, NC has strong partnerships across all lands. We want to strengthen those relationships by providing a platform for informing one another of our shared priorities.

For more information about Shared Stewardship in the Southern Region, please visit this link or reach out to Daniel McInnis 404-347-1649,