State policies for agroforestry in the United States

Existing state legislation and programs pertaining to agroforestry were determined in a 1995 nationwide survey of state- employed natural resource professionals in the United States. At that time, only 20 of the 50 states had legislation that could be identified as pertaining to any of the five major agroforestry practices: windbreaks, riparian buffers, alley-cropping, silvopasture, or forest farming. Nine states had direct legislation specifically referring to one or more of these agroforestry practices, while the remaining 11 states had indirect legislation that could be construed as pertaining to agroforestry. Cost-sharing was the most commonly employed incentive in the direct legislation states and windbreaks were the most common practice in those states. Tax incentives and cost-sharing were the most favored approaches in the 11 states with indirect legislation.