The Forest Development Program (FDP) is a nationally renowned state-administered cost-share assistance program for forest landowners in North Carolina, primarily funded through taxation on primary forest products across the state. While the demand for FDP cost-share funds often exceeds available resources, over one-fourth of annual allocations on average go unused, due primarily to application cancellations and the divergence of actual costs and treated acres from the amounts approved originally. This study evaluates various factors related to the utilization of allocated funds based on actual cost-share fund usage data in the last six years. Results suggest that FDP applications associated with the piedmont region, shearing and chemical site preparation, hand-planting activities, and larger applied acres are more likely to be completed as defined in the initial application. The methods and findings of this study provide useful insights to administrators of other similar public incentive programs. The need for similar analyses evaluating the utilization of public funds will likely grow as state and federal governments increasingly rely on incentive programs to meet ambitious goals in conservation and sustainable management of natural resources.

森林开发计划 (FDP) 是一项全国知名的、由州管理的、针对北卡罗来纳州林地所有者的成本分摊援助计划，主要通过对全州初级林产品征税来提供资金。虽然对 FDP 成本分摊资金的需求通常超过可用资源，但平均有四分之一以上的年度拨款未使用，这主要是由于申请取消以及实际成本和处理土地与最初批准的金额存在差异。本研究根据过去六年的实际成本分摊资金使用数据，评估了与分配资金使用相关的各种因素。结果表明，FDP 应用与山前地区、剪切和化学场地准备、手工种植活动、并且更大的应用面积更有可能按照初始申请中的定义完成。本研究的方法和结果为其他类似公共激励计划的管理者提供了有用的见解。随着州和联邦政府越来越依赖激励计划来实现自然资源保护和可持续管理的宏伟目标，评估公共资金使用情况的类似分析的需求可能会增加。