USDA Forest Service announces $190M grant opportunity for payment programs that help private forest landowners across Southern Region address climate change

ATLANTA, July 26, 2024 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is making $190 million available to help private forest landowners adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change and retain working forestlands.

“Climate change threatens people, communities, infrastructure, and natural resources across the country,” said Secretary Vilsack. “Healthy, resilient forests can better withstand climate change impacts, and contribute to climate solutions by storing additional carbon. Thanks to President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, we are partnering with states and nonprofits to reduce financial barriers for landowners interested in adopting climate-smart forestry practices and making their lands more resilient to climate change. These strategic investments represent our commitment to an all-lands, all-hands approach to investing in rural communities and mitigating the climate crisis.”

“About 86% of Southern forests are in the hands of private landowners, two-thirds of which are owned by families and individuals,” said Southern Regional Forester Ken Arney. “That’s why it’s so important for us to work with all forest landowners to steward our forests. We want to ensure that our forestlands continue to provide clean air, water and healthy habitat, while also sustaining our economy and quality of life.”

Of the total, $140 million is available to support state-endorsed cost-share programs for landowners. Cost-share payments lower the financial barriers for landowners to adapt to climate change by making forests more resilient to changing climate conditions, and to store more carbon on the landscape. For example, a landowner may decide to work with states and non-profits to strategically thin their private forestland, removing small-diameter trees that compete for scarce resources, allowing large trees to grow larger and sequester more carbon.

Additionally, $50 million is available to programs that issue payments directly to landowners to adopt practices that increase carbon sequestration and storage of their forests. Forest management impacts the amount of carbon stored and sequestered, and this funding opportunity incentivizes carbon stewardship. Among other things, payments to landowners also provide financial incentive to maintain their land as forests rather than convert it to other uses. Eligible applicants include state forestry agencies or their equivalents and nonprofit organizations.

Privately owned forests and private forest landowners are key to tackling the climate crisis.

“Decisions made by private landowners will shape the landscape of the future,” said Arney. Our privately managed forests are an important climate solution, absorbing vast quantities of carbon and storing it for decades.

The Southern Region has long seen itself as a community of land stewards and has been most effective when operating with a shared vision of working towards ecological restoration and resilience for the benefit of all our communities for the long-term.

Some ongoing examples of such initiatives in the Southern Region include longleaf pine and white oak habitat restoration. We are also working with groups through the Sustainable Forest Land Retention Network to ensure families can retain their forests for future generations.

The Forest Service is committed to supporting landowners as they manage their forests in a changing climate. In addition to these investments, the agency recently announced $145 million from the Inflation Reduction Act for projects that connect private forest landowners with emerging climate markets.

For more information about the available funding opportunity, including eligibility and how to apply, visit the Forest Service’s Forest Landowner Support webpage.

About the Forest Service: The mission of the USDA Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The agency manages the 193 million acres of National Forest System land, provides stewardship assistance to non-federal forest landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world.

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