Title:

Catalog of revegetation assistance programs in the United States

Author(s):

Frey, Gregory E.; Baral, Srijana; Chizmar, Stephanie J.; McGinley, Kathleen A.; Ruseva, Tatyana B.; Silver, Emily J.; Smith, Matthew M.; Snyder, Stephanie A.; Butler, Brett J.

Publication Year:

2026

How to Cite:

These data were collected using funding from the U.S. Government and can be used without additional permissions or fees. If you use these data in a publication, presentation, or other research product please use the following citation:

Frey, Gregory E.; Baral, Srijana; Chizmar, Stephanie J.; McGinley, Kathleen A.; Ruseva, Tatyana B.; Silver, Emily J.; Smith, Matthew M.; Snyder, Stephanie A.; Butler, Brett J. 2026. Catalog of revegetation assistance programs in the United States. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2026-0006

Abstract:

Private forests in the United States provide ecosystem services including soil and water conservation, habitat, fuel and fiber. For those reasons, a multitude of programs have been created to assist private landowners in revegetating nonforest land with trees. These “Revegetation Assistance Programs” (RAPs), as we call them, originate from and are implemented by federal and state agencies, non-profit organizations, for-profit companies, and various other groups. As part of a broader study, we created a preliminary catalog of RAPs in the U.S. This catalog can serve practitioners, policymakers, and researchers to understand availability and differences, and explore policy effectiveness. First, we created a revegetation definition and criteria for inclusion in our cataloging effort. Secondly, we consulted historic lists and conducted web searches to identify candidate programs and compared each candidate program to our criteria using public information. We then contacted state- and agency-level representatives to validate our findings. Our search and validation identified 359 candidate programs available from 2018-2025. Of these, 85 were determined to be RAPs under our definition, 245 were determined not to be RAPs, and 29 were uncertain because we lacked key information. This data publication includes the entire list of 359 candidate RAPs and key definitional criteria.

It is important to note that we expect authors will provide corrections and additions to this database quarterly, based on feedback from stakeholders, for at least the first year following publication. To provide feedback, please contact the lead author.

Keywords:

farming; economy; environment; society; Natural Resource Management & Use; Policies and law; Agroforestry; Restoration; Landscape management; reforestation; afforestation; voluntary financial incentive programs; cost-share programs; landowner assistance program; tree planting; United States; American Samoa; Guam; Northern Mariana Islands; Puerto Rico; U.S. Virgin Islands

Related publications:

• Frey, Gregory E.; Baral, Srijana; Chizmar, Stephanie J.; McGinley, Kathleen A.; Ruseva, Tatyana B.; Silver, Emily J.; Smith, Matthew M.; Snyder, Stephanie A.; Butler, Brett J. Unknown. Revegetation assistance programs in the United States: insights for supporting establishment of trees on private nonforest land worldwide. New Forests. [In Review].

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