Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration
Healthy Forests: Working Together
America’s National Forests provide clean drinking water for more than 60 million people, protect wildlife, offer recreation, and support local economies with timber and other products.
The Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration program, or CFLRP, brings communities, partners, and the Forest Service together to restore forest health. Over a 10‑year funding period, projects build strong partnerships and strengthen local communities. Each project also completes 15 years of monitoring to measure results and adapt as needed.
Since 2009, Congressional funding has helped communities improve and restore more than 6.7 million acres—about the size of Massachusetts. Much of the work is through using active management practices, such as thinning, prescribed fire, timber harvest, and watershed restoration, that enhances forest health while reducing wildfire risk.
Learn about funded projects
So far, 31 Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration projects received funding and guidance. Of those, 16 projects are currently funded. Each landscape project gets 10 years of funding and 15 years of ongoing monitoring.
The following map and list highlight those projects. Contact the national forest or project organizations if you want to know more or want to join in on their efforts.
Alumni
Four Forest Restoration Initiative – Apache-Sitgreaves, Coconino, Kaibab, and Tonto national forests.
Active
Shortleaf Bluestem Community – Ouachita National Forest
Monitoring
Ozark Highlands Ecosystem Restoration – Ozark St Francis National Forest
Active
Dinkey Landscape Restoration Project: Sierra National Forest
North Yuba Forest Partnership: Tahoe and Plumas National Forests
Western Klamath Restoration Partnership: Klamath and Six Rivers National Forests
Monitoring
Amador Calaveras Consensus Group Cornerstone Project – Eldorado and Stanislaus National Forests
Burney Hat Creek Basins: Lassen National Forest
Active
Southwest Colorado Restoration Initiative – San Juan National Forest
Colorado Front Range – Arapaho & Roosevelt and Pike San Isabel National Forests
Alumni
Uncompahgre Plateau – Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests
Alumni
Accelerating Longleaf Pine Restoration – Osceola National Forest
Monitoring
Selway Middle Fork Clearwater – Nez Perce-Clearwater and Bitterroot National Forests
Alumni
Kootenai Valley Restoration Initiative – Idaho Panhandle National Forest
Weiser Little Salmon Headwaters – Payette National Forest
Active
Longleaf Pine Ecosystem and Hazardous Fuels Reduction – National Forests in Mississippi
Active
Missouri Pine Oak Woodland Restoration – Mark Twain National Forest
Alumni
Southwestern Crown of the Continent - Flathead National Forest, Lolo National Forest, Helena-Lewis & Clark National Forests
Active
Rio Chama - Santa Fe, Carson, Rio Grande, San Juan National Forests
Zuni Mountain – Cibola National Forest
Alumni
Southwest Jemez Mountains – Santa Fe National Forest
Active
Pisgah Restoration Initiative – National Forests in North Carolina
Monitoring
Grandfather Restoration Project – National Forests in North Carolina
Active
Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project – Deschutes National Forest
Lakeview Stewardship – Fremont-Winema National Forest
Northern Blues – Umatilla and Wallowa Whitman National Forests
Rogue Basin – Rogue River Siskiyou National Forest
Southern Blues – Malheur National Forest
Active
North Central Washington – Okanogan Wenatchee National Forest
Northeastern Washington Forest Vision 2020 – Colville National Forest
Alumni
Tapash – Okanogan Wenatchee National Forest
How to get a project funded
The proposal process will open when funding is available or when required by law. When a proposal window opens, detailed information will be available here. Proposals are developed collaboratively by Forest Service employees and their community partners, have clear landscape restoration objectives, and have completed planning in the proposed project areas on Forest Service managed land.
How it works:
Submission: National forests and grasslands submit collaboratively develop proposals with details about a landscape-scale restoration strategy that includes at least 50,000 acres. Projects must alignment with the criteria in the authorizing legislation.
Review: A committee of experts evaluates proposals and recommends selections to the Secretary of Agriculture, who makes the final funding decisions
Funding: Selected projects receive 10 years of funding, with the possibility of a one-time extension, to support implementation and required multi-party monitoring
Cost Share: Program funding may cover up to 50% of the costs of implementation and monitoring costs on National Forest System lands
Work Plans: Within 180 days of selection, projects develop detailed work plans
Collaboration: All projects are planned and carried out through a collaborative process
Partner Resources for Active Collaborative Restoration Projects
Congress established the program in 2009 with funding last reauthorized in the 2018 Farm Bill. The law requires a program-wide report every five years to assess how well the program is meeting its goals.
Over 15 years of collaborative restoration, projects and partners have achieved significant results and built valuable knowledge. The National Forest Foundation maintains a growing resource bank of best practices and lessons learned from these efforts.
Learn more about projects and accomplish in our dashboard.
Reporting & Monitoring
Annual Reports: Each project must prepare an annual report that includes:
Acres treated
Progress toward restoration goals
Community benefits achieved
Results of multi-party monitoring
Summary of costs
Monitoring requirements: Multi-party monitoring is required by law. The Common Monitoring Strategy provides a core set of monitoring questions each project is required to address.
FIve-year reports: Each project must complete a monitoring report every five years for 15 years after implementation begins.