Great Lakes Restoration Initiative: Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program

Federally recognized Indian Tribes, local government entities, and nonprofit organizations that are qualified to acquire and manage land may apply for up to $1,000,000 for the fee simple acquisition of private forest land in portions of the Lake Superior Basin of Michigan and Wisconsin. Projects submitted for funding consideration must be forested properties at least five acres in size that are threatened by conversion to non-forest uses and that provide community benefits including economic, environmental, educational, and recreational benefits. An additional focus of this opportunity is to protect, enhance and increase resilience of habitats necessary for sustaining native aquatic and terrestrial species important to the Lake Superior ecosystem. Competitive proposals will be those that demonstrate exceptional public benefits, meaningful community engagement, and strategic contributions to terrestrial habitat connectivity within the defined Terrestrial Habitat Connectivity Pilot Area. For additional information and requirements, please refer to the Notice of Funding Opportunity document linked in both the "Related Documents" tab and the "Instructions" link located in the "Package" tab.

The Forest Service will give priority to an application that maximizes the delivery of community benefits through a high degree of public participation including underserved communities; and (1) Type and extent of community benefits provided. Community benefits include: (i) Economic benefits such as timber and non-timber products resulting from sustainable forest management and tourism (ii) Environmental benefits, including clean air and water, stormwater management, and wildlife habitat (iii) Benefits from forest-based experiential learning, including K-12 conservation education programs; vocational education programs in disciplines such as forestry and environmental biology; and environmental education through individual study or voluntary participation in programs offered by organizations such as 4-H, Boy or Girl Scouts, Master Gardeners, etc.(iv) Benefits from serving as replicable models of effective forest stewardship for private landowners (v) Recreational benefits secured through public access, such as hiking, hunting and fishing (2) Extent and nature of community engagement in the establishment and long-term management of the community forest including from underserved communities (3) Amount of cost share leveraged (4) Extent to which the community forest contributes to a landscape conservation initiative (5) Extent of due diligence completed on the project, including cost share committed and status of appraisal (6) Likelihood that, unprotected, the property...

Funds reimbursed by the Federal Government may not exceed 50 percent of the total project budget expended by the grantee. The non-Federal share of the match may be in the form of cash, services, or in-kind contribution. This program may use up to 10% of its funds for each fiscal year to provide technical assistance grants. Technical assistance funds do not have a matching requirement and are available to state foresters or equivalent officials of Indian tribes with a funded project in their jurisdiction.

Fiscal year 2025: This award will facilitate the acquisition of the Mosher Hill Falls Community Forest; a forested property selected for funding through a competitive process based on the public benefits this acquisition will have on the surrounding community. The property will be acquired and subsequently managed as a community forest under an approved community forest plan.