USDA Awards $335 Million for Private Forestland Management and Conservation

On Wednesday, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced awards of nearly $335 million to strengthen financial incentives for private forest landowners to manage their forests sustainably and to permanently conserve private forests in partnership with states. The funding was made possible through the Inflation Reduction Act.

Of the total funding, nearly $210 million was awarded as competitive grants to state agencies, for-profit entities, and a broad array of non-profit organizations. These investments support activities like connecting underserved and small acreage landowners with emerging climate markets, state-endorsed cost share payment programs for forest management on private land, and state and non-profit programs that issue payments to landowners for practices that increase carbon sequestration and storage.

Additionally, nearly $125 million will go to conserving 105,000 acres of forestlands in 10 states through the Forest Legacy Program. Through the program, states work with tribes, local communities, and landowners to identify important private forestlands and develop proposals to conserve these lands as forests. The Forest Service selects the top proposals for funding through a competitive, entirely voluntary process and provides grant funding to states. Some of this land will stay in private ownership and will be permanently protected and conserved as forests, while states will also purchase other parcels to be managed as public land.

These projects are in addition to nearly $420 million to conserve more than half a million acres through the Forest Legacy Program in 2024 alone.

In a statement accompanying the announcement, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said:

“Forests provide innumerable benefits to people and communities, and private forestlands make up more than half of all forests in the US. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, we are helping to provide the resources private forest landowners need to keep working forests working so that future generations of Americans will be able to enjoy all the benefits they provide.”