The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is seeking applications for its Establishing Large Forests Grant Program.
Donor Name: New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
State: New York
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant | Reimbursement
Deadline: 01/07/2025
Size of the Grant: $500,000 to $1 million
Grant Duration: 3 Years
Details:
The purpose of the Establishing Large Forests grant program (ELF) is to provide state financial support to establish new forest areas through reimbursement for site preparation, tree planting, protection from deer, monitoring and maintenance activities on non-industrial private lands. 97% of potentially available lands for reforestation are privately owned, however, establishment of new forest areas is often an overwhelming and expensive task for private landowners. Private lands are essential for re-establishing forest ecosystems to the landscape to deliver vital services to New Yorkers such as carbon sequestration, carbon storage, wildlife habitat, flood mitigation, air quality, water quality and recreational opportunities. For this opportunity, they are targeting reforestation via one or more projects per grant award, each on open lands greater than 5 acres to maximize climate mitigation impact.
Funding Information
Minimum grant amount per project is $30,000; Maximum grant amount per project is $750,000. This is a reimbursement grant program.
Grant Period
3 years.
Eligible Projects
Projects must involve planting trees to establish new forests on 5 acres or more of privately owned, unforested land. The project area does not have to be contiguous, however, it must all be on the same property, or contiguous properties under the same ownership. Projects may include practices such as installing deer exclosures, site preparation, treatments of interfering vegetation and invasive species, and/or temporary watering infrastructure to ensure planting success.
Eligible Bidders
- For the purposes of this grant program, the following entities are considered eligible bidders:
- Non-industrial private landowners
- Companies or organizations acting on behalf of non-industrial private landowners. Examples may include quasi-government agencies (e.g., SWCD), a private forestry business, a natural resource business focused on tree planting, and not-for-profit (NFP) corporations. Companies or organizations acting on behalf of non-industrial private landowners that submit a bid must accept full responsibility for the project, including meeting post-award requirements needed for contract execution, receiving and disbursing funds related to the grant, and administering the requirements throughout the DEC grant process, including reporting of grant activity.
- For this grant opportunity, a NFP is subject to New York State’s Not-For-Profit Corporation Law, is qualified for tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Federal Internal Revenue Code, has an IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter to be incorporated in New York State and is current in their charities reporting requirements with the Office of the Attorney General.
For more information, visit NYSDEC.
