The Innovative Finance for National Forests (IFNF) grant program supports the development and implementation of innovative finance models that leverage private and public capital other than US Forest Service (USFS) annual appropriations to enhance the resilience of the National Forest System (NFS) and deliver commensurate returns to stakeholders.
Donor Name: U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities
State: All states
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/06/2023
Size of the Grant:$500,000
Details:
National Forests provide social, environmental, and economic benefits to communities across the United States including clean drinking water, recreational opportunities, forest products, rural jobs, and more. However, with increased wildfires, impacts of climate change, and deferred maintenance backlogs, USFS is experiencing stewardship needs that exceed the agency’s annual appropriations. To address this need, the IFNF grant program provides grants for the development and implementation of innovative financing projects in the areas of wildfire resilience and recovery, watershed health, and sustainable recreation infrastructure and access. Feasibility, pilot, and scaling projects will be considered for IFNF funds.
The IFNF grant program seeks to:
- Leverage private and public capital other than USFS annual appropriations to support agency priorities;
- Deliver measurable social, ecological, and financial outcomes to multiple stakeholders;
- Demonstrate solutions that promise improved financial sustainability for land management;
- Chart a path to scale in addressing landscape-level challenges on and near National Forests;
- Generate lessons learned to incorporate in agency management and decision making.
IFNF grants could, but are not limited to, support of innovative finance models that:
- Enable debt or equity financing from public or private sources to pay for the upfront costs of a project that will be paid back over time by project beneficiaries (payors);
- Access new or existing markets for environmental goods or services;
- Access user-based fees or contributions;
- Increase pace and scale of implementation by blending multiple sources of funding or finance;
- Employ any combination of the approaches listed above.
The 2023 IFNF grant program emphasizes three Focus Areas:
- Watershed health
- Sustainable recreation infrastructure and access
- Wildfire resilience and recovery
Across these focus areas, the IFNF grant program provides funding for three Project Types:
- Feasibility
- Pilot
- Scaling
Funding Information
Grant award sizes vary by project type and should not exceed $500,000.
Eligibility
- Not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organizations; for-profit companies; tribes; intertribal consortia; state and local government agencies, and colleges and universities. A single organization or a consortia/team of organizations may apply. Applicants may submit multiple proposals if projects or geographic areas are distinct. Unincorporated individuals are not eligible. Forest Service units and programs cannot receive funding directly.
- IFNF does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior credible activity.
For more information, visit U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities.
