The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is pleased to announce available NYS Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) funding for municipalities to acquire private land and establish new or extend existing community forests through use of fee title or conservation easements on areas of 10 acres or more.
Donor Name: New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)
State: New York
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 10/11/2023
Size of the Grant: $50,000 – $300,000
Grant Duration: 3 years
Details:
This grant program funds municipal land acquisition for community forests, which are vital for wildlife habitat, flood mitigation, recreational opportunities, mental health, air quality, water quality, and to meet the obligations outlined in New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Community forests build local ownership of forests and local participation in forest management. Properties acquired through this grant program allow public access, which encourages local residents to enjoy the forests in their community and increase their connection to forest benefits.
This is a reimbursement grant with a 10% match requirement. Please note that document review and reimbursement from this grant program may not be able to accommodate an existing or otherwise expedited timeline for acquisition closing.
Funding Information
- Approximately $1,000,000 is available for Community Forest Conservation (CFC) Grant Program (Round 2).
- Minimum grant amount is $50,000; Maximum grant amount is $300,000.
Grant Duration
All projects must have defined objectives, tasks, and deliverables accounted for in performance measures that can be completed and invoiced within a three-year contract period/term.
Eligible Project Locations
Eligible projects must include acquisition of current privately-owned lands (may include land owned by non-profit land trusts) located within New York State and include 10 or more contiguous acres. At least 75% of the acres must be forested at the time of application. Forests are determined by both the presence of trees and the absence of non-forest uses (fields, pasture, agriculture). Forested areas should generally be dominated by trees greater than 5 meters tall and have greater than 20% total vegetation cover. More than one property may be acquired as a part of this grant project; however, properties acquired through this grant program must be contiguous and together meet the 10 acre and 75% forested requirements. Contiguous acres shall refer to an eligible tract where forest lands are adjacent or near each other. These may be divided by non-forest land owned and controlled by the owner, or Federal, State, county or town roads, easements, rights-of-way, energy transmission corridors, or similar facilities, as long as community forest use and public access is not precluded. They expect that on-the-ground public access may easily occur in movement from one part of the property to another. If desired, a conservation easement may be placed on a portion of a whole parcel as long as the conservation easement area is at least 10 acres in size. All mineral rights must be included as part of the acquisition of the property.
Eligibility Criteria
Only New York municipalities may apply for this funding opportunity; other organizations and groups (ex: non-profits, land trusts, etc.) are not eligible to apply.
For more information, visit NYSDEC.
