The purpose of Florida’s Urban and Community Forestry Grant – Planting, Preservation, and Invasives Control (UCF- PPI) Program is to provide financial assistance to local governments, Native American tribal governments, nonprofit organizations, and educational institutions to initiate or enhance local urban and community forestry programs and improve the urban environment within the state of Florida by providing funding for projects aimed at enhancing community forests.
Donor Name: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
State: Florida
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 11/17/2023
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
The primary purpose of this Urban and Community Forestry Grant – Planting, Preservation, and Invasives Control Program is to promote better urban forest management and to provide resources necessary for the retention and expansion of community tree canopy throughout the State of Florida. Trees are a vital component of urban infrastructure, but trees must be properly managed to maximize the benefits they provide to the community. By properly managing their trees, communities can increase property values, tourism appeal, and the physical and mental health of residents, while reducing storm water runoff, energy consumption, and air & water pollution. Community forest management also helps to identify public safety hazards to residents and structures and is a useful tool in storm preparation. Local community leaders and the public should learn more about how their urban trees benefit their community, from an economic, social, and environment standpoint. They also should learn about proper species selection, planting and care for trees to minimize future maintenance problems and how to proper urban forestry practices to reduce storm water runoff.
FDACS, Florida Forest Service (FFS) is requesting proposals for grants to:
- Remove invasive trees and replace them with native trees in areas where they will provide direct benefit through Floridians through energy reduction, mitigating urban heat, water or air quality improvement, stormwater runoff avoidance, or increase greenspace accessibility. Projects in this category must follow the tree planting requirements listed later in this section.
- Plant trees in disadvantaged communities, as identified by the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST- https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov/en). At least $100,000 of these funds will go towards this category. Projects in this category must follow the tree planting requirements listed later in this section.
- Plant trees in riparian or coastal waterway areas to decrease erosion, improve stormwater runoff capture, and enhance the water quality of Florida’s waterways. At least $50,000 of these funds will go towards this category. Projects in this category must follow the tree planting requirements listed later in this section.
- Provide a service that enhances tree preservation during construction by offering advising to developers and homebuilders at no cost to the builder. This category will be funded with at least $60,000 of the total grant funds.
- Conduct an analysis of areas within municipality boundaries to identify most valuable locations for tree planting initiatives to capture the most stormwater runoff. At least $40,000 of this funding will go to this category.
Funding Information
The maximum grant allocation is $75,000 for each category and each applicant. Practices may be implemented on county or municipally-owned lands, including parks or natural areas, as well as highway and street rights-of-way not maintained by the Federal government. Priorities for funding will be based on demonstrated need as identified by the applicant.
Grant Period
Period of Performance 01/01/2024 through 06/30/2025.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants are nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, Native American Tribal Groups and government entities able to complete the requested project deliverables.
For more information, visit FDACS.
