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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced awards of nearly $335 million to help strengthen financial incentives for private forest landowners to manage their forests sustainably and to permanently conserve private forests in partnership with states.
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.
The funded proposals add financial incentives and opportunities to landowners to adopt sustainable forest management practices. Forest management, like thinning trees or removing invasive species, helps to reduce the susceptibility to forests pests and disease and lowers the risks of catastrophic wildfires.
For more information on these grants, click here.