Inflation Reduction Act Urban and Community Forestry Grants Available
$12.9 million is available for urban forestry work in disadvantaged communities across New York State for the following two categories:
- UCF4-2023 Community Forest Management Plan Implementation in Disadvantaged Communities ($10 million)
- UCF5-2023 Ash Tree Management in Disadvantaged Communities ($2.9 million)
Details and scoring information for this grant are included in the Request for Applications (RFA). Applications are due Wednesday, January 31 at 2:00 p.m.
This grant opportunity and the application are available in the Grants Gateway Portal (GG). When you are at GG, search "Forests" to help find the grant opportunity. Update: Because of the transition from the GG to the State Financial System, new GG registration requests and prequalification requests will be reviewed as long as they are tied to an opportunity. It is necessary for the applicant to identify the grant opportunity as part of the registration request. We also suggest any potential applicant who is not already registered in GG to email [email protected] to let us know so we can help you identify an application partner and keep you aware of any new related information. Additionally, there will be a blackout period from January 10-16 during which Grants Gateway will be inaccessible. Note that registration is not the same as not-for-profit pre-qualification.
DEC held the following grant information sessions:
- An October 24, 2023 pre-grant information session; view a recording of the webinar as well as a copy of the presentation (PDF); and
- A November 15, 2023 info session which included how to navigate the Grants Gateway. View a recording of the webinar as well as a copy of the presentation (PDF).
- A November 29, 2023 webinar gave a short overview of the three tools used to determine disadvantaged community status in urban forestry in New York related to Inflation Reduction Active (IRA) funding opportunities. The webinar discussed the tools, NY's Disadvantaged Communities (DACs), Potential Environmental Justice Areas (PEJA), and the federal Community Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST); gave a brief overview of the differences between the tools; and showed how to access and use these tools to evaluate your community. Note: this event only focused on finding and navigating various disadvantaged community tools, not about specific grant opportunities. View the recording of the November 29, 2023 webinar.
Please note that this is a unique grant opportunity funded by the USDA Forest Service through the Federal Inflation Reduction Act and is not to be confused with the regular rounds of DEC Urban and Community Forestry Grants.
Round 16 - Closed
UCF1 – Tree Inventory and Community Forest Management Plan grant awards totaling $978,820 were awarded on December 22, 2023. View the list of awardees for more details. The Round 16 UCF2 – Tree Maintenance and Tree Planting grant categories are anticipated to be announced in early 2024.
The Request for Applications (RFA) (PDF) outlines deadlines, eligible applicants and projects, and application scoring.
A recording of the March 29 pre-RFA webinar is available for review.