Nominate your forest for protection under special round of Forest Legacy Program funding; apply by Dec. 13

Are you the owner of a large private forest land area who would like to protect your property while continuing to sustainably manage the timber resource? Are you a tribal member or employee who is aware of some significantly important forest land that is in need of protection through a partnership with the state? Do you own a forested tract of land that is strategically located adjacent to state, federal or other protected lands? Do you represent a conservation organization that is interested in a partnership to protect important forests? If any of these scenarios sound familiar, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources wants you to know about an opportunity, thanks to the federal Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Which projects are eligible?

The Inflation Reduction Act included significant specialized funding to protect environmentally important forests through the nationally competitive Forest Legacy Program. Nominations for project proposals to be considered for this funding will be accepted through Dec. 13.

Project categories include:

• Large landscape projects: These focus on large-scale, high-impact opportunities in ecological and economically significant landscapes where a significant federal investment available at one time will achieve a conservation outcome with exceptional public benefits. Up to $50 million per project is available, with an emphasis on projects that contribute to climate resilience, carbon sequestration, habitat connectivity or benefits for disadvantaged communities or tribal communities.
• State-tribal partnerships: In this project category, the state works with tribes to identify and conserve lands with high cultural importance and significant benefits for those tribes. Up to $50 million per project is available for acquisition of privately held lands. The state and tribe will manage the acquired property together for long-term stewardship. Special emphasis criteria include meaningful support and involvement of tribes in design, implementation and stewardship of the project; enhancement of the long-term stewardship relationships between the state and tribes, and support to protect cultural resources and/or traditions. Management plans should incorporate traditional indigenous ecological knowledge/practices to reflect joint stewardship. Proposed projects should also contribute to climate resilience, carbon sequestration, habitat connectivity and the benefit of disadvantaged or tribal communities.
• Strategic small-tract projects: Proposed projects in this category support the conservation of strategic inholdings or properties next to already conserved lands, including strategic tracts that complement previous Forest Legacy Program investments. Each tract will need to be submitted as a stand-alone project, not bundled with other tracts. For the purposes of this opportunity, a “tract” is defined as contiguous land under the same legal ownership. Proposed projects that contribute to climate resilience, habitat connectivity and the benefit of disadvantaged communities will receive stronger consideration.

Learn more

In addition to the specific criteria in each project category, all other standard Forest Legacy Program requirements apply. Proposed projects must be 75 percent forested and managed as working forests according to a forest management plan. At the minimum, nonmotorized public access must be permitted. All project nominations will be reviewed based on the outlined criteria. This will culminate in a list of prioritized projects being recommended to Michigan’s state forester for consideration. A decision will then be made as to which projects on this list will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service to compete for funding at the national level. For this round of Inflation Reduction Act projects, a final decision on grant awards is expected in the spring, and funding will be immediately available. Across all project categories, stronger consideration will be given to projects that are ready to be implemented as soon as funding is awarded. Visit the DNR’s Forest Legacy Program webpage for more information about the program, to see examples of past successful projects in Michigan and to view the nomination application.