Nominate your forest for financing from the Legado Florestal Program | News, sports, jobs

LANSING — Do you own a large private forest area and would like to protect your property while continuing to sustainably manage timber resources?

Are you a tribal member or employee who knows of a significantly important forest area that needs protection through a partnership with the state?

Do you own strategically located forest land adjacent to state, federal or other protected lands? Do you represent a conservation organization 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 until December 13th.

Project categories include:

Large landscape projects: Focus on large-scale, high-impact opportunities in ecologically 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 great cultural importance and significant benefits to those tribes. Up to $50 million per project is available for private land acquisition. The state and tribe will jointly manage the acquired property for long-term stewardship. Special emphasis criteria include significant support and involvement of tribes in project design, implementation, and administration; improving long-term management 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 management. Proposed projects should also contribute to climate resilience, carbon sequestration, habitat connectivity and the benefit of disadvantaged or tribal communities.

Strategic small area projects: Projects proposed in this category support the conservation of strategic properties or properties close to already conserved lands, including strategic areas that complement previous investments under the Forest Legacy Program. Each leaflet must be presented as an independent project, and not grouped with other leaflets. 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.

Find out more

The Peregrine River Forest in the Upper Peninsula is also part of the Forest Legacy Program.

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 in accordance with a forest management plan. At a minimum, non-motorized public access must be permitted.

All project nominations will be analyzed based on the criteria described. This will culminate in a list of prioritized projects being recommended to the Michigan State Forester for consideration. A decision will then be made about which projects from this list will be submitted to the US Department of Agriculture’s 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, greater attention will be given to projects that are ready to be implemented as soon as funding is awarded.

Visit the DNR’s Forest Legacy Program page to learn more about the program, see examples of past successful projects in Michigan, and view the nomination application.