Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program Request for Applications | USDA FS CFP 2023

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA FS CFP 2023

The Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program (CFP) is a competitive grant opportunity offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service through its State and Private Forestry Cooperative Forestry staff. The program is designed to help communities permanently protect important private forest lands by purchasing them outright (fee simple acquisition) from willing sellers and then managing those lands as community forests. The central idea is to prevent forests that matter to local residents from being converted into non-forest uses, while also ensuring those forests deliver clear public benefits over the long term.

Eligible applicants include local governmental entities such as counties, cities, and townships; qualified nonprofit organizations with IRS 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education); and federally recognized Native American tribal governments. The application path depends on the applicant type: local governments and nonprofit organizations submit their applications to their State Forester, while tribal applicants submit through the appropriate tribal government officials. For this 2023 request for applications, all submissions, whether provided electronically or in hardcopy, needed to be received by the State Forester or tribal government by March 31, 2023. The opportunity was posted under funding opportunity number USDA FS CFP 2023, categorized as a discretionary grant under CFDA 10.689.

The program places strong emphasis on tangible community outcomes. Projects are expected to protect forests that deliver public value through sustainable forest management and through environmental services such as cleaner air and water and improved wildlife habitat. CFP also prioritizes forests that can support education tied to forest resources, demonstrate effective stewardship practices that others can learn from, and provide recreational opportunities. A key requirement is that the resulting community forest must provide defined community benefits and include public access, reinforcing the program's focus on shared, public-facing outcomes rather than private conservation alone.

To qualify, the land being acquired must meet specific eligibility criteria. It must be private forest land of at least five acres, suitable for sustaining natural vegetation, and at least 75 percent forested. The property must also be at genuine risk of conversion to a non-forest use, which aligns with the program's primary conservation purpose. In addition, the land cannot be held in trust by the United States on behalf of an Indian Tribe and cannot be tribal allotment land. Finally, the acquisition must be from a willing seller, and if the land is purchased with CFP support by an eligible entity, it must be managed to provide the required community benefits and allow public access.

Funding details included a maximum award amount (award ceiling) of $600,000, with an anticipated 14 awards. Overall, the CFP is structured as a targeted land-acquisition program that helps communities and eligible organizations secure threatened forests, keep them as forests, and manage them in ways that produce long-term environmental, educational, recreational, and stewardship benefits for the public.

• The Department of Agriculture, Forest Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program Request for Applications" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.689.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 10, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 31, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $600,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 14 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: County governments, City or township governments, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Apply for USDA FS CFP 2023

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