The Texas A&M Forest Service is soliciting applications for a pair of $50,000 grants to promote healthy trees and forests.

The agency’s Community Forestry Grants Program seeks to fund community forestry-focused projects in two areas: climate resiliency and community equity.

To be eligible, applicants must be public or non-profit organizations and can include state and local government agencies, educational institutions, non-government organizations and public utility districts. Individuals, businesses and federal agencies are not eligible.

Proposals that complement existing initiatives that address issues facing community forests in Texas are encouraged.

The deadline to apply is Feb. 15. Organizations can apply for both grants, but only one will be awarded per entity.

Gretchen Riley, Texas A&M Forest Service Forest Systems Department Head, said the scope of the proposals can be varied and far-reaching. Projects could be an urban heat island analysis, turning a vacant parcel in an urban neighborhood without green space into an interactive treescape, or any number of other things, she said.

“We want applicants to think big,” Riley said. “Be innovative. We’re looking for something with solid outcomes that will ultimately make a difference in people’s lives.”

Riley said all communities are facing the issues of climate resiliency and community equity, and the grant program is “a great opportunity to move the needle to make things better.”

The grant program supports Texas A&M Forest Service’s Forest Action Plan and urban forestry sustainability goals and has been used historically at lower funding levels to assist organizations and entities that otherwise would not have been able to complete forestry-related projects. 

The revamped grant program is funded in part by the U.S. Forest Service through the federal Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

“The additional federal funding has allowed us to reintroduce the competitive grant program while increasing its reach in an effort to engage partners with interest in climate resiliency and community equity to help facilitate those goals,” Riley said.

To apply, visit tfsweb.tamu.edu/communityforestrygrants.