Milwaukee, WI, August 20, 2025— Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service announced it is investing approximately $2 million in 6 projects across region 9 to restore tribal, state and private forestlands. These investments directly support the agency’s efforts to reduce wildfire risk, increase timber production, and expand rural economies, while providing critical support to landowners across management jurisdictions as they work to promote healthy, productive forests that benefit rural communities.
The investments, totaling $7 million nationwide, are being delivered as competitive grants through the Landscape Scale Restoration program. Of the total funding, $300 thousand will support a project for the Oneida Indian Nation, a federally recognized tribe.
Across the Northeast and Midwest, projects focus on addressing and responding to threats from invasive species and improving water quality, project highlights:
State: Maryland/New Jersey
Project Title: Restoring Native Forest Ecosystems along the Northern Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain
Recipient: State of Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Federal Funding Amount: $422,646
State: Wisconsin
Project Title: Critical Management of Imperiled Pine and Oak Barrens in Central Wisconsin
Recipient: The Nature Conservancy
Federal Funding Amount: 275,000
State: Minnesota
Project Title: Minnesota’s Private Forests for Water
Recipient: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Federal Funding Amount: 320,000
State: Pennsylvania
Project Title: Protecting Water Quality and Wildlife Habitats in and Around Pennsylvania State Forests
Recipient: Ruffed Grouse Society (and American Woodcock Society)
Federal Funding Amount: $448,320
State: Iowa
Project Title: Accelerating Agroforestry Adoption in Iowa
Recipient: Trees Forever Inc.
Federal Funding Amount: $367,788
State: New York
Project Title: Oneida Indian Nation Reforestation and Maple Syrup Expansion Project
Recipient: Oneida Indian Nation
Federal Funding Amount: $300,000
A complete list of funded projects for Fiscal Year 2025 is available on the Forest Service website at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/private-land/landscape-scale-restoration/funded-projects.
Between 2018 and 2024, the Forest Service awarded 359 competitive grants to support projects in 47 states and five territories for a total of $91.2 million dollars in federal funding.
About the Forest Service: The USDA Forest Service has for more than 100 years brought people and communities together to answer the call of conservation. Grounded in world-class science and technology– and rooted in communities–the Forest Service connects people to nature and to each other. The Forest Service cares for shared natural resources in ways that promote lasting economic, ecological, and social vitality. The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, maintains the largest wildland fire and forestry research organizations in the world. The Forest Service also has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 900 million forested acres within the U.S., of which over 130 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live.
