The USDA Forest Service is investing $421,321 to support two forest restoration projects on non-federal forest lands in Michigan. The Landscape Scale Restoration competitive grant program supports projects that achieve the shared goals of the Forest Service, sovereign tribal nations and the states to protect and restore forests across jurisdictional boundaries.
“Threats to forests like wildfires, insects and disease do not stop at jurisdictional boundaries, which is why these investments in healthy and resilient forests extend beyond boundary lines,” said Forest Service Chief Randy Moore. “These grants are critical for improving the nation’s forests that provide a range of environmental, social and economic benefits to the American people.”
Michigan’s 2023 Forest Service Eastern Region Landscape Scale Restoration Grant Recipients:
Grantee: Superior Watershed Partnership
Federal investment: $124,321
Project: Using Fire Mitigation to Improve Habitat, Water Quality and Climate Resiliency in the Northern Great Lakes
Project summary: This collaborative project will reduce wildfire risk due to climate change, improve wildlife habitat and provide water quality benefits in targeted riparian and coastal zones. The project is open to local units of government, five Native American communities and private landowners with critical connecting corridors.
Grantee: Sustainable Resources Institute
Federal investment: $297,000
Project: Master Loggers for Clean Water
Project summary: This project will expand the 80 Michigan Master Loggers who are certified for their compliance for protecting clean water in the Great Lakes State.
The Forest Service will invest a total of $16.2 million in fiscal year 2023 across the nation to help tribes, state agencies, local governments and partners restore healthy, resilient, climate-adapted forests. A complete list of funded projects for fiscal year 2023 is available on the Forest Service LSR website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/private-land/landscape-scale-restoration
