Division of Forestry grants can help restore ecosystems

The Nevada Division of Forestry announced Jan. 20 that it is seeking pre-proposals for three competitive grant programs: Landscape Scale Restoration, Western State Fire Manager’s-Wildland Urban Interface and Hazardous Fuel-Community Protection.

Nevada’s urban, rural and wildland ecosystems are continuously threatened by invasions of non-native species, insects and disease, as well as development disturbance, unsustainable management and destructive natural events, such as floods and wildfires, and the Division of Forestry said these grants can help address these risks.

These grant opportunities, made available through the USDA Forest Service, enable cooperators to identify LSR needs and apply for funding to address important natural resource management and conservation issues. Funds may be used to implement restoration treatments that improve or restore urban/rural forests and rangelands, water resources, riparian areas and wildlife habitat.

Projects that mitigate extreme wildfire behavior, noxious weed infestations and negative ecosystem impacts are also eligible.

WSFM-WUI can be used to reduce hazardous wildfire fuel, create community wildfire protection plans and perform community outreach and wildfire prevention in the wildland urban interface. HF-CP can be used to implement on-the-ground hazardous fuel reduction projects and restoration of fire-adapted ecosystems that are located on non-federal property adjacent to USDA Forest Service lands.

Both the WSFM-WUI and HF-CP grants are funding opportunities made available through the USDA Forest Service.

LSR, WSFM-WUI and HF-CP funding is only available for projects on non-federal lands in Nevada.

Pre-proposals for all competitive grant programs must be submitted on the approved forms available on NDF’s website at forestry.nv.gov/grants/

The website also provides a more detailed description of the criteria and instructions for eligibility, as well as the scoring criteria that will be used to rank applications.

Pre-proposals must be received by NDF as prescribed in the grant guidance documents found on the website. Late, incomplete or faxed pre-proposals will not be accepted.

Due dates of pre-proposals:

■ LSR – March 1, 2021

■ WSFM-WUI – March 1, 2021

■ HF-CP – Feb. 15, 2021