Wednesday, Oct 19 2011 5:14PM
The program provides financial assistance grants to local governments, nonprofit organizations and Native American tribes to fund the creation of community forests. These forests have economic and environmental benefits, and the program also focuses on education and forest stewardship.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service recently published Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program implementation rules.
The program provides financial assistance grants to local governments, nonprofit organizations and Native American tribes to fund the creation of community forests. These forests have economic and environmental benefits, and the program also focuses on education and forest stewardship.
The USDA Forest Service indicated the program will provide access to the outdoors which communities might otherwise lack, supporting economic and environmental health and simultaneously encouraging conservation.
"These community forests will also provide a model of effective forest stewardship for private landowners. They protect habitat, conserve and protect water supplies, and provide educational opportunities - all while contributing to the local economy," said Tom Tidwell, Forest Service Chief.
The program is part of President Barack Obama’s America's Great Outdoors initiative. As community green spaces, the forests may be used for recreation and tourism or support working forests through sustainable management, timber and non-timber production and wood-for-energy production.
This community development program requires that federal funding grants be matched in each case by equal funding from alternate sources. Officials expect to request applications within 60 days, although funding through the 2012 federal budget is not yet approved.
For further reference, check out this source:
U.S. Forest Service