Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried launched the Sequestering Carbon and Protecting Florida Land Program. A significant state investment in climate change mitigation, the $10 million over five years tree planting carbon sequestration grant program will be administered by the Florida Forest Service, a division of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The initial application period will run from September 3 through October 8, 2021.
Commissioner Fried launched the grant at a press conference joined by The Nature Conservancy in Florida Board of Trustees member Lynetta Griner and Florida Forest Service leadership including Assistant Director of Forestry Johnny Sabo and Deputy Bureau Chief of Forest Management Bonnie Stine. The grant program will cover 75 percent of the statewide average cost of land preparation, seedling purchase, and planting. Eligible applicants include local governments, non-profit organizations, and non-industrial private landowners, and public outreach will encourage urban forestry, geographic diversity, and participation by communities of color and socially disadvantaged producers. The first $2 million in funding has been appropriated for 2021-22, with the remainder to be appropriated annually by the Florida Legislature.
The grant program was designed with input from carbon sequestration, forestry, and climate experts at Yale University School of the Environment, Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences; the University of Florida School of Forests, Fisheries, and Geomatic Sciences; the Florida A&M University Branch of the Florida Climate Institute; and The Nature Conservancy.
“Florida is one of the states most vulnerable to climate change, fueled in part by Florida producing the nation’s third-most carbon dioxide emissions. We have a powerful tool to sequester this carbon right in our backyard with 17 million acres of forests across Florida. But planting trees can be an expensive endeavor not everyone can afford,” said Commissioner Nikki Fried. “That’s why we’re proud to launch the Sequestering Carbon and Protecting Florida Land Program, a $10 million grant program to help remove up to 69,000 tons of carbon dioxide from our atmosphere – that’s like taking 3,000 cars off our roads each year. We want everyone to have an opportunity to participate, from local governments and non-profits to family farmers and socially disadvantaged producers, with encouragement towards urban forestry. Carbon sequestration is a proven method to trap climate-accelerating greenhouse gases, incentives for which we’ve advocated to the Biden Administration. We’re proud to make this real investment in climate mitigation here in the Sunshine State, and we hope that Florida’s lawmakers will continue to fund this program for years to come – it’s a win-win for our climate, our forests, and our communities.”
“This program is a tremendous effort supporting Florida’s vital timber industry while embracing natural climate solutions, and taking on the challenge of climate change in Florida and preserving valuable working agricultural lands for future generations. As past president of the Florida Forestry Association, I know that wood products and forest industry offset more than 14 percent of the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions,” said Lynetta Griner, The Nature Conservancy in Florida Board of Trustees member and 2013 FDACS Woman of the Year in Agriculture. “Planting more trees in Florida, as this program will promote, will increase our carbon sequestration efforts – and whether on our forest lands, or in our urban environments, can help the capacity of our landscapes to provide a multitude of ecosystem solutions. The Nature Conservancy and Florida’s forestry community look forward to spreading the word about this tremendous program, look forward to the next five years of this program, and look forward to thousands of acres of new trees.”
Background: Florida faces growing risks from climate change in the coming decades, including $75 billion in sea level rise costs and a heat index over 100 degrees for half the year. This is partly attributed to Florida’s 231 million metric tons of annual carbon dioxide emissions, third-most in the nation. Forests are a widely-recognized tool for carbon sequestration; Florida’s forests currently sequester 45.3 million tons of carbon dioxide in aboveground and belowground forest biomass. Commissioner Fried advocated to the Biden Administration for carbon sequestration incentives in the FDACS State-Federal Partnership Plan released earlier this year; the President and the USDA have publicly supported carbon sequestration incentives to landowners.
Application Details: Eligible applicants must submit a Request for Application (RFA) proposal response as specified in the RFA document available online beginning September 3, 2021 at FDACS.gov/FLForestService. The initial application period will open September 3, 2021 at 8:00 AM and close October 8, 2021 at 5:00 PM. Project deliverables must be completed by June 30, 2022. Qualified applicants are limited to a county or local government; a legally organized and registered non-profit organization, entity, or institution; or non-industrial private landowner. The number of applications for the program is limited to one (1) per applicant per funding cycle. Applicants may request funding for tree establishment practices on a minimum of 20 acres up to a maximum of 250 acres. Applicants who meet all eligibility and program requirements may apply to receive an incentive payment for successful completion of certain approved practices. Payment will be made at a standard, specified rate for each practice, or at cost if below the standard rate. If funding is not exhausted during this first application period, additional requests for application will be posted. Applicants must follow the RFA outline and complete all items in their entirety. Failure to follow the outline or to include all requested information or supporting documentation will result in the proposal considered incomplete and ineligible for funding consideration. Additional information will be available in the RFA document.
