Updates & Blog

USDA announces $145M from Investing in America agenda to help landowners access climate markets

African American couple walks through the woods

Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that the USDA Forest Service is investing nearly $145 million from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act—the largest climate investment in history—to connect forest landowners with emerging climate markets as part of the Investing in America agenda.

USDA’s Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, Dr. Homer Wilkes, made the announcement at the Rural Life Conference at the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff (UAPB), which is receiving nearly $3.2 million thanks to funding from today’s announcement.

USDA Press Release

Southern Region Awardees:

  • American Forest Foundation: $20,000,000
    • Projects in: Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia 
  • Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation: $10,000,000 
    • Projects in: Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas
  • Ducks Unlimited: $10,000,000 
    • Projects in: Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee (Flyway Forests) 
  • Georgia Forestry Foundation: $4,000,000
    • Projects in: Georgia 
  • Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LIKEN): $2,000,000 
    • Projects in: Kentucky
  • Magnolia Land Partners, Inc.: $1,978,714
    •  Projects in: Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas 
  • Rural Action, Inc.: $6,000,000
    • Projects in: Kentucky, Virginia 
  • Sky Harvest Resources LLC: $4,000,000
    • Projects in: Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia 
  • The Longleaf Alliance: $1,845,857
    • Projects in: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia 
  • Urban Forest Carbon Registry: $1,999,950
    • Projects in: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee
  • U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities: $20,000,000
    • Projects in: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia
  • $29 million from this announcement represents funding that has already been made available to states and territories to develop technical assistance programs that will connect underserved landowners to incentives, programs, and markets – including assisting landowners in understanding and navigating opportunities in emerging markets for climate mitigation or forest resilience.