The Community Navigators initiative helps provide equitable access to Inflation Reduction Act funding. Forest Service employees and partner organizations work directly with targeted communities to provide support and guidance to access programs, services, and potential funding opportunities.
Funding
Drinking Water System Resilience Program
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Drinking Water System Infrastructure Resilience and Sustainability Program funds projects in underserved communities and small communities (fewer than 10,000 people). Projects must increase resilience of drinking water systems to natural hazards, including wildfire. Planning and infrastructure improvements are funded.
Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR)
Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program provides flexible funds to help cities, counties, and states recover from presidentially-declared disasters when appropriated by Congress. CDBG-DR funds can only be spent to meet the recovery needs caused by the disasters in the locations specifically stated in the appropriation. Funds can be used for disaster relief, long-term recovery, restoration of infrastructure, housing, and economic revitalization. It is administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP)
The Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) is a partner-driven approach to conservation that funds solutions to natural resource challenges on private land. State and local governments, Tribes, non-profits, and others can apply to target conservation funding to certain geographies to address specific natural resource challenges. A majority of RCPP funding is provided directly to producers and landowners who implement conservation measures (for example, forest stand improvement) or place conservation easements on private lands. It is administered by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP)
The Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers and non-industrial forest managers to address natural resource concerns and deliver environmental benefits, such as improved water and air quality, conserved ground and surface water, increased soil health, reduced soil erosion and sedimentation, improved or created wildlife habitat, and mitigation against drought and increasing weather volatility. It is administered by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)
The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) offers technical and financial assistance to agricultural and forest producers for conservation efforts. CSP can help private landowners plan and implement hazardous fuel treatments. It is administered by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-raised Fish (ELAP)
USDA Farm Service Agency’s Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-raised Fish (ELAP) provides financial assistance to eligible producers of livestock, honeybees, and farm-raised fish for losses due to disease, certain adverse weather events or loss conditions. ELAP can help pay for transporting feed, water, and livestock to help keep ranchers ranching while preventing additional stress on drought-stricken land that may be vulnerable to fire.
Landscape Scale Restoration (LSR) Program
The Landscape Scale Restoration (LSR) program is a Forest Service State and Private Forestry competitive grant program that promotes collaborative, science-based restoration of priority forest landscapes and furthers priorities identified in State Forest Action Plans or equivalent restoration strategies. LSR projects cross multiple jurisdictions, including Tribal, state and local government, and private forest land, to address large-scale issues such as wildfire risk reduction, watershed protection and restoration, and the spread of invasive species, insect infestation, and disease.
Community Wildfire Defense Grants (CWDG)
The Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) program provides grants to communities at risk from wildfire to develop or revise their community wildfire protection plans and carry out mitigation projects described within those plans. It is administered by the USDA Forest Service.
Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC)
FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program provides support to states, local communities, Tribes, the District of Columbia, and territories as they undertake hazard mitigation projects, reducing the risks they face from disasters and natural hazards.