Press Releases

More than $13 million is coming to Maine to support private forestland management and conservation, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree announced today. The grants for the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) and the New England Forestry Foundation (NEFF) are among awards totaling nearly $335 million for state agencies and nonprofit organizations across the country. Made possible thanks to investments from the Inflation Reduction Act, the grants aim to strengthen financial incentives for private forest landowners to support sustainable forest management and resilience.  

“Maine’s forests are not only vital to our economy but also play a critical role in combating climate change and supporting biodiversity,” said Pingree. “Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, this funding will help landowners in Maine adopt sustainable practices like managing invasive species and enhancing carbon sequestration. By supporting resilient ecosystems, we can ensure that Maine’s forests remain a thriving source of economic and environmental benefits for generations to come.”

Funding for Maine includes:

• $4,000,000 for Maine DACF to create a financial incentives program to promote climate mitigation and forest resilience practices across Maine’s private, non-industrial forestland. The program will incentivize invasive species management, stand improvement, and regeneration establishment.

• $5,000,000 for Maine DACF to incentivize forest stewardship practices with clear carbon storage and sequestration benefits that are cost prohibitive for many landowners under current economic and market conditions. Approximately 400 landowners will participate in the program, with a minimum of 160 who are underserved.

• $4,282,906 for NEFF in partnership with landowners to defer timber harvesting in late successional and old-growth forest stands for up to ten years, allowing these stands to continue acting as a carbon storehouse while resources are secured for permanent maintenance and protection.

"Forests provide innumerable benefits to people and communities, and private forestlands make up more than half of all forests in the U.S.,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, we are helping to provide the resources private forest landowners need to keep working forest working so that future generations of Americans will be able to enjoy all the benefits they provide."  

This Congress, Pingree introduced the Rural Forest Markets Act, bipartisan legislation to help small-scale, family forest owners and states forestry agencies access new economic opportunities and develop solutions to mitigate the climate crisis. 

Pingree is a member of the House Agriculture Committee and the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and the Food and Drug Administration. She also serves as ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, which oversees U.S. Forest Service funding.

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