U.S. invests $265 million to save forests while environmental crisis looms

In Portland, Oregon, on December 13, 2024, The Climate Trust was awarded two significant grants from the U.S. Forest Service, amounting to nearly $7 million. These grants, financed through the Biden-Harris Administration's Inflation Reduction Act, aim to enhance climate-smart forest practices and expand access to carbon markets for underserved landowners, particularly within Tribal communities. The first grant of $2 million is designated for the Tribal Reservation Allotment Carbon Enrollment (TRACE) program, focusing on developing carbon projects for small land parcels owned by individual Tribal members. This is groundbreaking as past carbon projects have largely excluded such allotment lands due to their fragmented ownership and regulatory hurdles. The second grant, nearly $5 million, is allocated to the Enabling Reforestation and Afforestation Success (ERAS) initiative, which will fund forest management practices across fire-prone regions including Oregon, Montana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan. The ERAS funding will support activities such as post-wildfire restoration, wildfire risk reduction, and deer browse protection for seedlings, fostering healthier and more diverse forests capable of absorbing carbon over the long term. Victoria Lockhart, the Director of Reforestation at The Climate Trust, highlighted that these forest management actions are essential in making forests more resilient to climate change. Both funding programs build upon The Climate Trust's ongoing efforts to develop carbon credit projects with landowners nationwide. The initiatives exemplify a growing recognition of the need for innovative funding solutions to tackle climate vulnerabilities while simultaneously enhancing sustainability in forest management practices. In summary, these significant grants not only support critical management practices and the inclusion of Tribal lands in carbon markets but also contribute to broader efforts to mitigate climate impacts in key forest regions across the United States.