Forest Collaboratives

Overview

In 2013, the Oregon Legislature provided state funds to create the Federal Forest Restoration Program (FFR) to increase the pace, scale, and quality of restoration on Oregon’s federal forests. The Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) entered into an agreement with OWEB to facilitate Federal Forest Health Collaborative Project Development technical assistance grant offerings and awards as a part of program implementation.

The Collaborative Capacity Grants are intended to increase restoration efforts on federal forests statewide by enhancing and strengthening the effectiveness of local collaboratives. Grants are awarded through a competitive process in which collaborative groups respond via letter of intent and application to specific objectives and goals developed collaboratively by OWEB and ODF.

Purpose

The primary goal of these grants is to increase the number, acreage, and complexity of collaboratively planned restoration projects on federal lands in Oregon. The primary outcome of these grants should be development, expansion, and/or advancement of collaborative Zones of Agreement for restoration that include vegetation management on either USFS- or BLM-managed lands. Zones of Agreement (ZOA) can be developed or advanced toward implementation for specific project areas (i.e., NEPA planning areas), Forest Plan allocation units (i.e., Designated Old Growth), forest types (i.e., Dry mixed conifer) and/or ecological function (i.e., riparian areas). A secondary goal is to improve the capacity of collaborative groups to achieve this outcome.

Funding

There is a total of $500,000 available for the 2023-2025 biennium. This includes:

$200,000 for Collaborative Governance
$300,000 for Zones of Agreement

Application for the 2023-2025 biennium closed on October 23, 2023.

This solicitation is open to established local collaborative groups engaged in forest restoration and/or stewardship on federal forests in Oregon (forests managed by the U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management). See the guidance document for Collaborative Governance and Zones of Agreement eligibility requirements.

To be eligible, collaborative efforts must show evidence of a baseline capacity to sustain collaborative dialogue among diverse perspectives. The following must exist at the time of application. Documentation must be submitted for a collaborative to be eligible for a grant under this solicitation.

501(c)3 status or signed agreement with a fiscal sponsor. If a collaborative group does not have 501(c)3 status, applicants must have a signed agreement with an eligible fiscal sponsor. This can be a non-profit community based organization or unit of local government, including tribal governments. Applicants must be based in Oregon.
Statement of Commitment signed by collaborative members/participants (including a Declaration of Commitment).
Established collaborative process that has been endorsed/approved by the collaborative membership. At minimum, this should include:

Mission statement that focuses work on public lands.
Decision-making protocol.
Documented calendar/schedule that outlines meeting frequency and structure.

Leadership structure and process to show how organizational decisions are made, including but not limited to a standing leadership committee or administrative committee.

Obtain a login (username and password).
If your organization already has an OGMS login, skip to step 2.

An OGMS login is required to access the online grant application. Only one login per organization is allowed. If no login exists for an organization, please email Leilani Sullivan to request one. Include the following in your email:
Organization name and address
Grantee Contact Information: name, title, email address, and phone number for the person who will receive all communication from OWEB and sign any grant agreements.
Payee Contact Information: name, email address, and phone number for the person who keeps records and submits payment requests and documentation.
FEIN (Federal Employer Identification Number). OWEB may enter into agreements only with legally established entities. OWEB will review potential applicants prior to creating an OGMS login.
Per federal guidance, all OWEB grantees must be registered at the System for Award Management (SAM) before receiving a grant agreement. Entities will received a non-proprietary identifier (called the Unique Entity Identifier (UEI).) This identifier is assigned by SAM (sam.gov is a free service) and entities must update their registration annually.

Log in to the Online Application.
Guidance to help you fill out the application is always available in the top navigation bar of the online application.