USDA Forest Service 2025 Wood Products Infrastructure Assistance Program

FUNDING PROGRAM: USDA Forest Service 2025 Wood Products Infrastructure Assistance (WPIA) Program.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NUMBER: USDA-FS-WPIA-2025.

FUNDING AGENCIES: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

OPPORTUNITY:

The Wood Products Infrastructure Assistance Program provides funding to provide support for facilities that purchase and process byproducts of ecosystem restoration projects. This includes applications to establish, reopen, retrofit, expand, or improve a sawmill or other wood-processing facility in close proximity to federal or Indian lands that need ecosystem restoration and will generate byproducts. The emphasis is on areas of unnaturally severe high fire or insect or disease infestation with high or very high priority for ecological restoration.

DESCRIPTION:

The WPIA Program provides financial assistance to facilities that purchase and process byproducts from ecosystem restoration projects in areas at risk of unnaturally severe wildfire or insect or disease infestation. The intent is to substantially decrease the cost of conducting restoration projects involving vegetation removal on federal and Tribal lands and invest in surrounding communities. These ecosystem restoration byproducts could include trees and woody biomass harvested through timber sales, thinning, hazardous fuels reduction treatments, or other restoration management activities.

Funding priority will be to provide financial assistance to an entity seeking to establish, reopen, retrofit, expand, or improve a sawmill or other wood-processing facility that will utilize the byproducts from projects on federal land, Tribal forestland, and Tribal rangeland that have been identified as at risk for fire, insect, or disease and a high priority for ecological restoration. To be eligible for funding, the project facility must be in close proximity to federal or Tribal lands and procure significant percentages (approximately 50% or greater) of raw materials from federal or Tribal lands. Successful applicants will address how financial support will enable increased utilization of byproducts from ecosystem restoration projects on federal or Tribal lands that are in close proximity to a wood products processing facility and how this assistance will help reduce restoration costs.

ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS: 

• Non -profit entities
• State, Local, and Tribal governments
• Businesses, companies, corporations (for profit)
• Institutions of higher education
• Special purpose districts (e.g., public utilities districts, fire districts, conservation districts, school districts and ports)

COST SHARING/MATCHING FUNDS: 

There is no match required for proposals. However, cooperator contribution funding level is a project selection criterion. Proposals will receive additional consideration if the cooperator provides 25% match to the requested Forest Service funding.

FUNDING AVAILABLE: $20 million overall. Award Ceiling is $1,00,000 and Award Floor is $50,000.

APPLICATION DEADLINE(S): December 18, 2024.