N.C. Forest Service - Urban and Community Forestry Financial Assistance Program

Each request for application will specify eligible organizations, practices and activities. The following details eligibility requirements for the financial assistance program in general.

Eligible Organizations

• Municipalities and tribal governments.
• Other governmental agencies, public educational institutions and 501c3 organizations may be eligible for assistance on select and periodic RFAs.

Eligible Practices and Activities

• Inventories and assessments -- Tree inventories and urban forest assessments.
• Plans -- Development of urban forestry practice plans, management and comprehensive plans.
• Policy, ordinances, standards and specifications -- Development of local policies and ordinances defining local government’s role in managing the urban forest, and standards and specifications directing urban forestry practices.
• Tree planting and maintenance -- Development and completion of tree planting and tree maintenance projects.
• Professional staff development – Assistance for staff to earn professional urban forestry credentials.
• Outreach -- Outreach products and events to inform and engage the community in urban and community forestry.
• Education and training -- Educational and training products, events and programs.

Ineligible Objectives, Practices and Activities

• Research projects.
• Construction activities, materials and supplies.
• Equipment with a cost of $5,000 or more.
• Planting project predominantly comprised of shrubs and vegetation other than trees.
• Time and expenses developing an application project and completing the application.
• Practices and activities completed before or after the grant contract timeline.
• Project expenses funded by another federal grant funding program.

Stay Connected

Sign up to receive the latest U&CF Project Financial Assistance Program news and updates from the N.C. Forest Service. A "Subscribe" link can be found at the bottom of this webpage under “Follow Us."

Solicit Urban Forestry Expertise

Solicit qualified urban forestry expertise to provide you with guidance to identify your urban and community forestry needs and select the most appropriate assistance package. Reach out to us. We are here to answer your questions and provide guidance. Urban forestry consultants can provide general guidance, and their services may be required to apply and complete your project. Our Urban Forestry Professionals webpage provides guidance for finding and selecting an urban forestry professional.

Requirements for All Applications and Projects

• All applicants must have a federal Identification Number and a federal Unique Entity ID # obtained through the sam.gov (Get a Unique Entity ID Only) website portal.
• Projects must take place within the boundaries of a municipality or tribal lands.
• U&CF needs and opportunities narrative
  • Your project will address urban forestry need(s) and perhaps community forestry need(s). Identify your needs, the rationale for the project by identifying the gap or problem, the place, and if applicable, the audience or demographics impacted. Unique opportunities may have also presented themselves that may enhance addressing the needs of this project. As part of an application, you will be asked to provide a U&CF needs and opportunities narrative. This is the only place you will discuss needs and opportunities in an application. A needs and opportunities narrative should be clear, compelling, based on facts and include these elements.
    • What are the primary urban or community forestry problems, challenges and opportunities?
    • Use studies, data and trends that identify, quantify and qualify the problem, challenge or opportunity. Local, published if available, and/or based on your investigation.
• All projects must include outreach activities and/or products that engage and educate the community in the project.
• Completed urban forestry practices must utilize and adhere to the most current versions of the American National Standards Institute A300, Z60.1 Standards & International Society of Arboriculture Best Management Practices.
• Project team – A new or established project team comprised of industry professionals, community citizens, municipal government staff and stakeholder organizations must be engaged in the completion of the project and fulfill the following roles.
  • Project contributors providing professional services to complete work must be adequately credentialed for tasks/role on the project.
  • Administration & finance
    • Administrative and accounting professional must develop the project budget and maintain all reporting and request for reimbursement documentation.
  • Communications products & services
    • A communications professional must develop your outreach activities and publish your outreach and educational products.
  • Urban forestry services and products
    • A urban forestry professional with the following qualifications must complete the work or supervise, review and sign off on the work.
    • A degree in urban forestry or a closely related field (e.g., forestry, arboriculture, horticulture);
    • International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Certified Arborist, American Society of Consulting Arborists Registered Arborist, Society of American Foresters Certified Forester, or equivalent State or professional credential; and/or,
    • Additional accepted credentials
      • International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Certified Urban Forest Professional
      • Society of American Foresters Certified Urban and Community Forester Credential
• Final report – A professionally published two-to-four-page infographic-style report summarizing and illustrating the project need, goal, objectives and accomplishments.
• You must contact your N.C. Forest Service county ranger and inform him/her that you are submitting an application.

Requirements for Most Applications

• Project deliverables and work plan
  • The progress and completion of any project are measured by the completion of urban forestry practices and community forestry. For the purposes of our agreement, we term these deliverables. The following document provides the definitions of deliverables we use for the application process by U&CF practice and activity category.
    • NCFS U&CF FAP Glossary of Deliverables and Requirements
  • Each RFA will offer project duration options in blocks of months. For each project quarter (three-month period), the application will ask you to select the deliverables from a list and provide brief work completion narrative describing how the deliverables will be completed.
• Project budget
  • Develop a project budget. Complete your project budget using the appropriate RFA budget form. These forms can be found under the financial assistance request for applications section on the U&CF resources and specifications webpage. Follow the instructions provided in the form, and provide the information as requested for each column of data.
• Goods and services quotes are required.
  • A single quote for all eligible goods to be purchased and reimbursed.
  • A single quote from a qualified service provider (as noted above) for the professional services to be used to complete the project.
  • Proper state or local service procurement policies will need to be followed during the implementation of the project.

Apply -- Request for Applications

Requests for applications (RFAs) will be advertised and posted at the bottom of this page within the respective financial assistance program package section. Use these links to learn RFA-specific information and to access the electronic application.

There will be regularly scheduled offerings January and July each year, however there may be additional special offerings between these dates.