Beginning this month the Maine Forest Service will launch a new forest management funding assistance program aimed at mitigating climate change and increasing carbon sequestration and storage in our woodlots and forests. Funds are available to municipalities and landowners, with 10 to 1,000 acres. The initial application period runs from March 16 to April 30, 2026. The MFS expects that approvals will be issued by the middle of May. A second application period will also open in May.
The focus of the programs will be to allocate funds necessary to manage natural regeneration, plant trees, protect seedlings, thin young stands, combat invasive shrubs and vines, and sanitize diseased stands. More information can be found on the MFS website (see: WoodsWISE information). The program will reimburse landowners from 60% to 80% of treatment costs, up to a fixed rate, depending on their location, ownership tenure, and personal status. Foresters will be required to prepare brief practice plans outlining the treatment objectives; a complete forest management plan is not required. Interested landowners should first contact their local MFS district foresters (see: Finding your district forester). The district forester will then arrange a site visit, preferably with the landowner’s consulting forester, to review objectives and further detail the program. The landowner will then have to submit their contact information, if they meet any “historically underserved landowners” criteria, and a request to be considered for the program.
We see this program as a valuable addition to the cost-share programs run by the Maine Forest Service’s WoodsWISE program and those administered by the USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service. What appears to set this program apart from the others, is its announced rapid turn-around, from application to approval. As an example, as invasive shrubs and vines continue to spread we typically recommend that landowners interesting in harvesting treat existing invasives before loggers arrive. However existing funding programs require several years from application to approval; as a result most move ahead with the timber sale first, which often spurs additional invasives spread. We see this Resilience program as a means to more rapidly deal with the unwanted vegetation in advance of a harvest.