Community Reforestation Grants

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation administers the Community Reforestation (CoRe) Grant Program through its Urban and Community Forestry Program. Round 2 supports projects that expand, restore, and establish healthy forested natural areas in or near urban communities across New York State. DEC describes forested natural areas as an important component of the urban forest and as green infrastructure that can provide cooling, improve air and water quality, support wildlife habitat and biodiversity, reduce stormwater runoff, moderate extreme heat, store carbon, and increase community resilience. The program also supports New York State's broader tree planting and climate goals, including the initiative to plant 25 million trees by 2033. Approximately $20 million is available for this grant round through the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022. Up to $4 million is available to State agencies, State authorities, and State public benefit corporations. Of the $16 million available to other eligible bidders, up to $4 million is available for smaller projects requesting $300,000 to $500,000. Individual awards must be at least $300,000 and may not exceed $3,000,000. This is principally a reimbursement grant, although advance payments of up to 25 percent of the awarded amount may be available to eligible not-for-profit grantees after the State contract is fully approved. No matching funds are required. Eligible costs include qualifying professional and technical services, project-related salaries and fringe benefits, certain equipment rental or purchases under $5,000 per unit, project-related travel, tree and shrub stock, herbicide, fencing, tree protection, supplies, and other approved implementation expenses. Administrative costs may not exceed 20 percent of the total grant amount. Costs outside the approved contract term, indirect and overhead costs, land acquisition, individual-tree maintenance after the commissioning period, trail planning or construction, drones, and equipment purchases above $5,000 per unit are among the ineligible expenses. Eligible projects must implement Afforestation/Reforestation, Forest Stand Restoration/Competing Vegetation Control, Deer Exclosure, or a combination of these practices. Projects must occur on non-federal public property, qualifying privately owned land that is open to the public, or federally or State-recognized Tribal reservation land, and must generally fall within the geographic boundaries shown on the CoRe eligibility map. Eligible bidders include New York State municipalities and specified local governmental entities and districts, Indian nations or tribes recognized by New York State or the United States with a reservation wholly or partly within New York State, qualifying 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporations, and New York State agencies, including the State University of New York and individual campuses. Individuals and unincorporated groups cannot apply directly, although an eligible fiscal sponsor may apply on behalf of an unincorporated group. A cooperative project must designate one eligible lead bidder, and partner letters documenting the collaboration are required. Applications must be submitted through the NYS Statewide Financial System Grants Management System, except that paper bids may be accepted from State agencies that cannot enter bids in SFS Grants Management. All bidders must be registered and prequalified in SFS Grants Management at the application deadline, and not-for-profit applicants must have approved prequalification status or they will be disqualified. Applicants must prepare an itemized expenditure-based budget, work plan with objectives, tasks and performance measures, required maps and site photographs, the applicable Project Practice Plan Template, long-term maintenance plan, tree and plant list approval, estimates for applicable expenses over $1,000, required property permission or endorsement documentation where applicable, and required certifications. These include the Sexual Harassment Prevention Certification, Executive Order No. 16 Certification, and Gender-Based Violence and the Workplace Certification. Projects involving partners require collaboration letters. Applicants must also permit a DEC forester to conduct a site visit as part of evaluation. Applications first undergo a pass/fail eligibility review. Eligible applications then receive technical and cost evaluation by a DEC review panel, with each eligible bid individually evaluated by at least three technical reviewers. Scoring totals 100 points and considers project description, planning and timeline; number of trees planted; community outreach and engagement; long-term planning; Tree Equity Score; disadvantaged-community location; work plan quality and anticipated reforestation impact; organizational capacity; objectives, tasks and performance measures; and cost effectiveness. Cost effectiveness is worth up to 20 points. Final reviewer scores are averaged and projects are ranked from highest to lowest. Projects should achieve at least 50 percent of the available points to be considered awardable. Funding is awarded from the highest-ranked eligible project downward until available funds are exhausted. Cost effectiveness is the first tie breaker, followed by the order in which applications were received. The application period opened at 8:30 a.m. on August 4, 2026. An informational webinar is scheduled for August 20, 2026, and questions are accepted through 2:00 p.m. on October 28, 2026. The first page contains an internal deadline conflict: its heading states a bid due date of "2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 15, 2026," while the Timetable of Key Events on the same page states that bids are due at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 4, 2026. November 4, 2026 is in fact a Wednesday, whereas November 15, 2026 is not, so November 4, 2026 is used for structured entry but the deadline should be verified with DEC before reliance or submission. Awards are anticipated by January 2027. Projects must be capable of completion and invoicing within a five-year contract period, and long-term maintenance and monitoring obligations generally extend for 10 years. Quarterly narrative reporting is required, a final report is due no later than 60 days after the contract period ends, and recipients must report planted trees through the 25 Million Trees Initiative Tree Tracker Tool. Program questions may be directed to urbanforestry@dec.ny.gov with "CoRe 2026" in the subject line; SFS technical assistance is available through helpdesk@sfs.ny.gov.

Discuss the project with the regional DEC urban forester early in planning; satisfy every pass/fail eligibility requirement and required upload before submission; submit before the deadline rather than waiting until the final day; provide detailed, clear and totaled budget information with estimates for applicable expenses over $1,000; include only eligible and reasonable costs; separately identify after-planting care and maintenance expenses; ensure objectives, tasks and performance measures cover all deliverables and expenses; demonstrate meaningful community need and engagement; provide a realistic five-year implementation timeline and strong 10-year maintenance strategy; maximize cost-effectiveness because it is worth up to 20 points and is the first tie breaker