Fire on the Forty Grant Program

Fire on the Forty is a prescribed fire cost-share initiative focused on increasing the use of controlled burning practices on privately owned lands in Mississippi. The program is administered through a partnership involving the Mississippi Partners for Fish and Wildlife and is designed to encourage landowners to adopt prescribed fire as a habitat management and forestry tool. The initiative recognizes that prescribed burning is one of the most effective land management practices for maintaining native plant communities, supporting upland wildlife habitat, reducing encroachment by undesirable woody vegetation, and lowering the risk of catastrophic wildfire through fuel reduction. The program specifically targets privately owned fields and upland forests located within designated focal counties in Mississippi where habitat connectivity and landscape-level management objectives can be achieved more effectively. The primary goal of the Fire on the Forty campaign is to expand the amount of fire-maintained habitat in biologically significant focal areas through outreach, education, and financial assistance. The program emphasizes the importance of prescribed fire for species such as bobwhite quail and rabbits that depend on early successional habitats maintained through periodic burning. By concentrating efforts in targeted geographic areas, the initiative seeks to create connected habitat patches that improve wildlife movement between managed properties. The program also intends to increase awareness and adoption of prescribed burning practices among neighboring landowners by demonstrating successful habitat outcomes and promoting local participation through workshops and hands-on educational opportunities. The initiative includes a cost-share reimbursement program that provides financial assistance to eligible private landowners implementing prescribed burning activities. Approved projects may receive reimbursement for up to 75 percent of eligible prescribed fire implementation costs, subject to a maximum per-acre reimbursement rate established by the program. Although the exact reimbursement cap per acre is not specified in the source material, the program clearly states that cost-sharing is intended to offset the expenses and liability concerns that often discourage private landowners from conducting prescribed burns. Eligible expenses are associated with implementing and conducting prescribed fire activities on approved properties located within selected focal counties. Participation in the program requires submission of an application for entry into the funding cycle. Applications are competitively ranked based on the anticipated habitat benefits associated with the proposed prescribed fire project. Funding decisions are made by the Mississippi Partners for Fish and Wildlife after review and ranking of all submitted applications. The application process is recurring, and applications submitted after the close of a funding cycle are retained by the Fire on the Forty Steering Committee until the next funding cycle begins. This structure allows interested landowners to submit applications year-round even if active review is temporarily closed. For the 2026 funding cycle, applications began being accepted on May 1, 2026, and the application deadline was June 19, 2026. Approved projects under the 2026 cycle may receive funding support through April 30, 2027, which serves as the project funding period end date. The program indicates that future funding cycles are expected because applications submitted after the deadline are held for the next cycle. This recurring language demonstrates that the initiative operates on an ongoing annual or cyclical basis rather than as a one-time opportunity. The source material emphasizes outreach and educational support as important components of the initiative. Landowners are encouraged to learn proper prescribed fire application techniques through workshops and hands-on training opportunities coordinated through the campaign. Questions regarding the application process or additional program details may be directed to the program contacts through the provided email addresses. The source lists privatelands@wfp.ms.gov and john.gruchy@wfp.ms.gov as official points of contact for application support and program inquiries. No phone number, formal application portal, or downloadable PDF guidance document was provided in the source material.

Projects demonstrating strong habitat benefits and contribution to fire maintained habitat connectivity within focal areas may be more competitive.