The DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) is seeking applicants for two new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service competitive grant programs: wildland-urban interface and landscape scale restoration grants.

Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) grants provide funds to mitigate risk from wildland fire. Funds are awarded through a competitive process with emphasis on hazard fuel reduction, information and education, assessment and planning, and monitoring through community and landowner action.

DOFAW is looking for other non-federal landowners, agencies and organizations interested in collaborating on joint projects across land ownership and management boundaries for both programs.

Projects that do not qualify include suppression capacity building, such as the purchase of fire department equipment. Applications must describe how the project connects with the goals of the Hawai’i Forest Action Plan and an existing Community Wildfire Protection Plan.See 2022 WUI Grant Criteria and Instructions for more information.

Landscape Scale Restoration (LSR) grants address priority landscapes and/or issues identified in the Hawai’i Forest Action Plan and encourage collaborative, science-based restoration projects that encompass a diversity of ownerships at a scale that can address the restoration objectives identified in the project.

Eligible activities following priorities outlined in the Hawaiʻi Forest Action Plan include:

1.    Water Quality and Quantity

2.    Forest Health: Invasive Species, Insects, and Disease

3.    Wildfire

4.    Urban and Community Forestry

5.    Climate Change and Sea Level Rise

6.    Conservation of Native Biodiversity

7.    Hunting, Nature-Based Recreation, and Tourism

8.    Forest Products and Carbon Sequestration

9.    U.S. Tropical Island State and Territorial Issues

Ineligible activities include but are not limited to purchasing of land, purchasing of technical equipment greater than $5,000 without prior approval by United States Forest Service (USFS), work on federal land, construction (e.g. new buildings or roads), and research-related activities.

Deadlines for the WUI and LSR grant applications for 2021 will be accepted by DOFAW via email only up until 12:00 PM (HST) on September 30th, 2021.

Email WUI applications to Michael Walker (State Fire Protection Forester) using subject header “WUI Request for Interest”

Email LSR applications* to Tanya Rubenstein (Cooperative Resource Management Forester) using subject header “LSR Request for Interest”

All applications are reviewed and prioritized by DOFAW who will load selected proposals into the relevant online system for submission for the competitive western region review/scoring process.

Non-federal landowners, agencies and organizations interested in applying to either grant program are encouraged to register their organization by September 5, 2021.