Pathways to Resilient Forests

Background:

The Guild competed for this Inflation Reduction Act funding and was awarded nearly $2 million to increase wildfire resilience on private lands. Qualified landowners are eligible for this program at no cost. We will be conducting pilot projects in 2025 and lots of work on the 2-3-2 landscape in 2026 and 2027, with the goal of connecting landowners to private markets to fund ongoing work.

The Program:

The program will provide forest stewardship planning and treatments to underserved landowners and those stewarding less than 2,500 acres throughout the 2-3-2 landscape in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. Treatments will improve private forest resilience and support landowner participation in forest restoration practices and emerging markets. Interested landowners will enroll with the Forest Stewards Guild to bundle their property with neighboring or adjacent parcels into one shared stewardship plan and hire contractors to treat the bundle as one project for efficiency and shared benefit.  

Benefits for landowners:  

• Custom Forest Management Plans: Landowners will receive professional, tailored forest management plans developed by consulting foresters at no personal cost.   

• Improved Forest Resilience: Thinning and prescribed burns reduce wildfire risk, improve drought resistance, and mitigate pest and disease outbreaks to boost forest health.   

• Support for Underserved Landowners: Prioritizing those with less access to forestry initiatives, including small-acreage owners, veterans, Tribes, and communities in high-poverty areas.   

• Access to Emerging Markets: Participants will receive guidance on unlocking potential new revenue streams in emerging carbon, water, and biodiversity markets. Emerging markets include selling carbon credits to offset emissions, water management incentives, and wildlife habitat conservation programs.   

• Inter-Generational Impact: By restoring natural fire regimes and increasing forest health, landowners and their families will benefit from safer, more resilient landscapes for years to come.   

 

Many property owners are eligible for this program, including:  

1. Landowners stewarding less than 2,500 acres within the 2-3-2 landscape. See map below. 
2. Beginning Forest Landowners: Owned their forested land for less than 10 years. 
3. Forest Landowner in High Poverty Areas: Rio Ariba and Sandoval counties in New Mexico and Archuleta, Hinsdale, Mineral, Rio Grande and Conejos counties in Colorado. 
4. Federally Recognized Tribes: Including Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, Santa Clara Pueblo, Jicarilla Apache Nation, and the Southern Ute lands within the 2-3-2 landscape. 
5. Limited Resource Producers: Individuals with gross forest product sales under $227,100 or household income below $31,200—or 50% of county median income in the past two years ($33,400 in Archuleta, $38,200 in Sandoval). Landowners can voluntarily self-identify using the Self-Determination Tool for Limited Resource Farmer/Rancher (https://lrftool.sc.egov.usda.gov).   
6. Veterans: Recently discharged and have not owned land for more than 10 years.  

For more information, see the contacts in the yellow bar below.