Forest Service Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy RFA 2022 | USDA FS 2022 COHESIVE STRATEGY

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA FS 2022 COHESIVE STRATEGY

The Forest Service Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy RFA 2022 is a discretionary grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (CFDA 10.697) focused on reducing wildfire risk and improving wildfire outcomes through coordinated, cross-boundary work. It sits under the Forest Service approach often described as "Moving Toward Shared Stewardship Across Landscapes," which emphasizes making strategic investments at the landscape scale and aligning efforts among federal, state, tribal, and local partners. The specific intent of this request for applications is to fund projects in the Forest Service Eastern Region that help implement the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy across Midwestern and Northeastern states, while also reflecting the priorities and budget direction for that fiscal year.

The opportunity is structured around the three core national goals of the National Cohesive Strategy. The first is to "Restore and Maintain Landscapes," meaning applicants are expected to propose work that improves the resilience of forests, grasslands, and other fire-prone landscapes across all jurisdictions so that they can better absorb fire-related disturbance and still meet land management objectives. In practice, this can include actions that reduce hazardous fuels, improve ecological conditions, and support long-term landscape health in ways that make wildfire behavior more manageable and less destructive.

The second goal is to "Create Fire Adapted Communities," which centers on helping communities prepare for wildfire so that people, homes, and critical infrastructure are better able to withstand a fire event without loss of life or major property damage. Projects aligned with this goal often involve community risk reduction planning, improving defensible space practices, supporting mitigation measures around structures and key infrastructure, and strengthening local readiness through education, coordination, and implementation of proven risk-reduction activities. The emphasis is on practical steps that reduce vulnerability and improve a community's ability to live safely with wildfire as a recurring hazard.

The third goal is to "Improve Wildfire Response," which focuses on strengthening interagency and cross-jurisdictional capacity to make safe, effective, and efficient wildfire management decisions based on risk. The language of the opportunity highlights participation across jurisdictions, pointing to collaborative planning, shared decision-making frameworks, and coordinated operational approaches that enhance responder safety and improve outcomes during incidents. This goal supports the idea that better pre-fire alignment and clearer risk-based strategies lead to stronger response performance when fires occur.

Administratively, this funding opportunity (USDA FS 2022 COHESIVE STRATEGY) was posted on November 8, 2021, with an original application closing date of January 14, 2022. Awards are provided as grants, with an award ceiling of $300,000 per award and an expectation of about 30 awards. The funding activity category is Natural Resources, signaling that proposals should be grounded in land and community wildfire risk management and aligned with the Cohesive Strategy outcomes.

Eligibility is broad and designed to encourage partnerships and local implementation capacity. Eligible applicants include state governments; county, city, township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments; and nonprofit organizations, including both 501(c)(3) organizations and nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status (with the notice indicating that additional eligibility clarifications may apply). This wide eligibility reflects the program's emphasis on shared stewardship and the reality that wildfire risk reduction and preparedness often depend on coordinated local and regional leadership rather than actions by any single agency.

Overall, the RFA is best understood as a competitive investment tool for the Eastern Region to move cohesive wildfire strategy principles into on-the-ground projects. It prioritizes work that meaningfully reduces risk at appropriate scales, strengthens community adaptation to wildfire, and improves how agencies and partners plan for and respond to wildfire incidents, especially where responsibilities and land ownership are mixed and outcomes depend on coordination.

• The Department of Agriculture, Forest Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Forest Service Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy RFA 2022" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.697.
• This funding opportunity was created on Nov 08, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 14, 2022. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $300,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 30 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for USDA FS 2022 COHESIVE STRATEGY

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: