The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced a $10 million investment in forest nursery and native seed partnerships with President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding.
Of the total funding, $4.5 million will go to modernizing forest nurseries in 29 facilities across states, U.S. Island territories, and commonwealths. The remaining $5.3 million will increase native seed collection and native plant availability to restore and support resilient ecosystems in national forests and grasslands. The investment helps build capacity across public and private lands to meet increasing reforestation demands, including planting over 75 billion trees to restore up to 146 million acres of land.
The Forest Service provides direct technical assistance to improve reforestation, restoration, and conservation efforts on public and private lands. The funding can be used to purchase new equipment, adopt new methods, and modernize existing nursery programs.