This program is designed to help increase the acreage of healthy forests in Florida.

Florida's Future Forests Program is designed to help increase the acreage of healthy forests in Florida by assisting Florida landowners in making the long-term investment required to establish and/or maintain this valuable ecosystem. The program offers landowners cost-share payments for conducting certain approved forest management practices that establish new forest stands. This program is administered by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ (FDACS) Florida Forest Service and is funded by the state of Florida.

The Florida Forest Service will focus the use of funds providing cost-share payments to landowners to encourage implementation of approved tree-establishment practices, including site preparation, seedling purchase and planting. 

How to Apply 

The 2026 program will be accepting applications from January 13–March 27, 2026. To initiate the application process, the landowner, or an authorized representative of the landowner, must contact the Florida Forest Service (FFS) County Forester assigned to the county where the property is located.

Contact a County Forester

The application process is comprised of the following six general steps in order:

1. The landowner, or an authorized representative of the landowner, will contact the appropriate FFS County Forester.
2. The FFS County Forester or an FDACS designee will schedule and conduct a site visit to determine the eligibility of the property according to the rules of the program and to verify which practices, if any, are appropriate for the site.
3. Following the site visit, the FFS County Forester or an FDACS designee will confirm with the landowner (or the landowner’s authorized representative) the acreage and practices the landowner is applying for through the program.
4. The FFS County Forester or a FDACS designee will use the required applicant information supplied by the landowner (or the landowner’s authorized representative) and information collected during their site visit to create a practice map and an application record using the FFS Customer Relationship Management (CRM) online portal. 
5. The FFS County Forester or an FDACS designee will sign the completed Attachment A document and send it to the landowner (or the landowner’s authorized representative). Once reviewed and signed by the landowner (or the landowner’s authorized representative), a copy of the fully signed Attachment A document will be submitted to the FFS County Forester or the FDACS designee who signed Attachment A.
6.  The FFS County Forester or an FDACS designee will upload the fully signed Attachment A, map and substitute W9 documents into the FFS CRM online portal, completing the application process. Once all required applicant information and a fully signed Attachment A, map and substitute W9 documents are uploaded into the FFS CRM online portal, the application is considered complete and submitted.

Interested applicants can find more information about the program and the application process by viewing the request for application. Applications will not be accepted by mail or email. After the application period has closed, applicants will be ranked and notified of the results with an official letter by email. No on-the-ground work may commence before a contract is executed between the successful applicant and FDACS.

Applicants are limited to non-industrial private landowners; county or local governments; or legally organized and registered nonprofit organizations, entities or institutions owning their own lands. Florida landowners with a practice area of a minimum of 10 acres are encouraged to apply. Funding opportunities max out at 250 acres of forest establishment.

Practice Categories

Site Preparation

• Prescribed Burning: Can be used to clear logging debris from the planting site or as a control method for grasses and woody vegetation that compete with the pine seedlings.
• Mechanical: Any mechanical treatment to remove debris or vegetative competition or to prepare the soil for pine seedling establishment. Examples would be root raking, subsoiling, bedding, scalping, shearing or any other activity approved by the Florida Forest Service.
• Chemical: Pre-planting herbicide treatment to control grasses and woody shrubs that would compete with the pine seedlings. Chemical treatment is recommended where prescribed burning is a more restrictive option.

Planting

• Machine Planting: Method used with a wheeled tractor or crawler.
• Hand Planting: Method used by an individual with a dibble, hoedad or shovel.

Seedlings

• Containerized: Pine seedlings that are grown in soil plugs and shipped with soil formed around the roots. 
• Bareroot: Pine seedlings that have no soil around their roots when shipped.

Multiple site preparation practices are eligible for funding as deemed appropriate by a Florida Forest Service Forester. All practices must be completed no later than April 30, 2027.