On Jan. 25, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson and the Florida Forest Service announced that $2.6 million is now available to landowners through the Sequestering Carbon and Protecting Florida Land Program. The program offers landowners incentive payments to help increase the acreage of healthy forests in Florida.

Forests remove carbon dioxide emissions as well as produce oxygen, contribute to clean water, and provide homes for wildlife. The Sequestering Carbon and Protecting Florida Land Program Florida is open to non-industrial, private landowners, local governments, and registered nonprofit organizations. Applicants may request funding for tree establishment site preparation practices on a minimum of 20 acres and up to a maximum of 500 acres. In 2022, the Florida Legislature appropriated more than $8 million for this program. More than $5 million has already been used to increase the acreage of healthy forests in Florida, and the remaining $2.6 million will be used by landowners to prepare for future plantings. 

To obtain an application and learn more about the Sequestering Carbon and Protecting Florida Land Program Florida, visit: FDACS.gov/CarbonProgram