National Forest – Dependent Rural Communities

The Department of Agriculture Forest Service administered the National Forest-Dependent Rural Communities program (CFDA 10.670) through its most recent grant award in July 2010, making this program inactive for the past 16 years. The program provided Project Grants to rural communities located in or near national forests that were economically dependent on forest resources, funding strategic action plans, economic diversification initiatives, tourism development, infrastructure projects, and community planning activities.

All 91 awards since the program's inception in 2000 came from the Forest Service as the sole funding agency, obligating $3.8 million in federal dollars with $8.9 million in total obligated funds when including non-federal cost-share contributions. Award activity peaked in 2005 with ten grants, then declined sharply—one grant each in 2008, 2009, and 2010—suggesting the program wound down over the final half-decade of operation. The portfolio comprised exclusively Project Grants.

Recent awards demonstrate the program's scope: a $774,802 grant for hunting and fishing museum design and recreation center rehabilitation in Tionesta (2005); a $2 million conservation easement purchase on Kealakekua in Hawaii (2007); and $473,500 for nature tourism initiatives including trail networks and training programs in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (2005). Smaller awards supported community coordinators, feasibility studies, tourism promotion materials, town infrastructure improvements, and workforce training in trades like electrical power distribution and forestry-dependent sectors.

No grant opportunities are currently posted. The program has not issued awards since 2010 and shows no indication of resuming activity.