CAL FIRE is seeking applications for its Wood Products and Bioenergy Business and Workforce Development Grant Program.
Donor Name: CAL FIRE
State: California
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 03/31/2022
Size of the Grant: $5,000,000
Details:
The Wood Products and Bioenergy Team (Wood Products) is part of CAL FIRE’s Climate and Energy Program. Wood Products awards funding for business and workforce development projects that support healthy resilient forests and the people and ecosystems that depend on them. Wood Products has four primary areas of responsibility, including existing and emerging technologies:
- Facilities development, including solid wood and biomass processing and manufacturing, and tree nurseries
- Bioenergy, including forest bio-material power generation and biofuels for domestic use and export
- Forest-related workforce development at all levels including in-woods, transportation, and manufacturing
- Research and development that is ancillary to forest-related business and workforce development.
CAL FIRE Wood Products supports the creation of a robust and diversified wood products industry to facilitate the economic and sustainable management of California’s forests. Grant projects shall reduce GHG emissions, strengthen the economy, and improve public health. Grants will create financial incentives for industries to invest in clean technologies, develop innovative ways to process wood products, and support the growth of a strong forest sector workforce.
Funding Information
- Business Development:
- Minimum Award Request: $10,000
- Maximum Award Request: $500,000
- Grant Match Requirement: 1:1
- Minimum Award Request: $500,000
- Maximum Award Request: $2,000,000
- Grant Match Requirement: 1:2
- Workforce Development
- Minimum Award Request: $10,000
- Maximum Award Request: $500,000
- Grant Match Requirement: No match requirement
- Minimum Award Request: $500,000
- Maximum Award Request: $5,000,000
- Grant Match Requirement: 9:1
Eligibility Criteria
Business Development
Business development proposals submitted by an organization whose operations have the potential to support forest restoration and/or wood products infrastructure in California will be considered. Research and Development ancillary to the business development topics identified below will also be considered. Eligible business development project applicants include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Academic institutions
- Local agencies, including counties, cities, and special districts
- State agencies
- Federal agencies
- Native American tribes
- Non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations
- Private entities including businesses, foundations, or others not listed above
Furthermore, business development project applicants should be involved in at least one of the following business endeavors:
- Primary wood processing for wholesale and retail markets
- Tree nursery capacity/facilities improvement
- Seedlings must be made available for private landowners
- Chip processing
- Logging, forestry, or other forest-industry support services
- Includes:
- Wood utilization and/or marketing
- Secondary wood processing that creates demand-pull for California primary wood processing
- Fuels treatments, commercial logging, forested right-of-way clearing
- Includes:
- Does not include:
- Urban forestry
- Arborist/tree trimming
- Bioenergy facility development or enhancement (e.g. fuels, gasification, pyrolysis, thermal, power, and/or advanced energy production) that use forest biomass as feedstock
- Forest biomass feedstock sorting and/or aggregation from various sources
Workforce Development
Applicants seeking to increase California’s workforce capacity in the fields of logging, fuels treatment, forest sector transportation, forest sector manufacturing, or other forest sector support services are eligible to apply for workforce development funding. Research and Development ancillary the workforce development topics discussed above will also be considered. Eligible workforce development project applicants include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Academic institutions
- Local agencies, including counties, cities, and special districts
- State agencies
- Federal agencies
- Native American tribes
- Non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations
- Private entities including businesses, foundations, or others not listed above
For more information, visit Wood Products and Bioenergy Business and Workforce Development.