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The Challenge Cost-Share Grant Program
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An
important way the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council can
fulfill its vision and make a positive impact on community forests nationwide,
both now and in the future, is through its annual challenge cost-share program.
Each
October, a request for pre-proposals is distributed nationwide. Brief proposals
are then evaluated by the Council on the basis of meeting the specified
criteria and demonstrating merit relative to the other proposals. Selected
applicants are then invited to submit full proposals for final judging in this
competitive program. In all cases, project funding must be matched on at least
a 50-50 basis from non-federal sources and the project must have national
scope, application, and distribution of its findings. Projects that will only have a local impact (i.e. local tree
planting projects) do not qualify under this program.
Grant
categories are established annually and are used to meet the Council's goals.
In recent years the categories have been:
Research and Technology Development
· GOAL
- To understand the relationship between urban and community forest resources
and humans.
These are projects that examine
the effects of urban and community forest resources on human development,
experience, and behavior, as well as the effects of human activities on trees
and community forests. Other research-related projects are considered that have
the potential to contribute in a practical way to the better understanding of
other social or biological aspects of urban ecosystems.
Education, Communication and Outreach
· GOAL
- To increase the public’s understanding of the value of the urban and
community forest, and responsibility for its health.
Successful projects in this category either communicate
effectively to a large number of people or they provide innovative and workable
ways to reach specific groups with important and sometimes complex information.
Messages delivered through these projects vary widely and can range from an
appreciation of the value of trees to detailed information about proper pruning
or the legal liabilities of hazard trees.
Creative and Innovative Projects
· GOAL
- To support creative and innovative urban forestry ideas, stimulate the
development of additional funding for urban forestry through private sector
support and local investments, and cultivate private sector partnerships that
leverage investments of human and financial resources.
