***2022 Community Challenge Grant Application Period is Now Open***
The Community Challenge Grant Program focuses on activities to encourage and promote citizen involvement in supporting long-term and sustainable urban and community forestry programs at the local level. Local and tribal governments, non-profit organizations, and public educational institutions qualify.
Community Challenge Grants are intended for promoting and enhancing the quality of Arizona’s urban and community forests. The program aims to fund projects that might not otherwise be funded through existing budgets, and research project funding is intended as “seed-grants” because of the limited funding available. All proposed projects should be designed to improve the long-term health and care of the urban forest, or initiate new urban forestry projects in Arizona communities.
In evaluating grant proposals, consideration will be given to projects that:
- Improve understanding of the benefits of protecting, maintaining, and preserving tree cover.
- Promote volunteerism, multi-cultural awareness, and involvement of nonprofit organizations, agencies, and the private sector in implementing urban and community forestry programs.
- Increase the number of communities assisted through technology transfer, training, and education in tree care or urban natural resource management.
- Increase the number of partnerships and cooperators in urban and community forestry activities through technical, financial, and in-kind support.
- Increase the number of communities given technical, financial, or other forms of urban and community forestry assistance (i.e. tree inventories, tree board establishment, ordinance development, management plans, or infrastructure).
- Enhance the technical skills of individuals involved in the planning, developing, and maintaining urban and community forestry programs.
- Expand existing research intended to improve understanding of southwestern (a) tree growth and maintenance, tree physiology and morphology, and species adaptations; and (b) the role of urban trees in conserving energy and mitigating the urban heat island.
All projects selected for funding should be completed within one year and a final project presentation is required at the annual Community Forestry Grantee Showcase that is held every fall.
How to Apply
Please apply online and follow the instructions provided. Be sure to review all links prior to submitting an application. All applications are due by 11:59 pm (AZ Time) on November 1, 2022.
The theme for 2022 is Using Technology for Management and Maintenance of Trees!
CCG Application Submissions Guide
For more information on the grant application process or questions about DFFM's Urban and Community Forestry Program please email Cori Dolan.
***Please note*** The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management will never ask you for money or gift cards in exchange for a grant or promises of future funding. If you are contacted by anyone asking for money in regards to this Community Challenge Grant or any of our other grant opportunites - that is a scam - and we ask you to report that to the Arizona Attorney General's Office Criminal Complaint division.
2021 Community Challenge Grantees
Theme: Planning for Trees
Huachuca City-
Project Title: Community Wellness, Nature, and Rainwater Harvesting
Amount Awarded - $25,000
Community Foodbank of Southern AZ -
Project Title: Sonoran Mesquite Barrio Restorative Alliance
Amount Awarded - $24,750
Tucson Clean and Beautiful
Project Title: City of Tucson Community Forest Plan and Tree Inventory
Amount Awarded - $45,000
The Nature Conservancy
Project Title: Building Urban Leadership Academy
Amount Awarded - 37,750
