Contour Lines Tree Planting Grant

Contour Lines supports tree-planting projects worldwide. Depending on the project, Contour Lines may offer technical services, work models, or direct funding for trees, training or tools. Taken on a case by case basis, Contour Lines select projects for their potential to regenerate land at scale and on their capabilities and willpower to create impacts in line with their mission and vision.

Contour Lines USA officially started agroforestry pilot projects in 2018. To date the program has planted 84,913 trees in over 108 agroforestry systems spanning 25 states. Contour Lines refined implementation process results in a high seeding survival rate at a fraction of the establishment costs of other agroforestry projects. Contour Lines’s North American profile includes small farmers and larger institutions including: Eckerd College, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservation Land Trust, and the Richland Correctional Institute. 

Contour Lines Corp provides grants in the form of free trees and technical assistance in exchange for project recipients implementing certain soil conservation methods such as planting on Contour and mulching. All project recipients will be asked to sign and uphold the Contour Lines USA Working Agreement.

• Must be an organized community or association of at least 5 smallholder farming families.

• Must have access to at least 1 acre (1/2 ha) of land per family, to plant these systems,

• Must understand and support the Contour Lines Mission and Vision,

• Must implement be willing and able to implement the required regenerative agriculture methods.

An in-kind grant, not cash: "Contour Lines Corp provides grants in the form of free trees and technical assistance in exchange for project recipients implementing certain soil conservation methods such as planting on Contour and mulching." Recipients take on an obligation in return — "All project recipients will be asked to sign and uphold the Contour Lines USA Working Agreement."

Grants go to "individuals and institutions in the United States and its territories," and "We review grant applications biannually."

No dollar award, per-tree or per-acre cap, cost-share percentage, or match requirement is published. The only dollar figures on the page are donor-side, not award terms: a US crowdfunding goal of $15,000, and "Other organizations in the USA require $30-60 per tree. However, with Contour Lines unique Community Engagement Model every dollar you give plants a tree on a farm in the United States."

Source caveat: contourlines.org was refusing connections when this was checked on 2026-09-04; the quotes above come from the most recent reachable capture of contourlines.org/usa/ (Internet Archive snapshot dated 2025-09-16), which was then advertising the 2025-2026 planting season.

Apply online using the form on this page.

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