Browse Ambrook’s collection of funding programs by Indiana Department of Natural Resources (Indiana DNR)

Contact your district forester. After an initial inspection and a written management plan, a registered land surveyor writes a legal description; the application is signed by the landowner, the county assessor and the State Forester, then recorded at the county courthouse.

Deadline text on the page: No deadline published; enrollment is through a district forester at any time.

General office

DNR Division of Forestry

Barbara Ramey

Administrative Assistant (answers public phone and email inquiries)

Indiana's property-tax program for private forest, wetland, shrubland and grassland. Landowners with at least 10 acres who follow a professionally written management plan get their land assessed at a much lower value. Enrolled land also gets free visits from DNR foresters and wildlife biologists, priority for cost-share, and can be "green" certified.



- At least 10.0 contiguous acres of forest, wetland, shrubland and/or grassland (non-forest wildlife habitat).
- Native forest must have at least 40 square feet of basal area per acre or at least 1,000 timber-producing trees per acre; plantations need at least 400 well-established timber-producing trees.
- Not allowed on classified land: grazing by domestic livestock, building houses or sheds, intentional burning outside a written plan, growing Christmas trees.
- A written management plan is required before applying.

A reduction or waiving of fees for meeting a certain criteria.

Discount

Reinspection at least once every seven years and an annual report. If land is withdrawn, back taxes (up to 10 years) plus 10% per year interest are due; land entered after June 30, 2006 also pays $100 per withdrawal and $50 per acre withdrawn. Classified status transfers with the land on sale.

Published amounts: Program landowners receive a property tax reduction in return for following a professionally written management plan. Brochure: "the State of Indiana agrees to see that the assessed value of the land is significantly reduced and taxed on that preferential assessment."

Submit a nomination on the Forest Legacy Application (State Form 50306) to the Division of Forestry's Forest Legacy Coordinator.

Deadline text on the page: The DNR Division of Forestry is accepting nominations for Forest Legacy parcels within the designated Legacy Areas.

Brenda Huter

Forest Legacy Coordinator

The state buys development rights (a permanent conservation easement) from willing owners of important forest land threatened with conversion to non-forest use. Owners keep all other rights, including the right to harvest timber and to sell or pass on the land. Parcels must lie in one of Indiana's six designated Forest Legacy Areas.



- Willing private sellers of environmentally important forest land threatened by conversion to non-forest uses.
- Parcel must be within one of the six designated Indiana Forest Legacy Areas.

Payment per unit of land to do or avoid certain practices related to land management.

Easement

Development rights are held by the state in perpetuity. Landowner keeps timber harvest and sale/bequest rights.

Published amounts: Federal funding can be used for up to 75% of the purchase price for the development rights.

Contact your district wildlife biologist (Division of Fish & Wildlife).

Deadline text on the page: No deadline published; contact a district wildlife biologist.

Division of Fish & Wildlife general inquiries

Reimburses part of a landowner's cost to create habitat for bobwhite quail, pheasant, woodcock, mourning dove, ruffed grouse or wild turkey under a management plan. Pays up to $330 per acre of habitat created, plus incentives of up to $100 per acre for developing and maintaining quality game-bird habitat.



- Landowner must own or control 5 or more acres.
- Habitat work must follow a management plan.
- Not available on any licensed or commercial hunting preserve.

A payment that requires some percentage of matching contributions by the recipient.

Cost Share

Reimbursement at DFW habitat development reimbursement rates; annual cap limits apply. Improvements must be maintained as specified in the management plan for at least three years.

Published amounts: The program may reimburse up to $330 per acre of habitat created. Financial incentives up to $100 per acre may be available for development and maintenance of quality wildlife habitat beneficial to game birds listed in the first sentence. Annual cap limits apply to financial agreements.

Contact your district wildlife biologist or a local Pheasants Forever/Quail Forever or NWTF chapter.

Deadline text on the page: No deadline published.

Indiana DNR and local conservation groups such as Pheasants Forever/Quail Forever or the National Wild Turkey Federation share the cost of game-bird habitat on private land. DNR pays up to 50% of eligible costs, up to $330 per acre, and the sponsoring group adds funds, materials or labor.



- Landowners developing habitat for bobwhite, pheasant, woodcock, mourning dove, ruffed grouse or wild turkey.
- A partner not-for-profit conservation organization must sponsor the project.
- Not available on any licensed or commercial hunting preserve.

Up to 50% cost-share, max $330/acre; annual caps apply; improvements maintained at least three years.

Published amounts: DFW may contribute up to 50% of the reimbursable costs, not to exceed $330 per acre. The sponsoring partnership organization must also contribute funds, materials, or labor. Annual cap limits apply to financial agreements.

Contact a GGS grassland biologist (see contacts).

Deadline text on the page: No deadline published.

Nate Yazel

Southeast Grassland Biologist

Adam Delucenay

North Grassland Biologist

Indiana DNR program that helps landowners create or improve grassland and pollinator habitat in four focal regions of the state. Grassland biologists write a custom plan, and the program offers cost-share and incentive payments. Participants may also enroll in the IPLA hunting-access program for extra payments.



- Land in a GGS focal region: Northwest (Newton, Jasper, Starke, Pulaski, White, Benton, Warren); Northeast (LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Dekalb, Kosciusko, Whitley, Blackford, Jay); Southeast (Jackson, Jennings, Ripley, Dearborn, Jefferson, Scott, Washington, Clark, Floyd, Harrison, Lawrence, Orange); Southwest (Putnam, Clay, Sullivan, Greene, Knox, Daviess, Gibson, Pike, Warrick, Spencer, Vermillion, Parke, Montgomery).

Rates not published; set by the biologist's plan.

Published amounts: Landowner page: "This program provides technical assistance, financial cost-share assistance, and incentive payments to landowners." No rates published.

Land users apply through their county Soil and Water Conservation District; SWCDs submit WLTP grant applications to LARE.

Deadline text on the page: WLTP guidelines (Sept 2026): "Applications for WLTP projects must be submitted by SWCD's by December 31st of the year prior to proposed project operations." LARE page: "LARE applications are due by Jan. 15 of the year grants are awarded."

Lake and River Enhancement Program

Doug Nusbaum

Program Manager

Steve Vaughn

Nate Thomas

Indiana DNR's LARE program, funded by boat registration fees, pays farmers and other land users in targeted lake and river watersheds to install practices that cut sediment and nutrient runoff. Local soil and water conservation districts hold the grant and sign up land users, who receive up to 80% cost-share plus per-acre incentives for practices such as buffers, cover crops and exclusion fencing.



- Land users (landowners or long-term lease holders) in a watershed where a LARE diagnostic study or Section 319 plan has identified significant pollution sources and the local SWCD has a WLTP grant.
- Practices must meet NRCS Field Office Technical Guide standards and be in a conservation plan.
- Practices must be approved before installation.

Up to 80% cost-share; LARE pays 85% of earned cost-share, holding 15% until completion. No more than 50% of one WLTP grant may be used for cover crops. Practices maintained for their prescribed life span.

Published amounts: Cost-share amounts for a practice may be up to 80% of the total practice implementation cost, not to exceed the maximum allowed pursuant descriptions and tables below. Incentives include $600 or $650 per acre for certain practices; cover crops cost-shared at 80% not to exceed $40.00 per acre with a maximum of 300 acres/year.

Contact your district wildlife biologist (District 3 - Northeastern Indiana covers most of the eligible counties).

Deadline text on the page: No deadline published.

Gillian Martin

District 3 Wildlife Biologist (Northeastern Indiana)

Pays landowners in 11 northeast Indiana counties up to 100% of the cost of restoring wetlands and planting native grasses. Delivered jointly by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ducks Unlimited and Indiana DNR's Division of Fish & Wildlife.



- Project must be in one of these counties: Elkhart, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Steuben, Noble, DeKalb, Whitley, Fulton, Marshall, St. Joseph, or Allen.
- Wetland restoration and native grass establishment projects.

Up to 100% reimbursement of eligible restoration costs.

Published amounts: The program reimburses landowners up to 100% of the expenses incurred for the restoration of wetlands and the establishment of native grasses.

Call or email your local district biologist to find out whether your county is eligible and to enroll.

Deadline text on the page: IPLA contracts are one year in length. No enrollment deadline published.

Indiana DNR pays landowners $3 to $150 per acre a year to open their land to controlled public hunting through the state's reserved-hunt draw. Enrolled landowners are also eligible for additional habitat funds and can keep farming the land. Landowners choose which species may be hunted and which areas are open.



- Private landowners in eligible counties (not all counties are eligible).
- Landowners can enroll all or part of their property, including agricultural fields in some situations.

One-year contracts. Liability covered under the Indiana Agrotourism Law (IC 34-31-9); hunters sign waivers. Landowners may farm enrolled land.

Published amounts: Payments can range from $3 to $150 per acre, depending on which species you allow to be hunted on your property.

General wildlife habitat cost-share from Indiana DNR. It reimburses part of a landowner's cost to develop wildlife habitat (not limited to game birds) under a management plan, at the division's set reimbursement rates.



- Landowner must own or control 5 or more acres.
- Habitat work must follow a management plan.

Reimbursement at DFW habitat development reimbursement rates; annual cap limits apply. Improvements must be maintained as specified in the management plan for at least three years.

Published amounts: The program will reimburse the landowner for habitat development projects based on DFW habitat development reimbursement rates. Annual cap limits apply to financial agreements.

List of Indiana Department of Natural Resources (Indiana DNR) Funding Opportunities