Browse Ambrook’s collection of funding programs by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP)

Contact a NJ Approved Forester and / or a NJ Forest Service Regional Office. A NJ Forest Service forester will meet once with any New Jersey landowner to discuss forest stewardship and explain cost share assistance.

Deadline text on the page: No deadline; ongoing enrollment. Is there a fee to enroll? No.

General office

Northern Region Office

Central Region Office

Southern Region Office

New Jersey woodland owners with at least 5 forested acres can get Farmland Assessment property tax rates by following a 10-year Forest Stewardship Plan written by an approved consulting forester and approved by the NJ Forest Service. Unlike the older woodland management plan route, there is no income requirement, but the owner must manage the forest every year according to the plan and monitor progress in plan years 3, 6 and 9.



- Minimum of 5 acres of forest land, or land capable of being a forest and scheduled to be forested (at least 10% canopy cover or capable of it over the plan period)
- Must follow an approved forest management plan written by a consulting forester
- Must actively manage the forest every year according to the approved Forest Stewardship Plan and monitor progress

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

Discount

10-year Forest Stewardship Plan; monitoring every three years (plan years 3, 6, 9); record keeping required and subject to NJ Forest Service inspection. Existing plans that want the no-income-requirement benefit must convert to a plan meeting N.J.A.C. 7:3-5.2. No enrollment fee.

Published amounts: Woodland owners can be eligible for reduced property taxes if they follow a state-approved forestry plan. There are no longer income requirements to qualify (NJFW Private Lands page).

Submit electronically in NJDEP SAGE with the proposal narrative, project timeline, budget, draft monitoring plan, maintenance plan and NCS Application Tool site map (templates on the NCS grant page).

Deadline text on the page: APPLICATION DEADLINE Rolling; NOTIFICATION DATE Within 120 days after submission. Round 2 ($60 million) announced July 29, 2025; Round 2 awards announced Dec 19, 2025, Apr 22, 2026 and Sep 22, 2026.

RGGI-funded grants for projects that restore New Jersey's natural carbon sinks: living shorelines, tidal wetland flow and salt-marsh vegetation restoration, forest restoration, and urban forest canopy. Forest restoration projects can be on degraded forest or former agricultural fields and must be at least 1 acre and 120 feet wide. Private landowners can apply with a 25% match; governments, universities and nonprofits need no match.



- State, county, and local government units, school boards
- New Jersey universities and colleges; interstate agencies
- Private landowners owning property in New Jersey (private property project must provide 25% matching funds)
- 501(c)(3) nonprofits authorized to operate in New Jersey

A lump sum of money for a specific purpose that does not need to be paid back.

Grant

Reimbursement basis on a completed expenditure report; match only required for private, for-profit entities or individuals. Forest restoration minimum 1 acre and 120 feet wide.

Published amounts: Round 2 will dedicate $60 million dollars for blue and green carbon projects. Private property project must provide 25% matching funds. Grant funds will be awarded on a reimbursement basis.

List of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) Funding Opportunities