Browse Ambrook’s collection of funding programs by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC)

Submit the 480a application form (Certificate of Approval), an annual commitment form, a forester-prepared management plan, and a map/aerial photo to the DEC Regional Forester for the county; file the certificate with the County Clerk and Town Assessor and apply for the exemption with the assessor.

Deadline text on the page: Annual commitment form due to the Town Assessor and DEC Regional Forester each year; DEC issues certificate of approval within 60 days of a complete application.

Department of Environmental Conservation

General office (NYSDEC)

New York's forest tax exemption for private forest owners with at least 50 contiguous forested acres who commit, for 10 years after each annual exemption, to a DEC-approved forest management plan prepared by a forester. Enrolled acreage receives a property-tax exemption; harvests incur a 6% stumpage tax; non-compliance triggers roll-back taxes. Applications go to the DEC Regional Forester for the county.



Any tract of forest land is eligible if it consists of at least 50 contiguous acres, exclusive of any portion not devoted to the production of forest crops; any private owner (individual, corporation, partnership, trust, estate) excluding government entities; any harvest within three years prior must have followed a sound forest management program.

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

Discount

10-year commitment renewing with each annual exemption; management plan and 15-year work schedule updated every 5 years; 6% tax on stumpage value of commercial harvests; penalty/roll-back taxes for non-compliance; subdivisions under 50 acres subject to roll-back.

Published amounts: Property tax exemption on enrolled forest acreage (WAC page: 'Participants can receive up to an 80% property tax reduction'); DEC page: 'Tax savings may vary considerably for different properties .. It is possible that there would be no savings.' 6 percent stumpage tax on commercial harvests.

Complete and submit the Hudson Estuary Trees for Tribs Application (PDF) to the Hudson River Estuary Program by March 1 (spring) or August 1 (fall).

Deadline text on the page: The application deadlines are March 1 for a planting in spring, and August 1 for planting in the fall.

General office (Hudson River Estuary Program)

DEC's Hudson River Estuary Program supplies free native trees and shrubs, and technical help with plant selection and planting plans, to landowners and land managers restoring streamside buffers along Hudson tributaries within the Estuary grant boundary. Applicant prepares, plants and maintains the site, ideally with volunteers.



- Owners or managers of property near a stream.
- The project must be within the Hudson River Estuary Grant Program boundary in New York.
- The planting site must be in a riparian area adjacent to a waterbody; streams are preferred but lakes, ponds, and wetlands are considered.
- The project site must be at least 20 feet wide.
- The project site must be large enough to plant at least 60 plants.
- Applicants must handle all site preparation, planting, and site maintenance.
- Planting areas adjacent to a stormwater pond, drainage ditch, or other man-made structure are not eligible.
- Planting areas separated from the waterbody by a road, structure, or other man-made feature are not eligible.
- Areas already enrolled in another state or federally funded riparian buffer program are not eligible.

Applicant is responsible for preparing, planting and maintaining the site.

Published amounts: Free native trees and shrubs plus plant-selection and planting-plan assistance; no cash award.

Claim the credit each year on your New York State tax return: Form IT-242 for individuals and other filers, or Form CT-242 for corporations.

To file, gather a copy of the filed easement, the survey and tax maps, the date the easement was filed with the County Clerk, the recording information, the name of the agency holding the easement, its DEC CE identification number, and the county, town and school taxes paid on the eased land.

General office (Bureau of Real Property Services)

The Conservation Easement Credit is a refundable New York State income tax credit for landowners whose land is under a permanent conservation easement. It&#x2004;is worth 25% of the school district, county and town property taxes paid on the eased land, up to $5,000 each tax year. If the credit is more than the income tax owed, the landowner receives the difference as a refund. DEC registers eligible easements, and the credit is claimed through the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance. Farm and forest owners who donated an easement, or sold one for less than market value, to a land trust or public agency can qualify.



The Conservation Easement Credit is a refundable New York State income tax credit for landowners whose land is under a permanent conservation easement. It is worth 25% of the school district, county and town property taxes paid on the eased land, up to $5,000 each tax year. If the credit is more than the income tax owed, the landowner receives the difference as a refund. DEC registers eligible easements, and the credit is claimed through the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance. Farm and forest owners who donated an easement, or sold one for less than market value, to a land trust or public agency can qualify.

- Individuals, estates and trusts (including beneficiaries), partners in a partnership (including LLCs taxed as partnerships), and business corporations taxed under Article 9-A of the Tax Law.
- Not available to Subchapter S corporations or their shareholders, not-for-profit corporations, or other kinds of corporations.
- The land must be in New York State and under a permanent conservation easement as defined in Article 49 of the Environmental Conservation Law.
- The easement must be held by a public conservation agency (including soil and water conservation districts, villages, towns and counties) or a private conservation agency such as a not-for-profit land trust.
- The easement must be registered with DEC and have a DEC CE identification number.
- The easement must have been donated or partially donated (sold for less than fair market value). Easements purchased at market value are not eligible.
- Not eligible: rights-of-way, scenic easements, easements created to get subdivision or building permits, and mitigation easements.
- Landowners who live outside New York must file a nonresident income tax return each year to receive the credit.

- Refundable credit of 25% of the school district, county and town real property taxes paid during the tax year on the eased land. Taxes on buildings, structures and other improvements don't count.
- Up to $5,000 each tax year.
- If the credit is more than the income tax owed, the landowner receives a payment for the difference.
- This credit plus any other credit based on the same property taxes can't exceed the taxes paid.

Apply through the NYS Statewide Financial System (SFS) Grants Management portal with a workplan and Excel budget workbook; see the Request for Applications (RFA). Registration help: (855) 233-8363 / helpdesk@sfs.ny.gov.

Deadline text on the page: Round 5 of Regenerate NY is now closed. Awards are anticipated to be announced in late 2026 or early 2027. .. This grant is now closed. Bid requests exhausted grant funds on March 30, 2026, signaling the end of the application period.

Regenerate NY program staff

DEC cost-share grant for non-industrial private forest landowners (under 2,500 acres), not-for-profits, tribes, and entities acting on their behalf to establish or regenerate forests on 5+ acres: afforestation/reforestation, regeneration silviculture, forest-health thinning, competing-vegetation control, and deer exclosures. Five rounds to date; Round 5 closed March 30, 2026 with a new performance-based advance-payment structure.



Non-industrial private landowners—any Individuals, trusts, corporate entities, or other for-profit entities—who own less than 2,500 acres of land; not-for-profit organizations and state or federally recognized Indian Nations or Tribes; companies or organizations acting on behalf of non-industrial private landowners (SWCDs, private forestry businesses, tree-planting businesses, 501(c)(3)s). Projects must treat five acres or more and be completed within three years.

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

Grant

10% match (local or in-kind, non-state/federal); performance-based payments: 75% of first-year costs upfront, 15% after year-one report plus 75% of next year, final 10% held to project end; projects up to 3 years.

Published amounts: Small budget projects –awards range from a minimum of $10,000 up to $49,999 .. Large budget projects – awards range from $50,000 up to a maximum of $1 million. A 10% match is required.

List of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) Funding Opportunities