Browse Ambrook’s collection of funding programs by Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR)

Contact your local NRCS/SWCD office or the ODNR district office in Findlay.

Deadline text on the page: Planting is done in early spring by the ODNR Division of Forestry, so it is best to contact them in the summer or fall and plan ahead for next year's spring planting season.

ODNR Division of Forestry District Forester

District Forester (Findlay)

ODNR Division of Wildlife Private Lands Biologist

Private Lands Biologist

Helps farmers in 17 northwest Ohio counties plant field windbreaks to cut wind erosion on sandy soils. ODNR Forestry inspects the site, designs the windbreak, helps with the application, applies herbicide, plants the seedlings and supplies replacements the next spring. Cost-share and rental payments are available through local SWCD and FSA programs.



- Landowners or tenants who actively farm agricultural land in Allen, Crawford, Defiance, Erie, Fulton, Hancock, Henry, Lucas, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Sandusky, Seneca, Van Wert, Williams, Wood, or Wyandot county.
- Windbreak 1–6 rows wide and at least 1,000 feet long; field at least 10 acres.
- Field windbreaks only; farmstead and feedlot windbreaks do not qualify.

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

Discount

Landowner may need to do site prep and is responsible for maintenance (weed control, replanting dead seedlings).

Published amounts: There are numerous cost-share programs available to landowners wishing to plant a field windbreak. Landowners may also be eligible to receive rental payments on the land where the windbreak is planted.

Call the Forest Legacy Coordinator to learn about the program and the application process.

Deadline text on the page: No deadline published; landowners must apply to have their property considered.

Jared Craig

Ohio Forest Legacy Program Coordinator

Ohio's Forest Legacy Program protects working forests in certain counties from conversion to non-forest use, through permanent working-forest agreements (conservation easements) or outright purchase. It can pay landowners for the development value of their property while they keep managing the forest, and may make it easier to pass the land to heirs.



- Owners of working forest land in eligible (Forest Legacy) counties.
- Participation is voluntary; landowners must apply to have their property considered.

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

Easement

Perpetual working forest agreements or fee-simple purchase.

Published amounts: Can "potentially pay them for the development values of the property"; no amounts published.

Submit an application, your most recent property tax bill and a plat map or aerial photo to your service forester. After a site visit and plan approval, sign the OFTL agreement (FT-7) and return it with the $75 fee; the Chief of the Division of Forestry issues a Certificate of Classification to the County Auditor.

Deadline text on the page: No deadline published; start by contacting a service forester.

Daniel Bartlett

Service Forester, District One (Allen, Auglaize, Defiance, Hancock, Henry, Paulding, Putnam, Van Wert, Williams)

Ohio's property-tax program for private forest land. Owners of at least 10 acres of forest who manage it for commercial timber under an approved forest management plan get a 50% cut in property taxes on that acreage. A state service forester checks eligibility, and the plan is written by a professional consulting forester.



- At least 10 acres of forestland (excluding home sites, buildings and openings), not less than 120 feet wide.
- At least 300 stems per acre (younger plantations) or 50 square feet of basal area of commercial species; orchards and Christmas tree plantations do not qualify.
- At least 3 years of documented management.
- Boundaries marked permanently every 100 feet and maintained.
- An approved forest management plan prepared by a professional consulting forester.

Self-certify every five years; random inspections. Before cutting timber, file a Forestry Pollution Prevention Plan and use an OFA Master Logger (waiver possible). Protect forest from livestock. New owners must reapply (family transfers excepted).

Published amounts: The Ohio Forest Tax Law program provides a 50% reduction of property taxes on qualifying forested acreage. One-time $75 fee due only after certification.

Contact your local USDA service center / Farm Service Agency office or county Soil and Water Conservation District.

Deadline text on the page: Continuous enrollment via FSA; no deadline published. Fact sheet dated November 2022.

Ohio State Farm Service Agency

State office

General office

Division of Wildlife

Ohio's Lake Erie CREP pays farmers to take cropland and marginal pasture along streams in the Lake Erie watershed out of production for 14 to 15 years and plant grasses, trees, windbreaks or wetlands. Participants get federal CRP rental payments and incentives plus a one-time State of Ohio incentive payment after the practice is installed. The state's goal is 67,000 enrolled acres.



- Agricultural producers with cropland or marginal pastureland in Ohio's Lake Erie watershed.
- Eligible practices: CP1, CP2, CP5A field windbreak, CP21 filter strips, CP21S, CP22 riparian buffer, CP23/CP23A wetland restoration, and others listed in the fact sheet.

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

Cost Share

14–15-year CRP contracts.

Published amounts: Federal: one-time signing incentive payment (SIP) for CP5A, CP21, CP21S, CP22, CP23, CP23A; one-time practice incentive payment equal to 40% of eligible reimbursable costs for those practices; annual rental payments. State: "the State of Ohio will provide eligible participants with a one-time incentive payment following practice completion. State incentive payment amounts will vary based on the practice enrolled or reenrolled."

Call or email the district contact for your area (see contacts) to find out more or enroll.

Deadline text on the page: Enrollment contracts are for 2 years, with the possibility of reenrollment. Page last revised: 6/17/2026.

Christina Kuchle

OLHAP Administrator

Emilee Hardesty

District 1 contact

Justin Harrington

District 2 contact

Geoff Westerfield

District 3 contact

John Morton

District 4 contact

Caleb Shields

District 5 contact

Ohio's Division of Wildlife pays landowners each year to let permitted hunters onto their property: $2.00 per acre for farmland and up to $32.50 per acre for wetlands, grasslands, brushlands and forests. Contracts run two years and can be renewed. Hunters must get a free daily OLHAP permit, which limits how many people use each property.



- Private landowners in Ohio willing to allow permitted public hunting access.
- Agricultural land and perennial wildlife cover are both eligible at different rates.

2-year enrollment contracts, renewable. Annual per-acre payments.

Published amounts: Participating landowners receive annual payment rates of $2.00/acre for agricultural lands and up to $32.50/acre for perennial wildlife cover, such as wetlands, grasslands, brushlands, and forests.

Contact your local USDA service center / Farm Service Agency office or county Soil and Water Conservation District.

Deadline text on the page: Continuous enrollment via FSA; no deadline published.

Ohio's Scioto River CREP pays farmers in the Scioto River watersheds to take cropland along streams out of production for 14 to 15 years and plant grass buffers, filter strips, shallow water areas or restored wetlands. Participants get federal CRP rental and incentive payments plus a one-time State of Ohio incentive payment. The state's goal is 70,000 enrolled acres.



- Agricultural producers with eligible cropland or marginal pastureland in Ohio's Scioto River watersheds.
- Eligible practices: CP1, CP2, CP9, CP21, CP21S, CP22, CP23, CP23A.

14–15-year CRP contracts.

Published amounts: Federal: one-time SIP for CP9, CP21, CP21S, CP22, CP23, CP23A; one-time practice incentive payment equal to 40% of eligible reimbursable costs; annual rental payments. State of Ohio adds a one-time incentive payment following practice completion.

Call 1-800-WILDLIFE (945-3543) for more information.

Deadline text on the page: No dates published.

Ohio's Division of Wildlife helps individuals and organizations pay for restoring wetlands on private land. Typical projects are tile cuts or small, low-level dikes that restore or improve a wetland's water levels.



- Individuals and organizations with wetland restoration projects on private lands in Ohio.

Not published.

Published amounts: No amounts or rates published.

List of Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Funding Opportunities