Pennsylvania Woodland Resilience Enhancement Network (PWREN) (PWREN)

PWREN reimburses Pennsylvania woodland owners for most of the cost of a forest practice plan and the forest health work in it, such as brush and weed control, stand improvement, crop tree release, invasive pest treatment, tree and shrub planting, forest farming and agroforestry plantings. It is a $5 million program funded by the U.S. Forest Service and run by DCNR's Bureau of Forestry with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. Every county currently shows as waitlisting, so new applicants join a waitlist.

• Own at least 10 acres of connected forest in Pennsylvania

• Own no more than 2,500 acres total

• Be a non-industrial landowner (not a company managing land for timber production)

• Historically Underserved Landowners (veterans discharged in the last 10 years, owners of their woods for less than 10 years, members of federally recognized tribes, landowners in high-poverty areas, self-identified limited-resource producers) get 100% reimbursement

Reimbursement after work is complete: 80%, 90% or 100% of approved practice costs up to $25,000. For Historically Underserved Landowners, payments go directly to the approved forestry professional doing the work.

Published amounts: PWREN reimburses 80%–100% of the cost of approved practices, up to $25,000: 100% for Historically Underserved Landowners; 90% for landowners in or joining a Woodland Stewardship Network; 80% for all other eligible landowners. Agroforestry plantings (up to $5,000, not available as the first practice reimbursed).

Contact your county DCNR service forester, who visits the property, walks the woods with you and helps start the application. If approved, a PWREN project coordinator helps you sign a landowner agreement and find a Technical Service Provider or consulting forester to write a practice plan and do the work. Submit receipts to the PWREN project coordinator to receive a reimbursement check.

Deadline text on the page: Launched September 23, 2025 (press release). The county enrollment table on the page lists all 67 counties as 'Waitlisting' as of 2026-10-15; the page says each county is either open, only accepting historically underserved applicants, or full and placing new applicants on a waitlist.