COLUMBUS — Through the Prescribed Fire Supplies, Tools, Education and Personal Protective Equipment Grant program, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry recently approved $54,884.44 in grant funding for 19 projects.
Prescribed Fire STEP Grant projects are focused on supporting Ohio land management agencies by helping them build and expand their prescribed fire programs. Items that grant recipients purchase through the STEP grant program include personal protective equipment, radios, tools, weather data devices, pumps, hoses and nozzles.
For many land management agencies in Ohio, prescribed fire is a critical tool to maintain important habitats and ecosystems. Prairie restoration projects and oak/hickory forests rely on fire as a disturbance to set back growth of competing species.
ODNR Forestry’s STEP grant program allows for cost share to help make important prescribed fire programs prosper at state agencies, county park districts, metro park organizations and other local conservation facilities.
STEP grant funding is provided to the ODNR Division of Forestry from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service. Due to matching funds, the grants led to a total of $110,307.53 for land management agencies in Ohio.
