Matching Awards Program

The NFF requires that all MAP projects include three elements: community engagement, hands-on stewardship activities completed by the engaged community members, and a direct benefit to the National Forest System.

1. Community Engagement: Stewardship activities must be completed by the public via community engagement. Eligible occasions for community engagement in public lands include, but are not limited to:
   • Public lands days, clean-up days, and similar events
   • Field trips
   • Outdoor skills training
   • Indigenous ecological practices
   • Ceremonies or celebrations related to natural resources
   • Nature-based therapeutic activities
   • Trail or site ambassador programs
   • Community science projects
   • Implementation of natural resource stewardship projects
2. Stewardship Activities: The participants in the groups engaged (see above) must complete eligible stewardship-oriented activities that benefit the National Forest System. Eligible stewardship activities include, but are not limited to:
   • Recreation clean-up
   • Native tree and shrub planting
   • Trail maintenance
   • Invasive species control
   • Forest and watershed restoration
   • Hazardous fuels reduction
   • Ecological or social monitoring to inform management decisions
   • Educating other public lands users to prevent resource damage
3. Expanding Beneficiaries of Public Lands and Creating Long-Term Benefits: The NFF defines expanding beneficiaries of public lands as reaching communities that have not had a full opportunity to participate in economic, social, and civic engagement with National Forests or Grasslands.