# Forest Resource Development Program

> Cost-share from Mississippi Forestry Commission (State) for MS, United States.

Official page: https://www.mfc.ms.gov/programs/private-landowner-services/forest-resource-development/
Source: https://treerm.org/residents/programs/ms-forestry-commission-forest-resource-development-program · Updated 2026-11-08 · Status: Open

**What you get:** Up to 75 percent of the cost of tree planting, site preparation, vegetation control, burning, firebreaks and thinning, capped at $10,000 per landowner per year

Created by the Legislature in 1974 and funded by the state timber severance tax, the Forest Resource Development Program (FRDP) pays flat-rate cost share, up to 75 percent depending on the practice, for establishing and improving a crop of trees: pine and hardwood planting (including longleaf and containerized stock), chemical and mechanical site preparation, herbaceous and woody vegetation control, silvicultural burning, firebreaks, pre-commercial thinning, fertilization, mid-rotation management and management plans. Landowners pay the full cost first and are reimbursed, must finish practices within the fiscal year approved (July 1 to June 30), and agree to protect the area from fire and grazing and manage it for timber for at least ten years.

## Who qualifies

Mississippi landowners with at least 10 acres of manageable forestland: private nonindustrial landowners, groups or associations, landowning state agencies, and political subdivisions. Assistance cannot go to acreage already receiving federal cost share, and a practice is not funded twice unless it failed because of a natural disaster.

## How to apply

Contact your local Mississippi Forestry Commission office and complete the FRDP Application linked on the program page, then work with your Area Forester (or a registered consulting forester) on a management prescription. Applications are accepted first come, first served; the local office confirms funding amounts, and applicants not funded immediately are notified when funds become available. Find your forester at mfc.ms.gov/contact/find-your-forester/ or call (601) 359-1386.

**When:** Applications accepted year-round; practices completed within the approved fiscal year (July 1 to June 30)

**For:** Landowners, Farmers

> Note: Rates and practices are subject to change; the 2026 FRDP codes and cost-share rates are posted as a separate PDF on the program page. The page does not say how much funding is currently available.