NR 47.75(7)(b)2. 2. Second preference: All other projects eligible under sub. (4).

NR 47.75(7)(c) (c) Within a preference category, projects in counties that have received grants the most recently shall be given lowest priority.

NR 47.75(7)(d) (d) If, after ranking a project in accordance with pars. (a) and (b), full funding is not available due to insufficient funds to provide grants applied for in the first 2 application periods, the department shall offer the applicants the choice of receiving pro-rated funding for the project up to the amount of available funding or withdrawal of the application.

NR 47.75(7)(e) (e) No less than 25% of the annual funds shall be kept available for appropriation during the second application period.

NR 47.75(7)(f) (f) A grant under this section may be awarded to a county to contribute to the funding of a subcontractor for the purposes described in sub. (4).

NR 47.75(7)(g) (g) No county may have more than 2 open projects at any one time.

NR 47.75(8) (8) Funding rates and constraints.

NR 47.75(8)(a) (a) Payment of all grants shall be made at project completion unless an advance payment has been made by the department.

NR 47.75(8)(b) (b) An advance payment of not more than 50% of the grant amount may be paid upon mutual agreement of the county and the department.

NR 47.75(8)(c) (c) The county shall submit information requested by and satisfactory to the department demonstrating project completion.

NR 47.75 Note Note: The mailing address is WI. DNR, Division of Forestry, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707-7921 Attn: County Forest Specialist.

NR 47.75(8)(d) (d) A county may apply more than once in any given calendar year although no county will receive a second grant until all pending initial projects from other counties that meet the criteria in sub. (4) are funded.

NR 47.75(8)(e) (e) An individual county may not be awarded grants totaling more than 25% of total available funds in one fiscal year.

NR 47.75(9) (9) Project completion accountability and audit procedures.

NR 47.75(9)(a) (a) Grant funds may be spent only on project identified costs.

NR 47.75(9)(b) (b) All grant funds received from the department shall be deposited in the county state aid forestry account.

NR 47.75(9)(c) (c) All grant records shall be audited with the normal departmental audit of the county forest program.

NR 47.75(9)(d) (d) An approved project may not exceed 2 years in length unless written approval is obtained from the department.

NR 47.75(9)(e) (e) Any grant funds not spent on project identified costs or not used by the termination date of the project shall be returned to the department. Failure to return the funds shall render a county ineligible for any future grants under this section.

NR 47.75 History History: CR 01-146: cr. Register May 2002 No. 557, eff. 6-1-02.

subch. VII of ch. NR 47 Subchapter VII — The Private Forest Landowner Grant Program

NR 47.80 NR 47.80 Purpose and scope. The purpose of this subchapter is to establish procedures and standards for the administration of the private forest landowner grant program as authorized under s. 26.38, Stats., and to distribute other available state, federal, and nonprofit organization funds for the purpose of encouraging private forest landowners to manage their lands in a manner that benefits the state’s forest and related resources and the people of the state.

NR 47.80 History History: Cr. Register, March, 1999, No. 519, eff. 4-1-99; CR 02-074: am. Register November 2002 No. 563, eff. 12-1-02; CR 12-029: am. Register June 2013 No. 690, eff. 7-1-13.

NR 47.81 NR 47.81 Applicability. This subchapter is applicable to private, non-industrial forest landowners applying for or receiving grants under this subchapter.

NR 47.81 History History: Cr. Register, March, 1999, No. 519, eff. 4-1-99.

NR 47.82 NR 47.82 Definitions. In addition to definitions in s. NR 47.002, the following definitions apply to this subchapter:

NR 47.82(1) (1) “Afforestation” means establishing a forest on land not previously forested due to past land use, e.g., agricultural use.

NR 47.82(2) (2) “Landowner forest stewardship plan” means the plan prescribing forest stewardship measures to be used on a particular site to achieve multiple natural resource goals.

NR 47.82(2m) (2m) “Nonprofit organization” means an organization described in section 501(c)(3) to (7) of the internal revenue code and is exempt from federal income tax under section 501(a) of the internal revenue code.