Grants / Department of the Interior / Fish and Wildlife Service

F21AS00585: Highlands Conservation Act Grant Program – Competitive Funding

Closed Closed November 1, 2021 Opportunity F21AS00585 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. Who won this program's grants before is below, and similar open grants are at the end of the page. It is in our archive of Fish and Wildlife Service notices from 2021.

• Award ceiling$8.6 million
• Award floor$25,000
• Total funding$8.6 million
• Cost sharingRequired
• Funding typeGrant

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to state and local governments.

• State governments

Only the Lead State Agency (or Agencies), as determined by the Governor of each Highlands State, may apply for funding under the Highlands Conservation Act Grant Program. If the Governor assigns multiple Lead Agencies, those Agencies must coordinate on funding requests prior to submission and ensure no more than the maximum allowable amount is requested through this funding opportunity. Each Agency may submit multiple applications to this Competitive grant round. A State Conservation Agency may subaward a grant to another State Conservation Agency.

More grants for state and local governments.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past Highlands Conservation awards averaged $1.4 million; this notice allows up to $8.6 million per award.
• Most of the program's money (100% over five years) went to state and local governments.
• The notice requires cost sharing or matching funds, so you must contribute part of the project cost.

What the grant funds

The Highlands Conservation Act (H.R. 1964, 2004; 16 U.S.C. 3901) (HCA) is designed to assist Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania in conserving land and natural resources in the Highlands Region through Federal assistance for land conservation projects in which a State entity acquires land or an interest in land from a willing seller to permanently protect resources of high conservation value. The USDA Forest Service (USFS) was directed by the HCA to identify lands that have high conservation value through the “New York-New Jersey Highlands Regional Study: 2002 Update” and the “Highlands Regional Study: Connecticut and Pennsylvania 2010 Update.” Subject to availability of funds through Federal appropriation, each year Governors of the four Highlands States may submit proposals for up to 50% of the total cost of land conservation projects in the Highlands Region. Proposed projects must be consistent with areas identified in the Study and Update as having high resource value. This program funds land conservation by State agencies in the Highlands Region. Funding appropriated under the Highlands Conservation Act (HCA) has been divided into two separate categories – Base and Competitive. Eligible applicants may submit requests for Competitive Funding in response to this Notice of Funding Opportunity. A separate Notice of Funding Opportunity will be posted for Base Funds. A property may not be proposed for funding from both the Base and Competitive funding opportunities.

Category: Natural Resources.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Agencies often post the same opportunity again under a new number, so check the program's notices on Grants.gov and the similar open grants below.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.