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The Northeast Forest Network (NFN), our sister network which is also coordinated by Highstead Foundation, is excited to launch the STAND UP FOR FORESTS campaign and wants to invite you to investigate our new website and the Forests Make Us Healthier messaging toolkit.

We consider protecting and stewarding forests, trees, and green spaces as the most important things we can do to mitigate the impacts of climate change in the Northeast. With your help we can expand our reach and urge all of our pr

The Long Island Sound Regional Conservation Partnership Program (LISW-RCPP) has announced its 2020 healthy forest reserve program grant round for Vermont only. The enrollment period runs from June 23 to July 24, 2020.

The purpose of the LISW-RCPP Healthy Forest Reserve Program (HFRP) grant round is to assist landowners, on a voluntary basis, in helping to restore, enhance and protect forestland resources on private lands through permanent conservation easements. The LISW-RCPP has developed this

It's #NationalDrinkingWaterWeek! Thank you to all of our partners who make #sustainingthesaco and protecting our drinking water sources possible! We appreciate you and all the work that you do.

National Drinking Water Week 2020

Do you speak at conferences, public meetings, or other events where you need to convey a specific message? Have you ever felt like you couldn't quite hold the attention of your audience members? Would you like to learn a simpler, more effective way to design your slides? Join presentation coach and trainer, Cathy Angell, for a fast-paced and entertaining class that will show you how to:

In many Zoom meetings I've been attending, when there is a check-in, people talk about how they're dealing with the pandemic, with social distancing, and trying to balance their work and family life under these extraordinary circumstances. In these sharings, I hear concerns for others, uncertainty, and anxiousness punctuated by gratitude, strength, hope, innovation, and resilience.  

According to resilience researcher Lucy Hone, resilient people have three strategies that help them get through t

Call for presentations! The RCP Network invites submissions of highly interactive and results-oriented workshop proposals for the 2020 RCP Network Gathering, which will be held on November 19, 2020, at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

The theme of this year’s gathering is Resilient Regions and Communities, and we’re especially looking to members of the RCP Network to share their expertise on the role which land protection and other collaborative conservation activities can play in slowi

Pictured above: Golden-winged warbler. Photo by Caleb Putnam CC-BY-SA-2.0.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has recently announced a funding opportunity through the Cornell Small Grant Program to support land trusts’ efforts to advance bird conservation. These awards are intended to bolster bird conservation on private lands through land-trust-related initiatives such as land stewardship, capacity building, strategic planning, and more. This funding opportunity comes in two award values: three $5,0

Pictured above: 2017 Salmon Falls Success Safari, photo courtesy of Salmon Falls Watershed Collaborative

Article by Kristen Thompson, Highstead Conservation Intern Fall 2019

Despite challenges with the current lack of funding and heavy turnover in the past six to seven years, the Salmon Falls Watershed Collaborative (SFW) is “the little engine that could.” Their secret to success? A forward-looking attitude and focus on achievements through projects such as their Success Safari.

The SFW Collaborati

The Highlands Conservation Act Competitive Grant Round #2 is now available at grants.gov (search for "F19AS00365" or "Highlands”).

The deadline is December 2, 2019.

Up to $5,497,000 are available for eligible land conservation projects in the Highlands Conservation Act region of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut.

The Highlands Conservation Act (HCA) (H.R. 1964, 2004; 16 U.S.C. 3901) is designed to assist Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania in conserving land and

On November 7-8 in Westborough, MA, natural resource professionals who work within and manage water supply forests are invited to a workshop to consider the impacts of climate change on forested watersheds with particular emphasis on water supply management. This event will provide opportunities to learn more about current and anticipated effects of climate change on forested watersheds in the Northeast; and to explore relevant climate tools and case studies from ongoing forest adaptation effort

I am pleased to be able to share with you news that registration for the 2019 RCP Network Gathering is officially open! 

This year marks the 10th Anniversary of the Gathering and the first time we are squarely addressing climate change--our theme is Natural Climate Solutions for All, and we'll have 24 workshops (six more than last year) presented by over 70 faculty in eight thematic tracks covering topics such as climate resilience, regional land use issues, conservation finance, collaborative l

NRCS recently announced that up to $300 million in funding would be made available for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).

Background on RCPP:
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/financial/rcpp/

The deadline for applications is December 3, 2019. NRCS will be hosting a webinar Thursday, September 26 at 3pm to provide information about the application process. (Webinar logistics are being finalized and will be posted on the website.)

For more informat

The US Forest Service is now requesting applications for the Fiscal Year 2020 Landscape Scale Restoration (LSR) Grant Program. The purpose of this competitive grant program is to encourage collaborative, science-based restoration of priority forest landscapes, leverage public and private resources, and support priorities identified in State Forest Action Plans (Connecticut’s Forest Action Plan). 

Timeline:  The FY 2020 LSR Guidance and Project Narrative Form and other agency-specific forms and

The Long Island Sound Regional Conservation Partnership Program  (LISW-RCPP)

2019 Agricultural Conservation Easement Program - Agricultural Land Easement Grant Round

​for Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island Only

Enrollment Period: July 22, 2019, to Sept. 20, 2019

The purpose of the LISW-RCPP - Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) - Agricultural Land Easement (ALE) grant round is to assist landowners, on a voluntary basis, in helping to restore, enhance and protect forestla

Starting in January 2018, the Maine West initiative embarked on an innovative mapping project to prioritize land conservation in western Maine. Unlike most of the Regional Conservation Partnerships (RCPs), Maine West’s membership draws organizations with community development, education, and health foci into their conservation efforts. It is only fitting that Maine West’s mapping efforts reflect a similarly integrative approach.

Maine West is an RCP centered on community development, having evol

(The following text is an excerpt from the January Bulletin of the Network for Landscape Conservation Jan. 2019) 

This spring, thanks to generous funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Network for Landscape Conservation (NLC) is launching a major five-year national grant program to accelerate the pace and practice of collaborative conservation at the landscape scale. Through a competitive grant program, the Catalyst Fund will distribut