Areas of Focus

Conservation Funding

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In Connecticut, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection funds several programs essential to public and private land conservation efforts. Protecting and enhancing these programs to ensure maximum funding levels and efficiency in implementation is year round priority for the Connecticut Land Conservation Council.

Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition Grant Program (OSWA)—a competitive matching grants program for land trusts, municipalities, and water companies to help acquire and permanently protect open space.

Funding sources: State bonds and the Community Investment Act (CIA)—a dedicated account set-up outside the budget, with revenue from a $40 surcharge on local recording fees for open space and farmland protection, historic preservation, affordable housing, and a safety net program for Connecticut’s dairy farmers. Learn about the Grant Program »

Recreation and Natural Heritage Trust Program (RNHT)—supports the purchase of land for state parks, forests, wildlife, fisheries, water access, and natural resource management areas. Funding source: State bonds.

Recreational Trails Program—a competitive matching grants program available to fund trail-related projects including acquisition of trail easements, construction of new trails, maintenance and restoration of existing trails, purchase or lease of equipment, and developing trail access for people with disabilities. Funding source: State bonds.

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Additional Areas of Focus

We organize our advocacy work and programming around these areas:

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Strengthen Land Conservation in Connecticut

There are many challenges in land conservation, but we have never yielded. We’ve always found our strength in the support of people who care for the environment as much we do. We can achieve so much more working with one another than alone.

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