News

The Connecticut Land Conservation Council (CLCC) is thrilled to announce the award of $488,195 in grant funding to six land trusts and conservation partners across the state through its new Climate-Smart Forest Stewardship Grant Program. This grant program is funded by the U.S. Forest Service through its Forest Stewardship Program(opens in new tab), under the Inflation Reduction Act, and is administered by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP).

This grant program represents a pivotal shift from passive forest protection to active, climate-smart forest management. Conserved forests are one of Connecticut’s most critical natural climate solutions, providing essential ecosystem functions including carbon storage and sequestration, biodiversity protection, and watershed buffering. However, Connecticut’s forests face intense threats from non-native invasive species, severe weather, and pest infestations. These six grants will support on-the-ground, shovel-ready stewardship projects that integrate climate mitigation, forest resilience, and habitat adaptation. 

Congratulations to the Avon Land Trust, Bent of the River Audubon Center, Burlington Land Trust, Southbury Land Trust, Shelton Land Trust, and Steep Rock Association! Following are highlights of the six awarded projects grouped by their core climate-smart forestry objectives: 

1. Forest Stand Improvement 

The following projects focus on diversifying forest structures, thinnings to accelerate the growth of healthy trees, and managing early successional habitat to enhance carbon sequestration and wildlife niches:

Avon Land Trust(opens in new tab)

Project: Lasbury Park Forest Stand Improvement

Location: Avon

Grant: $77,355

Overview: Avon Land Trust (ALT) aims to improve the health and biodiversity of its Lasbury Park property, located directly along the Farmington River on Waterville Road. The 15-acre parcel is a vital riparian corridor that features degraded hardwoods and an understory heavily dominated by invasive species. ALT’s project will focus on enhancing the vigor and diversity of tree population, reducing invasive plant populations, and fostering biodiversity for all the species that call this area home. 

Southbury Land Trust(opens in new tab)

Project: Phillips-Lovdal Farm Preserve Forest Management

Location: Southbury

Grant: $100,000

Project Overview: Southbury Land Trust (SLT) aims to improve forest health at one of Southbury’s oldest and most popular public nature preserves. The 53-acre project area is part of a 161.6-acre preserve that contains a mix of open meadows, a human-made pond, second-growth upland forests, active agricultural fields, and a large wetland complex. Its headwaters flow into Jeremy Brook, a regionally-important watershed. SLT’s project will remove invasive understory plants and selectively thin and create small patches in the canopy to encourage natural regeneration of native trees. This renewed forest structure will boost natural carbon storage while expanding crucial habitat. 

Steep Rock Association(opens in new tab)

Project: Hidden Valley Preserve Forest Management

Location: Washington

Grant: $100,000

Project Overview: Steep Rock Association (SRA) will implement Resilient Forestry Practices across 69 acres of its Hidden Valley Preserve. The surrounding preserve is an ecologically-diverse, high-volume tourist destination that contains the Shepaug River and Bee Brook corridors, steep ravines, cliff faces, and critical habitats supporting sensitive species like the wood turtle, New England cottontail, and nesting birds of conservation concern. SRA’s project will control invasive plants and selectively thin crowded trees to give mature oaks, hickory, and native conifers the sunlight and space they need to thrive. By favoring these species and creating small canopy openings, this strengthens the forest against severe storms and pests while creating essential habitat. 

2. Watershed Protection & Riparian Buffer Restoration 

These projects focus on stabilizing riverbanks, establishing native tree and shrub buffers, and restoring conifer-dominated ecosystems threatened by invasive insects.

Bent of the River Audubon Center(opens in new tab)

Project: Pomperaug River Riparian & Post-Tornado Restoration

Location: Southbury

Grant: $100,000

Overview: Bent of the River Audubon Center aims to improve bird habitat across a 90-acre section of its 700-acre Sanctuary. The parcel features a 1.35-mile stretch of the Pomperaug River, containing floodplain forest, forested wetlands, shrublands, and critical vernal pool complexes. It is under severe ecological stress as it has been heavily impacted by intense weather events, including a devastating tornado in 2018 and recurring floods, as well as canopy loss from the emerald ash borer and hemlock woolly adelgid. The Center’s primary goals are to control invasive species and perform targeted tree thinning to remove damaged growth, giving space for natural and assisted regeneration of native young forest. This hands-on management will rebuild a dense, multi-layered forest that helps this important waterway while providing critical habitat for woodland songbirds and other wildlife. 

Burlington Land Trust (opens in new tab)

Project: Seven Steps Falls Forest Health & Conifer Restoration

Location: Burlington

Grant: $32,188

Project Overview: Burlington Land Trust (BLT) aims to improve the overall health of its 11-acre forest located on Vineyard Road. The parcel is unique because of the cooling microclimate created by its dense tree canopy and running water. It is centered around Burlington Brook (Bunnell Brook), which supports a native brook trout population and features the scenic Seven Steps Falls waterfall. BLT’s project will tackle invasive plant populations and carefully remove certain declining hemlock and ash trees in order to plant native trees and shrubs to restore natural plant diversity and help the woods recover from past disturbances. These intentional plantings will strengthen the stream’s edge, boost long-term carbon capture, and provide essential food and cover for wildlife.

Shelton Land Conservation Trust(opens in new tab)

Project: Riparian Restoration for Resiliency at Nicholdale Farm

Location: Shelton

Grant: $78,652

Project Overview: Shelton Land Trust (SLT) is focusing its climate-smart forest stewardship project on a 10-acre riparian corridor within its 67-acre history property on Leavenworth Road. Preserved as open space since 1991, this former dairy farm features a diverse mix of hardwood forest, forested wetlands, meadows, and a key stream feeding into the local public water supply. It serves as a vital wildlife corridor, linking large, unfragmented core forest blocks to the north and south. SLT’s project aims to treat dense invasive vegetation along the stream banks and replace them with native canopy trees and shrubs to stabilize the stream banks, filter stormwater runoff, and reduce erosion. This restored riparian buffer will create a more resilient waterway while providing a safe, continuous habitat corridor for native wildlife. 

“Connecticut’s land trusts own over 200,000 acres of land, a majority of which is forested,” said Ricky Bentley, CLCC’s Program Manager. “With these inaugural awards, we are not only actively restoring Connecticut’s forests, but we are creating invaluable demonstration sites to show other land trusts, municipalities, and private landowners how active forestry techniques can enhance carbon sequestration, increase resilience to climate disturbances, and restore critical habitats.”

These six climate-smart forest stewardship projects are expected to be completed by the end of 2028. They are leveraged by cash and in-kind matching contributions and represent a total collaborative conservation investment of ~$762,000 in the active management of ~248 acres of forestland in land trust preserves. 

Contact CLCC

For more information about CLCC’s Climate-Smart Forest Stewardship Grant Program, contact Ricky Bentley at rbentley@ctconservation.org.