The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service expects to invest about $13 million to protect lands in the 3.4-million-acre, four-state Highlands region. The agency released 2025 notices of funding opportunity for the Highlands Conservation Act Grant Program.
Congress passed the Highlands Conservation Act in 2004. Since then, $48.5 million in federal, state, local and private funds have protected threatened and endangered species, ensured clean drinking water, created outdoor recreational areas and sustained working forests and farms on more than 16,226 acres in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.
Reauthorization of the act in 2022 called for use of the best available science to identify areas in the Highlands region most important for conserving each of the six resources listed in the act:
- water
- forest
- wildlife
- agriculture
- recreation
- culture
It also allowed counties and municipalities to hold land protected under the program and municipalities outside the original Highlands region to opt into the program with state and federal approval.
This new landscape conservation design expands the program’s potential reach to include more than 10 million acres and historically under-resourced communities. It also addresses the issues of our time — climate resilience, biodiversity and equitable access to the outdoors.
“Conserving the agricultural, recreational, and cultural resources of the region, along with its natural resources, is essential for a sustainable, equitable future,” said Colleen Sculley, assistant regional director for the agency’s Office of Conservation Investment. “Our wellbeing depends on the health of our lands, waters, and wildlife.”
Three Highlands grant rounds are open for applications from state conservation agencies:
The deadline for submission of proposals is December 31, 2024, with an anticipated award date of January 31, 2025. Virtual overviews of these grant notices are scheduled for Friday, September 27, at 11 a.m. EDT and Wednesday, October 2, at 12 p.m. EDT. Email jason_rasku@fws.gov to receive an invitation.
