EPF Grants Available for New York Land Trust Initiatives in 2011

ALBANY, NY (09/23/2010)(readMedia)-- The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Land Trust Alliance (the Alliance), a non-profit land conservation organization, today announced the availability of competitive grants for local land trusts through the New York State Conservation Partnership Program.

Approximately $1.4 million will be awarded in early 2011 to New York land trusts, enabling local organizations to strengthen urban, rural and suburban, land conservation and public outreach programs, build community partnerships and implement best business practices. The Conservation Partnership Program is nationally recognized as a model for leveraging public and private funding for communities in their efforts to advance open space, farmland preservation, and resource conservation goals as part of the 2010 New York State Open Space Conservation Plan.

"This grant program enables DEC and the not-for profit conservation community to work effectively together for the good of our outdoor heritage, to improve our quality of life, and keep New York green," DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis said.

Funded through New York's Environmental Protection Fund (EPF), the Conservation Partnership Program is administered by the Alliance in coordination with DEC. Since 2002, the program has received a total of $4.575 million in EPF appropriations for land trust grants and technical assistance, investing in 275 projects and 67 non-profit land trusts working in local communities across the state, from Harlem to the Adirondacks. This pioneering initiative has created land trust jobs, leveraged $10 million in additional local funding and helped communities permanently conserve more than 11,000 acres of environmentally significant land across New York.

"New York State has once again demonstrated its commitment to local land trusts and their critical mission to save the places New Yorkers cherish and depend on for clean air and water, fresh local food, and recreational opportunities," said Rand Wentworth, President of the Land Trust Alliance. "New York State's Conservation Partnership Program is a model for how State funding can leverage millions of dollars in private funds to build strong local organizations, accelerate the pace of conservation, and provide for long-term land stewardship in their communities. The Land Trust Alliance thanks Governor Paterson, the New York State Legislature, and Commissioner Grannis for continuing to invest in a program that is helping to protect resources that are vital to New York's economy, public health, and local and regional character."

Becky Thornton, President of the Dutchess Land Conservancy and Co-Chair of the Land Trust Alliance's New York Advisory Board, said, "We are extremely proud of this partnership, and all of the accomplishments that land trusts have made throughout New York. This program is about people working together, making a difference, enhancing quality of life. We and our local communities are dependent upon the land in so many ways. Ensuring that we are careful stewards of our resources is the bottom line of what this program represents."

For information about the New York State Conservation Partnership Program, and to download application forms for the 2010-11 land trust grants, visit the Land Trust Alliance's website at www.landtrustalliance.org/community/northeast/nyscpp, or contact Ethan Winter, New York Conservation Manager, at ewinter@lta.org or at (518) 587-0774.

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About The Land Trust Alliance

The Land Trust Alliance is the national leader of America's land trust movement, serving more than 1,600 non-profit land trusts nationwide, including more than 400 local and regional organizations in New York and New England. The Alliance works to strengthen land trusts and to accelerate the pace, increase the quality, and ensure the permanence of open space conservation in communities throughout New York State and across the country. The New York State Conservation Partnership Program is based out of the Alliance's Northeast office in Saratoga Springs, NY.