On March 14, 2011 in Albany, the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Land Trust Alliance (LTA)
announced $1.4 million in Conservation Partnership Program Grants,
including $28,500 to Dutchess Land Conservancy. This grant will
help to defray costs for DLC’s work on the
Pierson Farm Purchase of Development Rights Project in the Town of
LaGrange which closed last December.
What is the NYSCPP?
Created in 2002, the New York State Conservation Partnership Program
(NYSCPP) is a public-private partnership between DEC and the Land
Trust Alliance (LTA) that invests in New York land trusts. Grants
are funded through the NYS Environmental Protection Fund (EPF)
annually. The New York State Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) was
established in 1993 and provides mechanisms for open space
conservation and land acquisition, including providing funding for
conservation projects undertaken by local governments and
not-for-profit organizations.
The NYSCPP is managed by the LTA 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.
DLC President Becky Thornton on the NYSCPP:
“The Conservation Partnership Program is an example of an EPF
initiative that has demonstrated impressive state-wide success by
supporting and investing in land trusts in our communities,” said
Becky Thornton, president of the Dutchess Land Conservancy and chair
of Land Trust Alliance’s New York Advisory Board. “This program
unites the goals of New York’s Open Space Plan, the needs and
desires of local municipalities, and the energy and enthusiasm of
private landowners and grassroots land trust partners to protect the
land. When we work together, we can make a huge difference for
communities across New York State.”
Help fund the NYSCPP and the EPF:
Buy New York State’s first conservation license plate!
When you buy a New York State Bluebird License Plate,
$25
goes directly into the State's Environmental Protection Fund,
dedicated for conservation projects identified in New York's Open
Space Plan. Designed exclusively for New York by world-renowned
artist and naturalist, Roger Tory Peterson, your recycled aluminum
Bluebird Plate subsidizes the Environmental Protection Fund and
allows for the completion of urgent land conservation projects for
our families and future generations of New Yorkers.
You can order this plate at any time without
affecting your registration renewal date.
For more information visit http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/5067.html
DLC Receives Grant