Land Conservation Grants

Funder: New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP)

The Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) in New Hampshire provides matching grants to support the acquisition and preservation of ecologically significant lands and historic resources. Since its inception in 2001, LCHIP has partnered with local communities and nonprofits to ensure the protection of vital natural and cultural resources. Grants range from $10,000 to $500,000, promoting land conservation for water quality, wildlife habitat, and scenic views, thus enhancing both community well-being and the local economy.

Background
LCHIP is an independent state authority which awards matching grants to NH communities and non-profits to conserve and preserve New Hampshire’s most important natural, cultural, and historic resources, and to ensure the perpetual contribution of these resources to the economy, environment and quality of life in New Hampshire.
Land conservation seeks to protect and preserve natural landscapes, ecosystems, and open spaces that hold ecological, cultural, or recreational significance at the local, regional, state, or national level. By safeguarding these irreplaceable natural resources in perpetuity, land conservation helps maintain biodiversity, enhance climate resilience, and support the well-being and character of our communities.
Resource Eligibility
LCHIP’s land conservation grants focus on the following Conservation Priority Areas:
Working lands – farm & forest landSource water protection landsEcologically significant lands – including important wildlife habitat, wetlands, riparian areasLands for recreation and educational usesScenic areas and viewshedsHistoric and cultural lands and features
Stewardship:
Grant Recipients are responsible for ongoing stewardship and oversight of the protected property. This includes annual monitoring and inspections. Each year, beginning the calendar year following acquisition, a monitoring report must be submitted to LCHIP.
For land conservation grant recipients, they serve as a roadmap for ensuring that land is conserved in a responsible and lasting manner. LCHIP recipients should use the Standards and Practices to guide project planning, implementation, and long-term stewardship, helping ensure that conservation outcomes are durable, defensible, and aligned with national best practices in land trust management.

Eligibility

Project EligibilityFunded projects must permanently conserve eligible land via fee acquisition or acquisition of a qualified conservation easement that will permanently conserve areas of ecological value.Funded acquisitions should be completed following the Land Trust Alliance’s Best Practices, which outline a set of ethical and technical guidelines designed to support strong, sustainable, and legally sound land conservation efforts.All property must be open to the public for transitory, pedestrian, recreational uses including hunting and fishing. The property (or easement) acquired will be held in public trust, and may not be used for purposes inconsistent with the purposes of the LCHIP grant or NH RSA 227-M.Eligible expenses include, but are not limited to, fair market value of the property acquired, appraisal, survey, title research and insurance, recording fees, transfer taxes, environmental assessments, baseline documentation, and contributions to qualified stewardship funds.To be eligible, applicants must be either a:Municipality or other political subdivision of the state of New Hampshire, or aPublicly supported nonprofit corporation exempt from federal income tax under section 501 (c) of the Internal Revenue code.

Ineligibility

Property management and improvement expenses such as trail development or maintenance, installation of parking areas, kiosks, or other built infrastructure are not eligible.