Resource Management Planning on Eased Forest Land

_NOTE: Applications were accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis through June 27, 2024, or until funds were committed. Funder is not certain if this funding opportunity will be offered in the future.

WeConservePA is providing grants to land trusts to support the completion of land assessments and resource management plans for largely forested lands already under conservation easement.

Subject lands must be in the Pennsylvania portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

WeConservePA will award up to $150,000 in total grants for this planning work.

WeConservePA will post regular updates at weconservepa.org/fmp as to how much in grant funds remains available to applicants.

Applicants may request grants in any amount.

This grant program is intended to explore the ways that land trusts, landowners, and forest professionals might work constructively together to better understand conserved lands and ultimately produce better conservation results on the land, including better forest health, habitat improvement, water resource protection, and sustainable timber production.

Minimal Match Requirements

No match needs to be documented.

The only expenses that must be borne by awardees without WeConservePA reimbursement are those resulting from the awardee’s time spent preparing the grant application, submitting final expense documentation, providing brief one-year and two-year updates on any actions taken as a result of the planning effort, and other administrative and indirect personnel expenses incurred.

Background; Grant Program Objective

Conservation easements have an excellent track record in Pennsylvania as tools to block landowners from taking actions that would harm the conservation values of the land. Between the use of the Model Grant of Conservation Easement and Declaration of Covenants, land trust monitoring and enforcement, and the courts’ excellent record of upholding conservation easements in Pennsylvania, there is assurance that improvements, activities, and uses contrary to the easement’s conservation objectives will not happen on eased lands in Pennsylvania.

However, there is more to conservation than simply blocking bad actions on the land. Due to invasive species, deer over browsing, climate change, and other factors, the land often will need proactive management steps to be taken to actually improve forest health, wildlife habitat, and water quality. Moreover, it’s likely that without some proactive management, the land conserved could actually experience a loss in conservation values over time. This presents a challenge as land trusts typically lack the funding, information, tools, and other resources to meaningfully advance proactive management on lands they have under easement; landowners, for their part, are unlikely to act proactively in the absence of guidance and incentives. The challenge is heightened by the lack of study of changes in conservation values on already eased properties and paucity of management plans created with the primary objective of promoting healthy forest, habitat, and waters on those properties.

By funding the assessment of conservation values on eased properties and identifying affirmative, actionable measures that can be taken on each individual property to improve upon these values, the grant program aims to arm land trusts and landowners with the information and plans they need to improve forest resiliency, wildlife, and water quality outcomes over time. WeConservePA also hopes to gain insights into what is happening following grants of easement to conservation values on the eased lands, which may suggest new strategies for conservation easement management in future years.

Eligibility

_You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website._

• The following expenses related to the completion of the land assessments and resource management plans are eligible for grant reimbursement:
  • Professional fees
  • Personnel time spent directly on implementation of the project (except as noted elsewhere), including preparation of a final report to help WeConservePA design future grant programs and future grantees optimize their planning efforts.
  • Staff costs are limited to actual salary, benefit, and payroll tax expense.
  • Documentation of staff costs must include name and position of staff person, hourly rate, dates and hours worked on the project, total hours, and resulting total reimbursable expense.
  • Personnel billing rates must reflect the actual direct cost to the organization for the person and may include all forms of compensation (for example, health and retirement benefits) and payroll taxes. No overhead or administration may be added.
  • Travel to and from the project site (mileage billing must not exceed federal reimbursement rates)
  • Printing
• All expenses must be documented.
• To receive a grant, recipients must:
  • Be tax exempt pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
  • Be registered with the PA Bureau of Charitable Organizations
  • Have adopted Land Trust Standards and Practices
• The lands to be the subject of the land assessment or resource management plan must:
  • Be largely forested land or intended to be restored to forest cover
  • Be subject to a conservation easement in perpetuity that protects significant conservation values and is held by the land trust that is to receive the grant
  • Be in the Pennsylvania portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
  • To the best knowledge of the easement holder, be in compliance with the terms of the grant of conservation easement or, if not, be either in the process of coming into compliance in the judgment of the easement holder or subject to a waiver provided by the easement holder regarding the violation

Ineligibility

• Ineligible expenses include:
  • Survey of property boundaries
  • Other expenses not immediately connected to the production of the land assessment or resource management plan