Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (I, D, WF, WE - Sag Harbor) announced that the Peconic Land Trust has been awarded a $45,000 grant through New York’s Conservation Partnership Program to help protect farmland, wildlife habitat, water quality, enhance public access for outdoor recreational opportunities, and conserve priority open space areas.

The Peconic Land Trust was one of 51 nonprofit land trusts across the State to receive a grant. Grant awards range from $2,900 to $100,000. The Land Trust Alliance administers the Conservation Partnership Program in coordination with New York State Department of Conservation.

This year marks the 15th round of Conservation Partnership Program grants. These grants help local land trusts sustain and expand community and landowner outreach initiatives and develop an array of land conservation, stewardship and education programs. The grants will further regional economic development goals by strengthening partnerships with local and state governments and advancing locally supported efforts to protect working farms, enhance public access and recreation opportunities, and conserve private lands prioritized in New York State’s Open Space Conservation Plan and state wildlife action plan.

Seventy grants funded through New York's Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) will leverage an additional $2.3 million in private and local funding to support projects that will protect farmland, wildlife habitat, and water quality, enhance public access for outdoor recreation, and conserve priority open space areas critical for community health, tourism, and regional economic development.

The 2018-19 State Budget includes $300 million for the EPF, sustaining record level support for environmental funding. The EPF supports state land stewardship, agriculture programs, invasive species prevention and eradication, water quality improvement, municipal recycling and an aggressive environmental justice agenda. This sustained funding will establish new programs to help communities adapt to climate change through resiliency planning and capital projects, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions outside of the power sector.

A summary of this round of grant awards and awardee directory is available at: www.dec.ny.gov/press/113416.html.