Long Island nonprofits get $225K in conservation grants

Three nonprofit organizations on Long Island have been awarded $225,000 in state conservation grants.

The money is part of $3.375 million in Conservation Partnership Program grants given out by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, announced by the DEC during the state’s Earth Week celebration.

On Long Island, the Peconic Land Trust will receive $100,000 and the North Shore Land Alliance will get $90,000 in Stewardship and Resource Management Grants. In addition, the Henry L. Ferguson Museum on Fishers Island was awarded a Catalyst Grant of $35,000.

The statewide grants will leverage an additional $2.7 million in private and local funding to support projects that protect water quality and farmland, boost public access for outdoor recreation, and conserve open space, according to a DEC statement.

Since the Conservation Partnership Program’s inception in 2002, the program has awarded 1,077 grants totaling more than $25 million to 92 land trusts. Cumulatively, the state’s investment has leveraged $26.5 million in additional funding from local and private sources.