Posted opportunity — confirm at source
F25AS00332 Highlands Conservation Act – Competitive Funding Round
Fish and Wildlife Service · F25AS00332
$25,000 – $3,850,000
2026-10-31-00-00-00
Confirm exact timezone in the announcement.State governments
Geographic eligibility and all attachment-specific conditions require review of the original announcement.
Eligibility details
Only the Lead State Agency (or Agencies) as determined by the Governor of each Highlands State may be the applicant for funding under the Highlands Conservation Act Grant Program. If the Governor assigns multiple Lead Agencies, those Agencies must coordinate on funding requests prior to submission and ensure no more than the maximum allowable amount is requested through this funding opportunity. All or part of the funds received by the Lead State Agency may be subawarded to a County or Municipality within the Highlands Region, or to another State Conservation Agency.The current Lead State Agencies are:Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Contact Matt Starr: matthew.starr@ct.govNew York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation. Contact Lynn Kovach: lynn.kovach@parks.ny.govNew Jersey Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council. Contact Liz Ward: elizabeth.ward@highlands.nj.govPennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Contact Dan Pierce: danipierce@pa.gov
Matching funds & resources
Source matching-funds field: Required.
Matching funds and leveraged resources are different requirements. Read the description and reviewed rules below before determining resource commitments.
About this opportunity
The Highlands Conservation Act Program (HCA) is administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to assist Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania in the protection of land and natural resources in the Highlands Region. HCA grants support land conservation projects in which a State, County, or Municipal entity acquires land or an interest in land from a willing seller to conserve resources of high conservation value.Governors of the four Highlands States may submit proposals for up to 50% of the total cost of land conservation projects in the Highlands Region.Funding appropriated under the HCA is typically divided into two separate categories – Base and Competitive. Eligible applicants may submit requests for the Competitive Funding Round in response to this Notice of Funding Opportunity. A separate Notice of Funding Opportunity will be posted for Base Funds. A project may not be proposed for funding in both funding opportunities.More information on the HCA program is available at www.fws.gov/program/highlands-conservation-act-grant
Funding geography: Not specified — review source. A funder’s address does not establish eligibility.
Review original source ↗Funding instrument: Grant. Issuing jurisdiction: Federal. This is not a geographic eligibility determination.
Source fields and evidence
id: 362484
Source ↗ · id
opportunityNumber: F25AS00332
Source ↗ · opportunityNumber
opportunityTitle: F25AS00332 Highlands Conservation Act – Competitive Funding Round
Source ↗ · opportunityTitle
revision: 0
Source ↗ · revision
agencyDetails: {"code":"FWS","seed":"DOI-FWS","agencyName":"Fish and Wildlife Service","agencyCode":"DOI-FWS","topAgencyCode":"DOI"}
Source ↗ · agencyDetails
owningAgencyCode: DOI-FWS
Source ↗ · owningAgencyCode
cfdas: [{"id":433483,"opportunityId":362484,"cfdaNumber":"15.667","programTitle":"Highlands Conservation"}]
Source ↗ · cfdas
applicantTypes: [{"id":"00","description":"State governments"}]
Source ↗ · applicantTypes
applicantEligibilityDesc: Only the Lead State Agency (or Agencies) as determined by the Governor of each Highlands State may be the applicant for funding under the Highlands Conservation Act Grant Program. If the Governor assigns multiple Lead Agencies, those Agencies must coordinate on funding requests prior to submission and ensure no more than the maximum allowable amount is requested through this funding opportunity. All or part of the funds received by the Lead State Agency may be subawarded to a County or Municipality within the Highlands Region, or to another State Conservation Agency.The current Lead State Agencies are:Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Contact Matt Starr: matthew.starr@ct.govNew York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation. Contact Lynn Kovach: lynn.kovach@parks.ny.govNew Jersey Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council. Contact Liz Ward: elizabeth.ward@highlands.nj.govPennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Contact Dan Pierce: danipierce@pa.gov
Source ↗ · applicantEligibilityDesc
fundingInstruments: [{"id":"G","description":"Grant"}]
Source ↗ · fundingInstruments
fundingActivityCategories: [{"id":"NR","description":"Natural Resources"}]
Source ↗ · fundingActivityCategories
awardFloor: 25000
Source ↗ · awardFloor
awardCeiling: 3850000
Source ↗ · awardCeiling
responseDate: Oct 31, 2026 12:00:00 AM EDT
Source ↗ · responseDate
responseDateStr: 2026-10-31-00-00-00
Source ↗ · responseDateStr
responseDateDesc: Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 11:59 PM, ET, on the listed application due date.
Source ↗ · responseDateDesc
costSharing: true
Source ↗ · costSharing
lastUpdatedDate: May 19, 2026 05:05:18 PM EDT
Source ↗ · lastUpdatedDate
status: posted
Source ↗ · oppHits[id=362484].oppStatus
Related collections: Environment and natural-resource funding · U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service funding ·
Build your funding pipeline.
Save opportunities, filter by fit, and export your deadlines with membership.
View plans from $49/month ↗