Two Finger Lakes-area land trusts will receive $200,000 combined in state conservation grants, including money for a planned public nature preserve in Greece and a new staff position in Geneseo, according to a Thursday announcement from the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Genesee Land Trust received $100,000 to begin developing Island Cottage Woods in Greece as a nature preserve with accessible trails, interpretive signs and benches, according to DEC's project summaries.
Genesee Valley Conservancy received another $100,000 to hire a full-time communications director. The Geneseo-based organization described it in the state project summary as its first dedicated communications position in 35 years.
The two awards make up the $200,000 listed for the Finger Lakes region in DEC's Conservation Partnership Program announcement. The release lists one stewardship and resource management grant and one professional development grant for the region; it does not give a completion date for the Greece preserve work or a hiring timetable for the Geneseo position.
State awards cover 56 projects
Statewide, DEC announced $2.7 million for 56 projects involving 45 nonprofit land trusts. The awards range from $6,861 to $100,000, and DEC said 38 of the recipient trusts are accredited under independent conservation, stewardship and nonprofit-management standards.
The grants are funded through the state's Environmental Protection Fund. The Land Trust Alliance administers the program with DEC, and the state said the awards will leverage an additional $2.2 million in private and local funding.
DEC said the projects are intended to help land trusts conserve open space, improve public access to recreation, protect water quality and manage land for climate resilience. Those are program goals; the announcement does not say that the two local grants have already completed their proposed work.
Five types of land-trust grants
The award list divides the $2.7 million among five grant types. Stewardship and resource management projects received $780,164 across 16 grants, while 14 land-transaction grants received $676,585. Capacity and excellence grants accounted for $490,351 across 15 awards, and eight conservation catalyst grants received $480,900.
Three professional development grants, including the Genesee Valley Conservancy award, totaled $272,000. The Genesee Land Trust's Island Cottage Woods project is among the stewardship and resource management awards.
DEC said the Conservation Partnership Program is in its 22nd grant round. The state funded this year's grants through the Environmental Protection Fund, which is maintained at $425 million in the enacted 2026-27 budget; the budget also adds $25 million from the Sustainable Future Program for environmental work.
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