Earth Day sees land trusts rising to meet the planet's challenges

In November 2022, the Biden administration announced its first round of America the Beautiful Challenge grants, and several land trusts were among the recipients.

Part of the administration’s America the Beautiful initiative, the grants support collaborative efforts that protect wildlife habitat, improve public access to nature, enhance natural carbon sequestration and address other priority conservation needs to get us closer to conserving 30% of land and water in the U.S. by 2030.

In its inaugural year, the public-private grant program awarded nearly $91 million through 55 grants aimed at supporting landscape-scale conservation projects, with one of the goals being supporting locally led and voluntary conservation efforts on private lands — the bread and butter of land trust work.

So far, at least seven Alliance members have secured funding for projects that will restore sensitive wildlife habitat and protect landscapes for generations to come.

On the Trail of Invasives

With its $515,000 America the Beautiful Challenge grant, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy will work to improve the health of forests along the famous 2,194-mile long Appalachian Trail, which winds through 14 states from Georgia to Maine. The project will monitor, treat and prevent non-native invasive species like the emerald ash borer — one of the most destructive invasive insects in North America — to protect rare and threatened species in six national forests.

To help with the monitoring and treatment of the endangered ash trees, the conservancy will engage conservation corps members as well as its usual cadre of selfless volunteers who do annual trail maintenance.

“This generous grant will allow the Appalachian Trail Conservancy to greatly expand some of its most important conservation projects throughout the Appalachian Trail landscape,” said Sandra Marra, the conservancy’s president and CEO.

“Combating invasive species is essential not only for protecting the world-famous hiking experience, but also for ensuring the Appalachian Trail landscape continues to serve its vital role as a bulwark against the impacts of climate change. We are proud of and grateful for this generous grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, as it will directly fuel our mission to manage and protect the Appalachian Trail, forever and for the benefit of all.”

Defending Delmarva Ducks

Ducks Unlimited was a featured grant recipient for its wetland restoration work in New Jersey and Delmarva, a peninsula in the Chesapeake Bay that spans the borders of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.

Its $348,300 award, combined with equivalent matching funds, will go toward engineering technical assistance and landowner outreach to implement the Working Lands for Wildlife Black Duck Initiative, which is overseen by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and aims to restore critical wetlands habitat for the dwindling duck species.

Wetlands serve as essential habitats for waterfowl and other wildlife species and play a crucial role in maintaining ecosystem health by providing clean water, reducing the impact of natural disasters and storing carbon.

“This funding will support meaningful habitat conservation work on private lands in New Jersey and Delmarva,” said Frank Pannick, New Jersey Ducks Unlimited state chairman. “We’re excited about this opportunity, and our conservation staff look forward to working with private landowners to protect important black duck habitat across the region’s agricultural landscape.”

Partners of the Plains

The Playa Lakes Joint Venture is a unique conservation effort aimed at protecting and restoring the playas, prairies and other landscapes of the western Great Plains. Comprising a diverse group of partners including federal agencies, state wildlife departments and private conservation organizations, the venture is dedicated to preserving these vital habitats for migratory birds and other wildlife.

The group is one of 25 migratory bird joint ventures across North America and has been successfully implementing conservation projects for more than 30 years, helping to protect nearly 537,000 acres of undisturbed grasslands in the region.

The venture’s $4 million America the Beautiful Challenge grant will go toward conserving grasslands across 250,000 acres of the Southern High Plains in partnership with five accredited land trusts: Texas Agricultural Land Trust, Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust, Ranchland Trust of Kansas, New Mexico Land Conservancy and Nebraska Land Trust.

The project will fund the acquisition of new conservation easements, including transactional and stewardship costs, with a special focus on landowner outreach to encourage permanent conservation efforts in the region. The grasslands conserved will protect habitat for at-risk wildlife and migratory birds, including the lesser prairie chicken, black-footed ferret and piping plovers. The Playa Lakes Joint Venture will help the partner land trusts target and prioritize conservation efforts through GIS mapping and data sharing with federal agencies.