Q2C Partnership Opens Grant Round
The Quabbin-to-Cardigan (Q2C) Partnership announced a Request for Proposals for its third round of land conservation grants. Grants of up to $50,000 will be awarded to non-profit land trusts, state agencies that have land conservation as a primary function, and municipalities to fund transaction-related expenses on land conservation projects in the “Quabbin-to-Cardigan” region of western New Hampshire (see below for list of towns).
The Q2C area is part of the larger two-state region that spans one hundred miles from the Quabbin Reservoir in Massachusetts northward to the southern boundary of the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire. The region is bounded to the east and west by the Merrimack and Connecticut River Valleys. Encompassing approximately two million acres, the Q2C region is one of the largest remaining areas of intact, interconnected, ecologically significant forests in New England and is a key headwater of the Merrimack and Connecticut Rivers.
Launched in 2003, the Q2C Partnership is a collaborative effort of 27 private organizations and public agencies working on land conservation in the two Q2C states. The partners share a vision of consolidating the permanent protection of the region’s most ecologically significant forests and key connections between them for wildlife passage and human recreation.
The Q2C partners worked for more than three years to develop the Q2C conservation plan, which combines state-of-the-art natural resource science and the consensus vision of the partner organizations. Completed in 2007, the Q2C plan has identified approximately 600,000 acres of “conservation focus areas” that represent the region’s most ecologically significant forests. These conservation focus areas represent about 30 percent of the two-million-acre region and are currently 39 percent protected. An additional 400,000 acres, or another 21 percent of the region, have been identified as “supporting landscapes” that buffer and link the core areas, and are currently 26 percent protected.
The extent to which proposed projects protect land in Q2C conservation focus areas and supporting landscapes will be the primary criteria used to assess applications for funding.
The previous two rounds of Q2C land conservation grants have already awarded a total of $351,000 to twenty conservation projects protecting almost 9,000 acres of land. Each grant dollar has leveraged more than $25 of state, local, and private funding and donations of land value.
For grant application materials, background on the Q2C region and conservation plan, maps, and a list of towns in the region, visit the “grants” page at www.q2cpartnership.org. If you need application materials sent to you or need help determining whether your project is eligible for funding, please call Chris Wells at (603) 224-9945.
Completed applications must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. on February 28, 2011. Successful grant applicants will be notified no later than March 31, 2011.
Projects must be located in the following towns to be eligible to apply for funding: Acworth, Alexandria, Alstead, Andover, Antrim, Bennington, Bradford, Bridgewater, Bristol, Canaan, Chesterfield, Claremont, Danbury, Deering, Dorchester, Dublin, Enfield, Fitzwilliam, Francestown, Franklin, Gilsum, Goshen, Grafton, Grantham, Greenfield, Groton, Hancock, Hanover, Harrisville, Hebron, Henniker, Hill, Hillsborough, Hinsdale, Hopkinton, Jaffrey, Keene, Lebanon, Lempster, Lyme, Lyndeborough, Marlborough, Marlow, Nelson, Newbury, New Ipswich, New London, Newport, Orange, Orford, Peterborough, Plainfield, Plymouth, Richmond, Rindge, Roxbury, Rumney, Salisbury, Sharon, Springfield, Stoddard, Sullivan, Sunapee, Surry, Sutton, Swanzey, Temple, Troy, Unity, Warner, Washington, Weare, Webster, Wentworth, Wilmot, Wilton, Winchester, and Windsor.
Visit the Q2C website: www.q2cpartnership.org.
Funding for the 2011 round Q2C land conservation grants is being provided by USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) and is administered by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests on behalf of the Q2C Partnership through a cooperative agreement with NRCS.
Founded in 1901, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests is the state’s oldest and largest non-profit land conservation organization. Supported by 10,000 families and businesses, the Forest Society’s mission is to perpetuate the state’s forests by promoting land conservation and sustainable forestry. For more information, visit www.forestsociety.org.