Municipal Conservation Commissions and Open Space Committees are often interested in conserving land in their communities, but lack the time, professional staff or expertise to undertake a conservation project. We can help your community reach its land conservation goals.
- We provide complete land conservation services, from writing grants to project management up to and including closing;
- We are experienced in developing conservation projects that are grant competitive and in crafting project budgets that can be approved by voters in your community;
- We work closely with municipal boards and staff to insure that the conservation project goes well and is completed successfully.
- To have the best chance for a successful land conservation project, you should contact us as early as possible in the process;
- We will assess the resources available to your community to insure that your project budget, including our professional services, is affordable for your community.
We have a wide range of experience working with communities in successful land conservation projects. The following is a sample of conservation projects:
- Farmland in Westminster, with funding from the state LAND and Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) programs;
- Forest land in Ashby, Ashburnham, Fitchburg ,Gardner, Hubbardston, Princeton and Westminster , with funding from the federal Forest Legacy Program;
- Watershed land in Ashby, Ashburnham, Fitchburg and Princeton, with funding from the state Drinking Water Supply Protection program.
- Parkland in Fitchburg through the state Gateway Cities Parks Program and the Conservation Partnership program;
- Town conservation land in Gardner and Westminster through the state LAND and federal Forest Legacy programs.
- We can help you prioritize land for conservation and assess the strength of your conservation project in today’s competitive grant atmosphere;
- We can also include your town’s land in the context of a larger conservation landscape. This is especially important since landscape scale conservation projects, involving multiple properties in several communities are often better funded.
We are experienced in writing successful project applications to state and federal grant programs, as well as private and community foundations.
- Crafting a good strategy to conserve the land you are focused on is the basis for a competitive grant application.
- Project funding begins with good grant research and writing a strong grant application.
- A competitive conservation project and a well written grant application can attract the necessary funding from the right funder.
- We prepare a project budget that can win community support.
- We know how to obtain necessary municipal approvals.
- We are experienced in presenting project proposals to municipal boards, commissions and Town Meeting.
- We carefully assess the strength of the land conservation project, fit the project to the right grant program(s) and submit a professional grant application;
- We learn as much as we can about your community, so that we can make a compelling case for local support of your conservation project.
Grant Programs
Grants for land conservation are available from state and federal governments, Community Foundations and a variety of private foundations. We have written many successful grant applications for state, federal, community foundation and private foundations grants to fund conservation projects. We have experience in managing conservation projects funded through these grant programs.
Massachusetts Grant Programs
- The Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA ) administers several grant programs offered annually.
- To be eligible for these grant programs, the municipality must have a state-approved Open Space and Recreation Plan.
Federal Grant Programs
Massachusetts EOEEA administers two federal grant programs
- Natural Resources Conservation Service administers several grant programs.
- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service administers the NAWCA grant programs.
Community Foundations fund conservation projects
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service administers the NAWCA grant programs
Important Points:
- We carefully assess your land conservation project, to insure that it is a good fit for the grant program. We can often find funding opportunities for your project with more than one grant program.
- We are experienced working with land trusts, state agencies and other partners to conserve entire landscapes; we look for opportunities to meet your community’s land conservation goals by participating in a landscape scale project.
As a lawyer and land conservation professional, Janet can provide complete land conservation services, from initial project assessment to project management and closing.
- Janet’s unique skill set and legal background provide assurance that your land conservation project will be completed with the highest professional standards.
- We will insure that all grant and other requirements are met, which is essential in projects that include the use of multiple grant and tax benefit programs.
- It’s helpful to have a lawyer on your team, from the start of a project to its completion. We work effectively with Town Counsel to obtain the necessary reviews and approvals and we help insure that any issues that could have a negative impact on the conservation project are recognized and resolved.
- Janet‘s professional credentials include a Master’s degree in Natural Resource Management and Administration. She is skilled in GIS mapping and can provide necessary field work.
You can find a list of our professional services here
You can find Janet's professional credentials here