F23AS00080 - Highlands Conservation Act Grant Program – Capacity Building Cooperative Agreement

The Highlands Conservation Act (H.R. 1964, 2004; 16 U.S.C. 3901) (HCA) is designed to assist Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania in conserving land and natural resources in the Highlands Region through Federal grants to support land conservation projects in which a State entity acquires land or an interest in land from a willing seller to permanently protect resources of high conservation value. This Cooperative Agreement will provide a one-time award of administrative funding to one lead State Conservation Agency in each of the four Highland States. The expected eligible entities for this grant award are the following State Conservation Agencies: Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection New York Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation New Jersey Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Under a cooperative agreement, there is a participatory relationship between the Service and the recipient during the award, with shared performance responsibilities. The State Conservation Agency, if awarded, will enter into a Cooperative Agreement with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to fulfill the following outcomes: Build capacity of the State Conservation Agency and others to maximize grant applications for HCA Base Funding and Competitive Funding grant rounds. Build capacity to spend awarded grant funds and close HCA projects in a timely fashion.