Habitat

CLCC’s Forever Connecticut Fund is a conservation finance tool that provides land trusts with access to immediate, flexible capital to acquire natural and working lands, including fee simple and conservation easements. Beyond financial assistance, the Forever Connecticut Fund strengthens organizations through a new capacity-building program that includes one-on-one coaching from a development expert to help land trusts secure grants and donations, launch capital campaigns, and boost their overall fundraising capacity.

The Land & Easement Acquisition Program (LEAP) is designed to bridge funding gaps and accelerate the protection of valuable conservation lands. CLCC will prioritize projects that:

• Have a closing time frame of 12 months or less.

• Demonstrate a strong commitment to conservation.

• Align with statewide land conservation goals.

• Have leveraged and/or exhausted other public and private funding sources.

The Resilient Land Mapping Tool, developed by The Nature Conservancy’s Center for Resilient Conservation Science, is an interactive mapping tool that helps users explore climate resilient landscapes across the United States. The tool allows users to view and analyze data on terrestrial resilience, biodiversity, connectivity, and other conservation indicators to support land protection and planning decisions. Users can explore different map layers, analyze specific areas, and download datasets for conservation research and planning. This tool is designed to support conservation efforts that protect biodiversity and maintain ecological functions in a changing climate.

The National Coastal Resilience Fund (NCRF) is a national focused on reducing risks to coastal communities. The NCRF is now soliciting pre-proposals for coastal resilience projects that restore, increase, and strengthen natural infrastructure such as coastal marshes and wetlands, dune and beach systems, oyster and coral reefs, rivers and floodplains, coastal forest, and barrier islands that mitigate the impacts of storms and other coastal hazards to communities.

The Northeast Regional Ocean Council (NROC) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) invite coastal communities, Tribes, and non-profit organizations from across New England to apply for the Living Shoreline Planning Series, which will offer free training and technical assistance to help guide you and your team through the process of identifying and developing a conceptual design for a living shoreline. These projects will be designed to reduce erosion and coastal flooding and increase resilience with co-benefits like improving habitat and public access to coastal resources. The training and technical assistance are intended to build capacity towards designing, permitting, and implementing living shoreline projects in New England and ensure your community or organization is well positioned to secure funding to advance the project beyond the conceptual design phase.

On October 16, 2025, the Sustainable and Resilient Communities (SRC) team of the Long Island Sound Partnership hosted a field trip featuring the Dodge Paddock and Beal Preserve Marsh Restoration Project in Stonington Borough. The day started with a presentation outlining the history and current state of the site, followed by a walk to Dodge Paddock and Beal Preserve where there was a guided tour led by Connecticut Sea Grant, Avalonia Land Conservancy, and local volunteers. The day included a deep dive into the invasive species removal process, plantings to accommodate marsh migration, and a close up look at what has grown since then. Special thanks to our partners with Avalonia Land Conservancy, Connecticut Sea Grant, and the Stonington Community.

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s (DEEP’s) Land and Water Resources Division requests proposals for the new CT DEEP Long Island Sound Ecosystems Grant, made possible by financial support provided by the Long Island Sound Partnership from the U.S. EPA. There are two primary goals of the program: 1) to promote large-scale habitat restoration and enhance restoration planning, while also helping coastal communities and ecosystems adapt to changing environmental conditions; and 2) to further promote the application of green stormwater infrastructure techniques to reduce nonpoint source pollution, improving water resource quality.

The Long Island Sound watershed is home to nearly 9 million people in parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Canada. Government agencies, nonprofits, and Tribal Nations have overseen numerous projects to monitor and protect the water resources of this watershed and the sound. Although there is an abundance of data, there is no easy way to search them or a central place to manage this information. To help, the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Long Island Sound Study have created an interactive map to help users find and understand data about the water resources of the Long Island Sound and its watershed.

This mapping tool does not host data or maintain data repositories. Instead, it compiles and presents metadata from publicly accessible databases managed by State and other organizations.

Refer to this fact sheet for details about the application and its data sources: The Long Island Sound and Watershed Metadata map application

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law established the National Culvert Removal, Replacement, and Restoration Grant program (Culvert Aquatic Organism Passage Program) to provide funding for projects that would meaningfully improve or restore passage for anadromous fish (anadromous fish species are born in freshwater such as streams and rivers, spend most of their lives in the marine environment, and migrate back to freshwater to spawn).

NFWF is soliciting proposals for the Northeast Forests and Rivers Fund to restore and sustain healthy rivers, forests, and grasslands that provide habitat for diverse fish and wildlife populations.

The National Coastal Resilience Fund (NCRF) is a national program focused on reducing risks to coastal communities. The NCRF is now soliciting pre-proposals for projects that will create and/or restore natural systems in order to increase protection for communities from coastal hazards, such as storms, sea- and lake-level changes, inundation, and coastal erosion, while improving habitats for fish and wildlife species.

The Land & Easement Acquisition Program (LEAP) is designed to bridge funding gaps and accelerate the protection of valuable conservation lands. CLCC will prioritize projects that:

• Have a closing time frame of 12 months or less.

• Demonstrate a strong commitment to conservation.

• Align with statewide land conservation goals.

• Have leveraged and/or exhausted other public and private funding sources.

This program provides funding for a variety of transportation projects such as pedestrian and bicycle facilities; construction of turnouts, overlooks, and viewing areas; community improvements such as historic preservation and vegetation management; environmental mitigation related to stormwater and habitat connectivity; recreational trails; safe routes to school projects; and vulnerable road user safety assessments.

This fact sheet for Conservation Commissions in Connecticut reviews the role of these commissions for enhancing the climate resilience of their communities. The resource was developed by CIRCA and covers the authority and duties of conservation commissions as well as detailing specific strategies and approaches.

The primary goal of the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant (NCWCG) Program is the long‐term conservation of coastal wetland ecosystems. The program is designed to acquire, restore, and enhance wetlands in coastal areas through competitive matching grants to eligible State agencies.

The Small Grants Program provides funding for land conservation projects that provide protection of rare or uncommon native plant species or natural communities, or areas of high native diversity. We will also consider habitat improvement projects, protection of open space in low-income and urban communities, and assistance with fund-raising for projects that meet the above criteria.

The NCRF is a national program with the goal of enhancing protection for coastal communities from the impacts of storms, floods, and other natural coastal hazards and to improve habitats for fish and wildlife. This year, NFWF will award approximately $140 million in grants for the planning, design, and implementation of natural and nature-based solutions.

The Northeast Forests and Rivers Fund (formerly known as the New England Forests and Rivers Fund) provides grants to restore and sustain healthy rivers, forests, and grasslands that provide habitat for diverse fish and wildlife populations.

The Nassau County Museum of Art restored coastal grassland and use the restored grassland to educate visitors about the environment at the William Cullen Bryant Preserve, Roslyn Harbor, New York. The project will restore an important coastal habitat of Long Island Sound. The whole area was seeded mid-October 2023 and the meadow growth began in the spring of 2024, although it will take 2-3 years to resemble a meadow. See photos below of the established grassland approximately 2 years after the seeding.

In cities across America, trees have historically been planted along race and class lines. Ensuring equitable tree cover across every neighborhood can help address social inequities so that all people can thrive. The map shows your city or town’s current Tree Equity Score and how it can be improved. Each score is calculated using a science-based approach and readily available data from a variety of sources.