The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) recently announced awards from the 2025 round of Community Conservation Partnerships Program (C2P2) grants. 

Awards totaled nearly $82 million for 295 recreation and conservation projects across Pennsylvania. The DCNR website includes a complete list of awarded projects. 

Chester County Conservation District and PACD both received awards:

• Chester County Conservation District, $132,100, Installation of approximately 21 acres of meadows and/or upland trees in the Lower Delaware River Watershed, Chester County. Work to include landowner outreach and engagement, watershed forestry plantings and post-planting establishment; project sign and other related site improvements.
• Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts Inc., $500,000, Installation of approximately 20 acres of riparian forest buffers and 30 acres of lawn to habitat along waterways throughout Pennsylvania. Work to include 2026 mini-grant program; landowner outreach and engagement; watershed forestry plantings and post-planting establishment; project sign and other related site improvements. Conservation districts can apply for a mini-grant here. 

Funding for this round of C2P2 comes from the Keystone Fund, Environmental Stewardship Fund, and other funding sources.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2026 round of funding. To get started, visit the DCNR Grants Customer Service Portal. 

 

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is investing $17,325,163 for 89 projects across Pennsylvania that will restore streams, improve fish and wildlife habitat, and reclaim mine lands. The grants are part of the Growing Greener program, Pennsylvania’s largest environmental grant program.

Conservation District Projects Funded include:

• Allegheny County Conservation District – $176,417 for Technical Assistance for Improved Resilience and Healthier Streams in Allegheny County Communities
• Armstrong Conservation District – $171,670 for Buffalo Creek Scenic Drive Streambank Stabilization and Fish Habitat
• Armstrong Conservation District – $34,518 for the Kiski and Cowanshannock Stormwater BMP Demonstration and Implementation Project
• Beaver County Conservation District – $42,238 for Brush Creek Streambank Stabilization
• Beaver County Conservation District – $138,700 for Raccoon Creek Watershed Streambank Stabilization #1 (Energy Transfer Settlement)
• Beaver County Conservation District – $67,924 for Raccoon Creek Watershed Streambank Stabilization #2 (Energy Transfer Settlement)
• Berks County Conservation District – $416,031 for Multi-Project Stream and Floodplain Enhancement Along Cacoosing Creek
• Blair Conservation District – $307,049 for Lewis-Clark Manure Storage for Better Management
• Blair Conservation District – $317,846 for Stock Farm Manure Storage for Better Management
• Cambria County Conservation District – $264,765 for the Cambria County Chesapeake Bay Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Projects – Phase IV
• Cambria County Conservation District – $141,620 for Cambria County Ohio River Watershed Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Projects – Phase III
• Centre County Conservation District – $50,050 for the Centre County Agricultural Plan Development
• Clearfield County Conservation District – $138,900 for the Clearfield County Agricultural Technical Assistance Project
• Clinton County Conservation District – $394,966 for Clinton – Fishing Creek Watershed Improvements
• Erie County Conservation District – $150,000 for the PA VinES Program (Pennsylvania Vested in Environmental Sustainability
• Indiana County Conservation District – $25,393 for Indiana County Riparian Buffers
• Indiana County Conservation District – $302,313 for Stewart Heavy Use Area Implementation
• Indiana County Conservation District – $247,901 for the Pine Run Streambank Stabilization Project
• Indiana County Conservation District – $334,056 for Heeter Farm Manure Storage Implementation
• Indiana County Conservation District – $499,055 for the McNutt Heavy Use Area and Manure Storage Implementation Project
• Lawrence County Conservation District – $94,886 for Slippery Rock Creek Streambank Restoration and Fish Habitat Improvement
• Lehigh County Conservation District – $396,800 for Little Lehigh Creek Stabilization and Enhancement
• Lehigh County Conservation District – $169,140 for Restoration of an Unnamed Tributary to Laurel Run
• Luzerne Conservation District – $85,000 for the Toby Creek Watershed Assessment
• McKean County Conservation District – $487,707 for the Bucks Hollow Agricultural BMP Initiative
• Mifflin County Conservation District – $146,863 for the Falb Stream Restoration
• Northampton County Conservation District – $21,882.00 for the Little Bushkill Creek Stream Bank Restoration and Enhancement Project
• Schuylkill Conservation District – $73,745 for Little Mahantango Creek – Ry-Nan Farm Agricultural BMPs Design and Permit
• Snyder County Conservation District – $328,943 for Snyder County Agricultural BPMs and Stream Restoration Projects
• Snyder County Conservation District – $500,000 for the Rockhill Dairy Roofed HUA and Mortality Composting Project
• Sullivan County Conservation District – $127,809 for Sullivan County Agricultural BMPs from Stormwater and Resource Protection
• Union County Conservation District – $370,561 for Winfield Creek Stream Improvements Phase 2
• Warren County Conservation District – $171,831 for Middle Allegheny River Basin Streambank Stabilization Best Management Practices – Phase 1
• Washington County Conservation District – $205,550 for the 2025 Pike Run Stream Restoration Project
• Westmoreland County Conservation District – $132,606 for Oklahoma Borough Park Streambank Stabilization
• Westmoreland Conservation District – $104,510 for the Manor Park Streambank Stabilization Project
• Westmoreland County Conservation District – $50,000 for Westmoreland County Act 167 Plan Update (Act 167 Grant)

Click here to read the full press release. 

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) announced that it has awarded $196,832 in grant funding through its R3 Education Grant Program. 

Through this program, the PFBC will support 16 education projects in 10 counties to promote new and renewed interest in fishing and boating in Pennsylvania through the recruitment of new participants, retention of existing participants, and reactivation of former participants – collectively known as “R3.”

The Mercer County Conservation District received a grant for a “Fishing Skills Workshop Series.”

The next round of grants is expected to open for applications on September 15, 2025. 

Click here to read the entire press release. 

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has awarded $5,222,250 for the environmental restoration of seven abandoned mine lands (AML) projects as part of the Abandoned Mine Lands and Acid Mine Drainage Grant Program.

The Elk County Conservation District was awarded $437,761 for the continued operation and maintenance of two lime silos located in Winslow Hill, Saint Mary’s City.

Click here to read the press release. 

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) was awarded $134,900 from the United States Department of the Interior’s 2023 Inflation Reduction Act Recovery Implementation Grant program to fund a stream restoration project to benefit federally protected freshwater mussel species in French Creek, Crawford County. The PFBC Board voted to approve a Threatened and Endangered Species Grant to the Crawford County Conservation District (CCCD). 

The grant, not to exceed $134,900, will be used by the CCCD to restore approximately 350 feet of eroding streambank, which impacts instream habitat in a portion of French Creek known to support endangered, threatened, candidate, and rare freshwater mussel species. Stream restoration will include the installation of instream habitat structures to stabilize the eroding streambank, the removal of a gravel bar to reestablish a natural channel cross section, and native vegetation will be planted within the riparian buffer zone to promote streambank stability.

Click here to read more. 

 

The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) announced the award of $17.5 million in Outreach and Technical Assistance grants to 161 conservation districts in 45 states and territories.

In partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the NACD Outreach and Technical Assistance Grant Program advances the adoption of conservation practices by increasing the capacity of conservation districts across the country to provide technical assistance to farmers, ranchers, and forest stewards. This assistance includes developing conservation plans, designing conservation practices, enrolling producers in conservation programs, and supporting practice implementation.

Pennsylvania’s recipients include:

• Bucks County Conservation District 
• Lehigh County Conservation District 
• Northampton County Conservation District 

Click here to read more. 

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has awarded $1,173,789 in Environmental Education Grants to 68 environmental education projects that will promote environmental stewardship across Pennsylvania.

Twelve conservation districts received funding:

• Adams – $4,889 for “Tour of Best Management Practices at the Adams County Ag Center”
• Blair – $30,000 for “Regional Education on Healthy Soils, Riparian Buffers and Urban Green Spaces”
• Clarion – $19,009 for “Enhancing Water and Climate Education in Clarion County”
• Columbia – $5,000 to host “Composting Towards a Climate Solution”
• Dauphin – $5,000 for the “2025 Stormwater Management for Homeowners Workshop”
• Delaware – $5,000 to host the “Delaware County Annual Sustainability Conference”
• Indiana – $10,180 for “Indiana County Environmental Futures: Education for Water, Climate, and Environmental Justice”
• Lawrence – $4,905 for “Nature Camps for Lawrence County”
• Lehigh – $4,969 for the “Orefield Middle School Outdoor Experience”
• Monroe – $10,400 for the “From Current to Classroom: Educating Through Electrofishing”
• Venango – $4,457 for its “Venango County Youth Agriculture Education Initiative”
• Westmoreland – $3,037 for its “Storm Drain Marker Outreach Project”

Click here to read more. 

 

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry announced a more than $6.6 million investment in 19 Pennsylvania organizations to develop and expand registered apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs in the agriculture, health care, and information technology (IT) sectors.

Through the Supporting Pennsylvania’s Agriculture Sector through Apprenticeships and Pre-Apprenticeship grant initiative, Indiana County Conservation District will receive $399,317.

The Indiana County Conservation District will create and establish an agriculture conservation technician apprenticeship program that will provide apprentices with the necessary training and work experience for careers as agriculture conservation employees at Pennsylvania conservation districts, the State Conservation Commission, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, and the Penn State Center for Agriculture Conservation and Training.

Click here to read the entire article. 

PACD has $36,000 available in the current riparian buffer grant. If any conservation districts are planting buffers this year, please apply for funding to install riparian forest buffers in conjunction with landowners. Multi-functional riparian forest buffers are encouraged, but conventional buffers are also accepted. This grant is first come, first served. The grant round will stay open until funds are expended or June 30, 2025, whichever comes first. 

Click here for more information or email Holly Miller hmiller@pacd.org.

Financial and other support for this project is provided by the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Inc. through a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation.

In the summer of 2023, the Lawrence County Conservation District (LCCD) was granted $105,000 by the Lawrence County Commissioners with funds received from Norfolk Southern Railway. The funds were part of a grant to Beaver and Lawrence Counties to be used to benefit the residents of both counties in the wake of the East Palestine train derailment. From those funds, the district established a mini-grant program to benefit the residents and businesses in Lawrence County. Applicants could apply for up to $5,000 to fund projects aligned with the conservation district’s mission of clean water, healthy soil, and environmental education.

LCCD awarded 25 grants totaling $105,000. The program was open to all residents and businesses in the county, but applicants in the southwestern part of the county closest to the derailment site were given an opportunity to apply early. Grant applications were reviewed and approved by the LCCD board of directors, and projects were inspected upon completion before payment was made.

All of the grant projects have now been completed. LCCD is happy to report the results of the funding: two grants paid for soil and animal health testing, three grants went to apiary (honey bee) improvements, nine animal drinking water and pasture improvement projects were completed, three farm operations improved their manure storage and handling facilities, two streambank stabilization and improvement projects were completed, an animal stream crossing was completed, three farm markets improved their infrastructure, and four educational programs were held.

LCCD wants to thank the Lawrence County Commissioners for their support of our work and their confidence that we would make good use of the funding. LCCD also thanks all of the grant recipients for their enthusiastic participation and timely completion of their projects. It has been very gratifying to see all of the good work that was done with a little funding and a lot of local cooperation.