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Golden-winged warbler in a tree

Central Appalachia Habitat Stewardship Program

The Central Appalachia Habitat Stewardship Program restores and sustains healthy forests, rivers and streams that provide habitat for diverse native bird and aquatic species populations. Priority is given to projects within 10 focal geographies. The program supports projects in portions of the Appalachian region of Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

Partners

The program aims to:

  • Improve the management of public and private forestlands in order to create blocks with a mosaic of mixed-aged forests that support a diversity of bird and wildlife species, especially targeting golden-winged warbler, wood thrush and cerulean warbler. 
  • Improve stream health by removing passage barriers, restoring riparian buffers, and improving water quality and hydrology to bolster populations of eastern brook trout, eastern hellbender and native freshwater mussels.

From 2017 through 2023, the Central Appalachia Habitat Stewardship Program has awarded more than $17.7 million in funding to 81 projects to restore and manage dynamic forest blocks to enhance forest age and structural diversity, target outreach and assistance to key forest landowners and practitioners, sustain and improve habitat quality and connectivity within and between eastern brook trout population patches and restore eastern hellbender and freshwater mussel habitat. Grantees are providing more than $20 million in match for a total conservation impact of more than $37.7 million.

Major funding for the Central Appalachia Habitat Stewardship Program is provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, AstraZeneca and Cleveland Cliffs.

Application Information


Central Appalachia Habitat Stewardship Program 2024 Request for Proposals - CLOSED View Now
Central Appalachian Business Plan Mapping Tool View Now
2023 Applicant Webinar Recording View Now
Grantee Orientation Webinar View Now
Grantee Orientation Webinar Recording View Now
Subrecipient Environmental Compliance Acknowledgment View Now
ESA Evaluation Template View Now
Environmental Compliance Checklist for NFWF Projects View Now
Program Fact Sheet Download the PDF
Central Appalachia Business Plan Download the PDF
2023 Grant Slate Download the PDF
2022 Grant Slate Download the PDF
2021 Grant Slate Download the PDF
2020 Grant Slate Download the PDF
2019 Grant Slate Download the PDF
2018 Grant Slate Download the PDF
2017 Grant Slate Download the PDF
Staff Representatives

Regional Program Coordinator

Director, Northeastern Regional Office

Program Director, Chesapeake Programs

Program Manager