New England Forests and Rivers Fund

Since its creation in 2015, the New England Forests and Rivers Fund has awarded 75 grants that will restore early successional and mature forest habitat, modify and replace barriers to fish movement, restore riparian and instream habitat, and engage hundreds of volunteers in forest habitat restoration and stream connectivity projects in the New England states, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, plus the Upper Hudson and Lake Champlain watersheds in New York. These projects are expected to:

• Open 1,044 miles of streams for eastern brook trout and river herring through modification or replacement of 157 barriers to fish passage;
• Restore 3,749 acres of young forest habitat for New England cottontail and American woodcock;
• Restore 6,424 acres of mature forest habitat for black-throated blue warbler and wood thrush; and
• Recruit at least 1,868 volunteers to engage in on-the-ground conservation.

The program has awarded more than $9.1 million in grant funding to date. Grantees, in turn, are leveraging an additional $15.2 million in matching contributions, for a total conservation impact of more than $24.3 million.