Landowner Resources - Funding and Technical Assistance
Are you a landowner or caretaker of land near a river or stream? Are you looking for advice, technical assistance, or funding to help protect or improve conditions for wild brook trout, or water quality in general?
Browse this page or use the search bar above to narrow the resources below. Include the term "Landowner resources" and your state in the search, plus any additional keywords.
National programs:
USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Farm Service Agency (FSA)
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) provide annual rental payments and cost-share assistance to establish resource conserving vegetation on eligible farmland and pastures.
Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) pays for agricultural practices on a cost-share basis for items like fencing, water facilities, etc. that have a positive impact on environmental conditions.
US Fish and Wildlife Service
Partners for Wildlife Program provides technical and financial assistance to landowners to restore wildlife habitat, including riparian, stream, and wetlands restoration.
Fish Passage Program provides significant cost-share and design expertise to landowners to remove unwanted dams and replace culverts with bottomless arched culverts or spanned bridges. Brook trout are a funding priority under this program.
Trout Unlimited
TU Embrace-A-Stream: Local TU chapters annually apply for grants for habitat restoration projects on trout waters in partnership with private landowners
The Coldwater Land Conservancy Fund is a matching grant program administered by the National Office of TU along with the Land Conservancy Work Group. This program is designed to provide grants for land protection projects that result in conservation easements or land trust or agency ownership of important properties that protect native and wild salmonid habitat. Funds are available up to $5,000, must be matched 1:1, and are intended to help with direct costs (such as legal fees, or surveys) associated with the purchase or donation of land or conservation easements on priority coldwater fishery watersheds. Funds are awarded to TU Chapters and Councils in partnership with land trusts and conservation agencies for coldwater fisheries protection. Guidelines are available here.
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Bring Back the Native fishes program. Leading factors in native fish species decline include habitat alteration, lack of adequate in-stream flows, and invasive and/or non-native species. Bring Back the Natives awards grants to projects that conserve aquatic ecosystems, increase in-stream flows and build partnerships that benefit native fish species throughout the United States. The program also provides grants to implement the goals of the National Fish Habitat Action Plan.
Regional Programs:
Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture project funding is offered annually through the National Fish Habitat Partnership and USFWS.
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund is dedicated to protecting the bay by helping local communities clean up and restore their polluted rivers and streams.
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Central Appalachia Habitat Stewardship Program awards award grants to restore and sustain healthy forests, rivers and streams that provide habitat for diverse native bird and aquatic populations. It aims to improve management of forest lands and also bolster populations of eastern brook trout, eastern hellbender and native freshwater mussels by removing barriers to fish passage, restoring riparian and in-stream habitat, and improving water quality and hydrology.
Delaware River Program The Delaware River Program will award matching grants to conserve and restore waters and habitats on public and private land that contribute to the overall health of the Delaware River watershed—as well as benefit the quality of life and economic vitality of the communities in the Delaware River watershed.
Links to additional resources by state:
| Connecticut | Massachusetts | North Carolina | Tennessee | West Virginia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia | New Hampshire | Ohio | South Carolina | |
| Maine | New Jersey | Pennsylvania | Vermont | |
| Maryland | New York | Rhode Island | Virginia |
Request a copy of our brochure on brook trout and healthy waters
Other resources, including funding as well as links to information and education, are shown below
Partial funding for this page provided by the West Virginia DEP 319 program to West Virginia Rivers Coalition. Page and resources are still under development.
Document Actions
