Press release shared by PA Media, www.media.pa.gov, 5/1/2024.

Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn announced that the Wild Resource Conservation Program will soon accepting applications for grants to protect the state’s native biodiversity.

Overseen by DCNR, the program benefits Pennsylvania’s non-game animals, native plants, orphan taxa, and their habitat.

Grant applications will be accepted in three areas: species surveys, conservation and management.

The application round opens May 6.

“These grants are critical in supporting field research and on-the-ground conservation projects that protect some of our most vulnerable species,” Dunn said. “This program is vital to maintaining Pennsylvania’s ecosystem for generations to come and we look forward to seeing the new proposals for this round of applications.”

Among this year’s grant priorities are surveys and projects related to the conservation of:

  • Mammals like northern flying squirrel, Allegheny woodrat, and spotted skunk
  • Birds like northern harrier
  • Mussels like the clubshell and round hickorynut
  • Fish like Chesapeake logperch; and
  • Studies to better understand Pennsylvania’s rare plants through genetics and habitat modeling and their insect pollinators, as well as documenting Pennsylvania’s​ fungi.

“This particular grant round is focused on efforts to build on previous studies and support Pennsylvania’s wide array of wildlife and native wild plants, which are a part of our beautiful and diverse ecosystem,” said Conservation Science and Ecological Resources Chief Rebecca Bowen, who oversees the Wild Resource Conservation Program for DCNR. “This program is special because it allows the citizens of Pennsylvania to directly contribute to non-game wildlife and native plant conservation.”

Bowen noted that the Wild Resource Conservation Program ​schedule had been disrupted because of the COVID-19 pandemic and pointed to a more normal timeframe for applications this year.

Launched in 1982, the Wild Resource Conservation Program encourages and supports research and protection efforts to conserve Pennsylvania’s diverse native wildlife resources, including bird and mammal species, amphibians and reptiles, insects, and wild plants.

Applications will be accepted Monday, May 6 through 4:00 P.M. on Monday, July 1.

Applications only will be accepted electronically through DCNR’s online grant application system​.

Learn more about the Wild Resource Conservation Program.

MEDIA CONTACT: Wesley Robinson, DCNR, 717-877-6315