CORNWALL, Conn.— The Housatonic Valley Association (HVA) and its conservation partners has been awarded a $30,000 grant to further the Follow the Forest initiative and its mission to protect one of the largest connected wildlife corridors in the eastern United States.
The grant was made by the John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold Foundation, a supporting organization of the Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation.
“Follow the Forest brings together more than 50 partners, from local and regional land trusts to national organizations, united by a shared conservation vision,” says Julia Rogers, HVA’s conservation director. “By combining cutting-edge science with community knowledge, we’re creating real momentum to respond to habitat fragmentation and the climate crisis.”
A vast network of forests, wetlands, and ridgelines, this corridor begins along the Hudson River and stretches north through Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Vermont. Protecting and reconnecting these habitats is essential not only for wildlife survival, but also for ensuring clean water and clean air.
Over the next 12 months, the funding will allow HVA and partners to train community scientists to assess wildlife movement and viability at more than 60 forest linkages across western Connecticut and Massachusetts; coordinate conservation planning among local and regional partners to generate a robust pipeline of future land protection projects; and develop a Connectivity Implementation Framework that guides partners in moving from data and mapping to on-the-ground action.
“We are deeply grateful to the John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold Foundation for its support of our Follow the Forest efforts,” says Tim Abbott, HVA’s executive director. “This collaborative work is essential to ensuring that wildlife can move, adapt and thrive on our landscape, now and into the future.”
The only conservation organization dedicated to the entire tri-state Housatonic River watershed, the Housatonic Valley Association acts to protect the natural character and environmental health of the region from the Berkshires to Long Island Sound. Learn more at hvatoday.org.
The Follow the Forest Initiative unites partners across four states to protect and connect a continuous forested wildlife corridor from the southern Hudson Valley to Canada. To learn more or to get involved as a community scientist, contact Julia Rogers at jrogers@hvatoday.org, or explore the Follow the Forest story map a followtheforest.org.