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Because the vast majority of grasslands in New York are privately owned hayfields and pastures, it will be impossible to protect all of them through existing conservation programs that focus on acquisition and management of public lands. Therefore, private lands conservation is the primary strategy employed by the NY Grassland Group. The existing programs (primarily made up of Partners for Fish and Wildlife, Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, and the Conservation Reserve Program) are using the Grassland Focus Area maps to focus and prioritize projects within those areas. In addition, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation has recently launched a new Landowner Incentive Program for Grassland Protection and Management (using funding provided by the USFWS) to supplement the existing programs.

Click on the links below to learn more about these programs, or to obtain applications or other materials.

Table 2. The primary private lands incentive programs that target grassland conservation.

Should landowners determine that these programs are not a good fit with their management objectives, but they are interested in learning what they can do to manage their land for wildlife, they should contact Audubon New York for more information.