Northwest Georgia Land Protection Fund

Programs » Conservation Finance Program

Overview
The Northwest Georgia Land Protection Fund works to protect ecologically significant landscapes through the financial support of local land conservation partners. By providing grants and loans, the fund targets land that has been designated as critical habitat under Georgia’s State Wildlife Action Plan which supports game as well as non-game species. The Northwest Georgia Land Protection Fund is funded in part by the Lyndhurst and Benwood Foundations. Read more about state wildlife action plans (SWAPS) here and OSI’s work in the Southern Appalachians.

This program has committed all of its initial funds to eligible projects and is not accepting applications at this time.(June 2010)

Read the program summary report: Protecting the Best: Wildlife Habitat Conservation in Northwest Georgia.

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Summary

Of the 293,000 acres identified for protection under the SWAP in northwest Georgia, 204,000 acres remain unprotected. There are more than 76,000 acres that have been designated as high priority.

OSI administers the fund and conducts due diligence on loan and grant transactions. The fund seeks to leverage scarce public and philanthropic dollars in order to achieve effective and cost-efficient conservation. The fund is guided by an advisory board comprised of independent conservation experts with deep knowledge of the region.

The fund has protected over 5,000 acres of high-priority habitat as identified on Georgia’s SWAP increasing protection of higher priority lands by as much as 10% over current levels. The fund has also raised visibility about the SWAP in general, and the need and opportunity for conservation in northwest Georgia in particular, while helping to strengthen local land trust transactional capacity.

The fund has worked closely with the State of Georgia, as well as with county and local governments and other public agencies; national, regional and local land trusts; and other conservation groups. Preference for funding is given to nonprofit groups working in partnership with public agencies, but under exceptional circumstances the fund has provided funds directly to public entities, e.g. state or county governments.

Geographic Focus Area
The focus of the fund is on the following counties of northwest Georgia: Dade, Walker, Catoosa, Whitfield, Gordon, Chattooga, and Floyd.

Grant Criteria
Grants are made to qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations to support the direct acquisition of land and the purchase of conservation easements. The fund also provides short-term low-interest loans to bridge gaps in public or private funding. More limited support for planning and transactions costs may be provided in select cases.

Eligible projects focus on conserving high priority species and habitats identified in Georgia’s State Wildlife Action Plan. Funding is available for projects that enlarge, connect and buffer existing protected land. As supporting criteria, preference is given to projects that:

• Conserve, either alone or in conjunction with existing protected areas, larger landscapes to ensure the viability of plants and species at a landscape scale
• Achieve significant financial leverage (at least 3:1)
• Demonstrate an urgency and/or timeliness in proceeding, i.e., where there is significant but manageable threat
• Are spearheaded by organizations with the capacity and financial ability to execute the transaction and ensure long-term stewardship/management of the protected property
• Are executed in a cost-effective manner, providing the greatest benefit at the least cost.
  
  Contact Information for Northwest Georgia Land Protection Fund
• 
  Marc Hunt,
• OSI's Director of Credit 
• Asheville, North Carolina
• Telephone:  828-278-0134