The Highlands Conservation Act boundary nearly tripled when it was reauthorized in 2022. When the Highlands Region was originally protected in 2004, it covered 3.5 million acres and 320 municipalities across four states. Now, the boundary is 10.2 million acres and includes 877 towns. A map of the HCA boundary, within Pennsylvania, can be found here. Now, all 877 municipalities are eligible to apply for grant funding that can be used to acquire land for conservation and outdoor recreation that benefits the public.

To access the funding opportunities through the Highlands Conservation Act grant program through the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the interested municipality must pass a resolution to request inclusion into the Highlands. Once passed, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) will send the resolution to USFWS for final approval.

In Pennsylvania, five municipalities have passed resolutions and have been approved to become part of the HCA Expanded Opportunity Area. Buskill Township, Upper Mount Bethel Township, Stockertown Borough, and Lower Nazareth Township, all located in Northampton County, and Doylestown Township, in Bucks County, have all been approved to become HCA communities. These five communities are adding 99.46 square miles to the total eligible Highlands Area in Pennsylvania.

PA DCNR has compiled a list of all municipalities that are located within the Expanded Opportunity area. They also have sample resolutions that can be used to aid municipalities in drafting their own. To better inform interested municipalities about this process, the Pennsylvania Highlands Coalition will be hosting a webinar on June 6, from 11-12, with Dan Pierce, DCNR’s Highlands Program Specialist, and Sherry Acevedo, Northampton County’s Conservation Coordinator. They will share the process of opting into the Highlands Conservation Act Expanded Opportunity Boundary, applying for a grant, and an example of a project from Stockertown Borough that was awarded funding in the last award cycle round. There will be an opportunity for a question-and-answer period at the end of the presentation. To sign up for the webinar, click here.

We are excited to welcome 5 municipalities to the program and look forward to welcoming more!