Cornell University, in partnership with the Hudson River Estuary Program of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, is offering a free technical assistance opportunity for municipalities interested in understanding forests in their community and using conservation and land-use planning to identify priorities and proactively protect them. 

Through this project, municipal decision-makers will actively participate in conservation planning steps that will generate resources to inform their municipality, including: 

• a report describing forests in the municipality, illustrated with maps,
• a list of areas and/or parcels prioritized based on community goals and ecological values, and
• a brief report describing municipal land-use policies and land protection approaches to support conservation of identified forest priorities.  

The participating municipalities will be able to use these resources to support future initiatives such as updating a natural resources inventory or comprehensive plan, planning outreach to forest landowners and community members, or pursuing new policies (e.g. conservation overlay zoning or financing for land protection).

Three municipalities in the Hudson River estuary program area will be selected through a competitive application process to work as a cohort with a team of staff from Hudsonia and the Estuary Program’s Conservation and Land Use team in 2026 and 2027.

The deadline to submit an application is May 6, 2026. 

Click here to access the request for applications.