HVA receives $30,000 grant for wildlife

CORNWALL — The Housatonic Valley Association (HVA) has received a $30,000 grant to support its mission to protect wildlife habitat corridors in the eastern United States.

The grant is from the  John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold Foundation, a supporting fund of the Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation, Inc.

The Habitat, Land, and Environmental Protection Grant for the Follow the Forest conservation initiative will allow HVA and its conservation partners in Northwest Connecticut to redouble conservation efforts.

“We are deeply grateful to The John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold for its continued support for our Follow the Forest effort”, said HVA’s Executive Director Lynn Werner.

HVA’s Senior Land Protection Manager Julia Rogers said in a press release, “It’s a simple idea – that all species and habitats need to move, and that the key to surviving the climate crisis for many of these species depends on how we understand our role in enabling that movement to happen.”

“Follow the Forest is our very own Yellowstone to Yukon, and it has the same Continental-scale importance for wildlife,” said HVA’s Director of Regional Land Conservation Tim Abbott.

Follow the Forest identifies a forested wildlife corridor that connects the lower Hudson Valley to the Litchfield Hills and the Berkshires, Abbott said, and then continues to the Green Mountains, the Adirondacks, and Canada. This diverse landscape supports scores of rare and threatened wildlife species. HVA’s next presentation on Follow the Forest will be held virtually on Jan. 11. Register at www.clctrust.org/events.