PA DCNR Community Conservation Partnerships Program (C2P2)

Pennsylvania's primary state grant program for parks, trails, recreation, conservation planning, and rivers conservation. Multiple grant tracks including Rivers Conservation Program for watershed planning and stewardship.

The Community Conservation Partnerships Program (C2P2) is Pennsylvania DCNR's umbrella grant program covering parks, recreation, trails, conservation, rivers, and land protection. For watershed groups, the most relevant tracks are the Rivers Conservation Program (which funds watershed-scale conservation planning, river conservation plan development and implementation, and access/stewardship projects on rivers eligible under the Pennsylvania Scenic Rivers System) and the Land Trust and Land Conservation grant track for protecting riparian and watershed lands.Eligible applicants include municipalities, county governments, councils of governments, recognized nonprofit conservation organizations, land trusts, and watershed associations. Match is typically 50%, with in-kind contributions allowed. Annual application cycles, with pre-application consultation strongly recommended.For an H2O member group looking to develop a formal river conservation plan or to acquire and protect critical headwater or riparian land, C2P2 is the most accessible state-level funding source outside of Growing Greener Plus. Many SW PA streams are eligible for the Rivers Conservation Program track including the Youghiogheny, Casselman, and various Allegheny and Monongahela tributaries.