Appalachian Trail conservation projects are getting a huge boost this year, as the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s Wild East Action Fund is offering $1 million in available grant money for 2026, surpassing the amount offered in any previous year. The amount is more than double what was offered in 2025 thanks to a gift from the Dunleavy Foundation.
"My wife, Dr. Katherine Kirby Dunleavy, and I believe it is essential to protect America’s natural heritage. Hiking the iconic Appalachian Trail has provided us with cherished memories throughout our lives,” said Dr. Keith Dunleavy, co-founder of the Dunleavy Foundation. “We are honored to support and advance the protection of the Trail’s breathtaking vistas and diverse landscapes, helping ensure this national treasure remains wild, connected, and accessible for generations to come.”
Grants will be available to eligible organizations working on land protection, conservation planning, and community resilience projects that strengthen natural, recreational, agricultural, and community assets across the A.T. landscape, according to the Conservancy. Applications will open on May 18.
“As the backbone of conservation in the eastern United States, the Appalachian Trail and its protected corridor exist today because of many individuals and groups working together to safeguard this remarkable landscape,” said Katie Allen, director of landscape conservation at the Conservancy. “Thanks to the Dunleavy Foundation’s support, the Wild East Action Fund will advance the conservation efforts of local partners at the pace and scale needed to protect and sustain the A.T. landscape for the future.”
Recent Wild East Action Fund grant recipients are protecting intact forests, restoring the landscape after Hurricane Helene damage, and planning for future conservation and resilience projects.
For example, in 2025 the Trust for Public Land received funding to help protect the 74-acre Pressey Brook Headwaters property in Lyme New Hampshire, including 0.4 miles of the Appalachian Trail. The Trust sought to conserve wetlands and forest within the viewshed of the Trail, according to the Conservancy.
“Protecting land along the Appalachian Trail is a win not just for the millions of people who visit the trail annually but for the residents of towns like Lyme, New Hampshire, where close-to-home access to a world-class trail like the AT improves quality of life on a daily basis,” Hannah Redmon, Northern New England Project Manager for the Trust, told the Conservancy in 2025.
The Wild East Action Fund has supported more than 100 conservation planning, community resilience, and land protection projects across all 14 A.T. states since 2018. Nearly 170,000 acres have been protected or will be secured soon using available grants.
“The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is doing vital work to preserve and expand the ecological wonder that is the 2,200-mile A.T. wilderness corridor,” said Shelley Harms, executive director of Cornwall Conservation Trust, a 2025 grant recipient.
The Conservancy notes that previous grant awardees are eligible to apply. Applicants are required to submit proposals by June 26, 2026.
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