Program Scope & Eligibility
The Wild East Action Fund is a private, competitive grant program administered by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) to advance the mission of the Appalachian Trail Landscape Partnership (ATLP). Awarded grants support projects that accelerate the pace and scale of conservation and resiliency across the Appalachian Trail (A.T.) landscape.
Three grant opportunities are available to support these outcomes within the A.T. landscape: Land Protection, Conservation Planning, and Community Resilience. Awarded projects must benefit and occur within or overlap with the A.T. landscape, which is depicted on the map below.
Eligible applicants include 501(c)(3) nonprofits, local, state, or Tribal agencies, and regional conservation partnerships that align with the mission and vision of the ATLP. Competitive proposals will clearly demonstrate how their project advances a welcoming A.T. landscape for all and protects the lands and waters, strengthens conservation capacity, or fosters community resilience within the landscape.
More information, including program overview, application instructions, frequently asked questions, and more is available below. Please sign up for the ATLP eNews to receive timely Wild East Action Fund updates and announcements.
Opening Soon!
Proposals will be accepted starting May 18, 2026 for land protection, conservation planning, and community resiliency projects from Georgia to Maine.
Jennifer Stewart
Guidance Documents for Applicants
Grant criteria, guidelines, and required application uploads are updated for each funding cycle. Please review the current documents below to confirm your organization’s eligibility, to align your project’s application with each grant category’s criteria, and to ensure a complete application submission.
Updated guidance documents for the 2026 Wild East Action Fund grant cycle will be available shortly.
Program Overview
The program overview provides information on organization/project eligibility, descriptions of grant categories, criteria for project evaluation, and guidance on appropriate use of funding.
Download
Application Instructions
All applicants should review and follow the application instructions for the successful submission of your grant application.
Download
Project Description (prompts)
All applicants should respond to the prompts and upload the document to the online form for the successful submission of your grant application.
Download
Budget Proposal (template)
All applicants should provide a detailed budget proposal. Please use this template when submitting your application.
DownloadThe Appalachian Trail Landscape
Organizations applying to the Wild East Action Fund should broadly serve the needs of a geographic area within or overlapping the A.T. landscape, as shown in the map below.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Wild East Action Fund is a private, competitive grant opportunity, administered by ATC, supporting the ATLP mission to connect the wild, scenic, and cultural wonders of the A.T. landscape. The Wild East Action Fund seeks applications that aim to accelerate the pace and scale of A.T. landscape’s conservation and resiliency.
TC has identified needs and strategies, at multiple scales, to effectively support the acceleration of conservation and resiliency within the A.T. landscape. The program’s three grant categories are designed to activate partners’ knowledge, abilities, and expertise to address these complex needs:
- Land Protection
- Conservation Planning
- Community Resilience
The Wild East Action Fund supports projects that contribute to the protection of lands and waters within the A.T. landscape, enhance capacity for strategic conservation activities, build community support for a conserved and resilient A.T. landscape; and champion an A.T. landscape that encourages all people to feel welcome, respected, supported and valued.
Please download the program overview, linked above, for detailed information about the grant program and each of the grant categories.
We believe the A.T. is both the backbone AND heart of a large, connected landscape that is vital to all forms of life. The A.T. Landscape is inclusive of all values that make the A.T. so exceptional: values like natural resources, history and culture, scenic views, recreation opportunities, and unique towns and communities.
The ATLP has identified a fuzzy operational boundary for the A.T. landscape, based on the Appalachian Trail’s transecting or abutting USGS’s Hydrological Unit Code 10 (HUC10) delineations. See the map above for a visualization of A.T. Landscape.
Eligible organizations include 501(c)(3) nonprofits, local/State/Tribal agencies, and regional conservation partnerships represented by a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor are permitted to apply to and receive awards from the Wild East Action Fund. Organizations should broadly serve the needs of a geographic area within or overlapping the A.T. landscape.
ATC is excited to announce that $1 Million is available, in total, for qualified land protection, conservation planning, and community resilience projects. Land protection requests are capped at $75,000, and conservation planning and community resilience requests are limited to single-year requests which may range from $5,000 to $20,000.
The grant application period for 2026 will open May 18 and will close June 26.
While timelines may vary, we expect to notify recipients by November of the corresponding application year.
Yes! Previous grant recipients are welcome (and encouraged) to apply again for consideration.
Yes, your organization can submit multiple applications for different projects, both to the same grant category and/or across multiple grant categories.
View previous Wild East Action Fund recipients and how their work is helping achieve a more conserved and resilient Appalachian Trail Landscape!
Previous Grant RecipientsMax Olsen, ATC’s Landscape Program Assistant, can be reached at molsen@appalachian.org to answer questions about the Wild East Action Fund.
Past Wild East Action Fund Recipients
Learn about the organizations that were selected to receive grants from the Fund, supporting innovative projects that will enhance land protection and conservation efforts across the Appalachian Trail Landscape.
Previous Grant Recipients
Stacy Funderburke
The Wild East Action Fund is administered by the ATC in support of the ATLP’s mission to connect the wild, scenic, and cultural wonders of the Appalachian Trail and its surrounding landscape.
The 2026 Wild East Action Fund is available thanks, in part, to a transformational gift from the Dunleavy Foundation.
The generous donor support of the ATC helps fulfill our mission to protect the trail and the landscape beyond the footpath through programs like the Wild East Action Fund.
