The Peregrine Accelerator Grant, a Unique Opportunity for CHC

Cold Hollow to Canada is recognized across New England for our successful programs and persistence in securing permanent protection of the forested landscape while implementing holistic, ecologically grounded management within our seven-town region. We have a reputation for punching above our weight as a small, grass roots, bottom-up organization.

In 2025, we took our record of success a step further and applied for a Peregrine Accelerator grant through the Salazar Center for North American Conservation housed at Colorado State University. Each grant cycle, the Salazar Center identifies a transboundary region between the U.S and Mexico or the U.S and Canada to focus on. This Peregrine Accelerator focused on the North Atlantic Transboundary Region that includes much of the Northeastern United States and Southeastern Canada, including the Maritime provinces.

CHC was selected to be one of eight project teams to form a cohort of organizations working on conservation initiatives on either side of the international border. We were also by far the smallest with our one full-time staff. Five of the teams were centered in Canada (Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia) with the remaining three in the U.S (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont). The landscape these teams reach is far greater, collectively advancing goals of resilience and connectivity in the North Atlantic Transboundary Region. 

This grant experience was vastly different from others we have received. In addition to financial assistance, we were provided with many training sessions on relevant conservation topics as well as one on one assistance from a network of professional mentors. The cohort also convened twice in person, starting with a retreat on Prince Edward Island in June and ending this past December in Montreal with each team giving a final presentation about their project to cohort members, partners, and funders. Dave Erickson, CHC’s director, and Nancy Patch, co-founder and board member, attended all the training sessions and represented CHC in Montreal to give a presentation about CHC's approach and the path to achieving our strategic conservation goal of protecting 23,000 acres by 2030, now 44% complete.

We learned so much from this experience and the other project teams and are thrilled to have formed many lasting connections across this expansive and vitally important landscape.

Please take a moment to check out this StoryMap to learn more about the Peregrine Accelerator, cohort members, and critical projects happening in the North Atlantic Transboundary Region.