CANTON -- St. Lawrence Land Trust will receive a $12,000 grant through the state Conservation Partnership Program to acquire Hart’s Falls Preserve on the Grasse River in northern St. Lawrence County.

The preserve is a 40-acre plot and will be the trust’s first fee-owned conservation property.

The grant will help cover costs associated with the development of public access and a management plan for stewardship of the preserve.

The area contains high quality riparian habitat and culturally-significant waterfalls, said a state press release.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Land Trust Alliance recently announced the award, which is part of the 2016 Land Trust Grants doled out to 58 nonprofit land trusts across the state under the auspices of the Conservation Partnership Program. A total of $1.8 million in grants will be awarded, said a state press release.

The DEC believes the grants, funded through New York's Environmental Protection Fund (EPF), will leverage an additional $1.5 million in private and local funding to support projects that will protect farmland, wildlife habitat, and water quality, enhance public access for outdoor recreation, and conserve priority open space areas critical for community health, tourism and regional economic development.

The Land Trust Alliance administers the Conservation Partnership Program in coordination with DEC.

The Conservation Partnership Program grants will help local land trusts sustain and expand community and landowner outreach initiatives and develop an array of land conservation, stewardship, and education programs, said a DEC press release.

Grant awards ranged from $4,700 to $75,000.