A state Department of Land and Natural Resources program is seeking grant applications from nonprofits and state and county agencies to acquire and protect private Hawai'i land.

The Legacy Land Conservation Program expects to award up to $4.7 million through a competitive process to projects that acquire property or conservation easements for protecting open space, watersheds, beaches, cultural sites and other "valuable resource" lands.

Under the program, applicants must secure matching funds from elsewhere equivalent to at least 25 percent of total project costs, and the state gets back a share proportional to its grant if land bought under the program is ever resold.

Earlier this year, the program awarded $4.7 million to one county and four nonprofit conservation projects on five islands.

Grant applications and more information are available at http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/dofaw/llcp.

The application deadline is 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 15.