HONOLULU — The federal government has awarded $1.5 million to help safeguard the Kainalu Forest Watershed on Molokai.

An additional $1 million will benefit the Ottoville Rainforest Preserve in American Samoa.

The money is part of $72 million in Forest Legacy Program grants announced Wednesday in Washington by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

The awards are used to permanently protect private forestland in 33 states and U.S. territories.

The Forest Legacy Program works directly with states to protect privately owned forests from conversion to housing or other uses that would threaten the conservation, management and restoration of the nation's forests.

Program lands are protected through conservation easements or through property acquisitions.