What Happened?
A wide array of conservation and sustainable development programs are in progress across the country thanks to new grant funding opportunities in the public and private sectors.
GRO1000
The U.S. Conference of Mayors and the Scotts Miracle-Gro Company announced the winners of the 2015 GRO1000 garden and green space grant program. The funding opportunity was designed to support cities as they develop sustainable community gardens and public green spaces. The public-private partnership combines local government experience with national garden expertise to select the four winning cities:
- Dallas, Texas: La Bajada Urban Youth Farm
- Hartford, Connecticut: Hartford Grown Project
- Rochester, New York: Rochester Urban Agriculture Garden & Training Center
- West Sacramento, California: 5th & C Street Urban Farm
Each of the winning cities will receive a total of $40,000 in funding and in-kind donations to support the transformation and improvement of gardens and green spaces in the community.
North Tonawanda
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation recently awarded a $25,000 grant to the city of North Tonawanda to conduct a tree inventory of the city. The grant was part of a $930,000 grant program providing funding to urban forestry projects in communities statewide, Buffalo News reported.
In North Tonawanda, the city will hire an outside firm to take inventory of all trees in its 18 parks. The tree inventory analysis will provide the city’s Department of Youth, Recreation and Parks with key information to help drive future parks projects such as:
- Condition of trees
- Age of trees
- Where trees need to be planted
- Where trees must be removed
- If there are any diseases in the trees
- What kinds of trees are need
- If the city should diversify the tree species
Once the tree inventory has been completed, the city can apply for other state grants for planning green space projects and implementing development initiatives. All future grants require a detailed outline of the condition of trees within the city before changes can be made, Buffalo News reported.
Nebraska
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will receive $1.2 million in federal grants over the next five years through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program. The goal of the grant program is to provide support to landowners who are improving grasslands and croplands for the use of both wildlife habitats and agriculture production.
Under the Farm Bill, the U.S. Department of Agriculture created the Regional Conservation Partnership Program that encourages public-private partnerships to invest in projects to protect natural resources as well as economic growth and sustainability.
One project that will be supported through Nebraska’s grant win is the preservation of the Ogallala Aquifer and Plate River. The federal government will work with the Central Platte Natural Resources District to work with producers in the region in an effort to reduce surface water and groundwater consumption by converting irrigated land to non-irrigated land use. The goal is to apply more efficient irrigation methods to reduce the agricultural impacts on the Platte River and local groundwater supplies.
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