Grants

The federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) is now offering grants for acid mine drainage treatment through the Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program to not-for-profit 501(c)3 entities. WCAP is designed to be partnered with other funding sources to assist groups such as small watershed organizations to complete local AMD reclamation projects. Projects typically involve small to moderate flow discharges from abandoned underground or surface coal mines, using passive treatment technology.

The Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration grant program seeks to develop community capacity to sustain local natural resources for future generations by providing modest financial assistance to diverse local partnerships focused on improving water quality, watersheds and the species and habitats they support.

Projects include a variety of ecological improvements along with targeted community outreach, education and stewardship. Ecological improvements may include one or more of the following: wetland, riparian, forest and coastal habitat restoration; wildlife conservation, community tree canopy enhancement, habitat, water quality and wildlife monitoring and green infrastructure best management practices for managing run-off. 

Projects should increase access to the benefits of nature, reduce the impact of environmental hazards and engage local communities, particularly underserved communities, in project planning, outreach and implementation. This program expects that applicants will represent a mixture of urban and rural communities. NFWF may use a mix of public and private funding sources to support any grant made through this program and we expect that more than half of projects awarded will support underserved communities.

The Office of Outreach and Partnerships Division (OPD) within the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provides leadership and funding to ensure that all programs and services are made accessible to all NRCS customers, fairly and equitably, with emphasis on reaching the underserved and socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers and landowners. In this Request for Applications (RFA), NRCS requests applications for four OPD priority areas through the Racial Equity and Justice Conservation Cooperative Agreements. The goal of this outreach is for NRCS in collaboration with partners to expand the delivery of conservation assistance to historically underserved farmers and ranchers, including socially disadvantaged, limited resource, beginning, tribal and veteran. Proposals should support activities that introduce the concepts of climate-smart agriculture and to assist producers with planning and implementation of conservation practices and principles.

A grant program that supports underserved and vulnerable communities, and Indigenous communities, in Canada, Mexico, and the United States to prepare for climate-related impacts.This program is targeted to underserved and vulnerable communities, including Indigenous communities, low-income communities, and communities with heightened risk and increased sensitivity to climate change and that have less capacity and fewer resources to cope with, adapt to, or recover from climate impacts. The degree of risk and sensitivity stems from physical (built and environmental), social, political, and/or economic factors, which interact with each other and are exacerbated by climate impacts. These factors include, but are not limited to, race, class, sexual orientation and identification, national origin, and income inequality.