Deadline: 1-Jun-21
With major support from Toyota Motor North America, the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) is pleased to announce $203,000 in grant funding to support public lands that have been impacted by increased use during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Funding priorities
Through this funding, NEEF will sponsor public lands sites in order to:
- Demonstrate the need for volunteer service to restore public lands that have been impacted by increased use during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Engage volunteers in restoration and conservation projects that address the impacts of the pandemic.
- Contribute to improvement of the sponsored public land sites through community engagement, as evidenced by volunteer participation numbers, types of projects, value of volunteer service, and conservation outputs.
Types of Projects NEEF will support
The following are the types of projects NEEF will support:
- Conservation Projects: Conservation projects are designed to address environmental concerns. Projects in this category should aim to help to protect biodiversity, wildlife, wild places, or endangered species.
- Accessibility Projects: These are projects that are designed to increase access to public lands. This project type may seek to increase access for the general public or for a specific population, such as people with physical disabilities.
- Maintenance Projects: Maintenance projects restore or enhance park infrastructure. Park infrastructure includes any of the basic facilities (e.g., buildings, fences) and physical amenities (e.g., restrooms, picnic tables) utilized on the public land space.
- Cultural and Historical Preservation Projects: Projects that are focused on preserving public land sites that hold historic and/or cultural value. Preservation projects include a wide range of activities from brick-and-mortar rehabilitation to neighborhood surveys and documentation efforts.
Funding Criteria
- Applicants can request up to $2,500 to be spent over six (6) months.
- Applicants must clearly describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the public land site (e.g., wear and tear on trails due to increased public use, increased litter, postponed projects such as planting/invasive species removal, etc.)
- Applicants must clearly describe a project (or projects) they will implement to address the impact of the pandemic.
Eligibility Criteria
- Open to non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations, state or federal government agencies, federally recognized tribes and local governments, and educational institutions.
- Must have been in existence for at least two (2) years.
- Private for-profit firms and individuals are not eligible to apply.
- Grant funding may not be used to support political advocacy, fundraising, lobbying, litigation, terrorist activities, or Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations.
- Must meet the funding criteria.
For more information, visit https://www.neefusa.org/grants/2021/restoration-resilience-fund