Deadline: 23-Feb-22
The Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) has launched the Habitat Enhancement Landscape Pilot (HELP) Program to focus on restoring and enhancing strategically located, diverse native habitat across Minnesota on conservation lands and natural areas to benefit populations of pollinators and beneficial insects.
The goal of this program is to restore approximately 1,000 acres by installing 90 projects.
Focus Areas
Projects can focus on:
- Establishing new floral-rich plots or riparian plantings 0.25 to 5 acres in size; and/or
- Enhancing prairie, savanna, wetland, and shoreline communities that are not currently dominated with invasive species and can be enhanced to provide high value habitat that is planned to benefit a variety of beneficial insects and at-risk species. A plant or animal is considered “at-risk” when:
- It is proposed for listing as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act
- It is a candidate species for listing; or
- It has been petitioned by a third party for listing; or
- Its populations are rare, declining, or may be vulnerable to decline.
- Find a list of At-Risk Pollinator Species on the Lawns to Legumes Partners webpage.
Funding Information
- Funding available: $674,500.
- Applicants can apply for grants of $20,000 to $40,000.
- Project can be located on multiple parcels.
- All grants must be completed by December 31, 2024.
Eligibility Criteria
- Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Watershed Districts, Watershed Management Organizations are eligible to apply.
- Eligible projects can be located on lands with a long-term commitment to conservation management through conservation easements, long-term conservation contracts and public ownership.
- Eligible lands include those with existing RIM easements, CRP (with a long-term commitment), lands with other types of conservation easements, non-profit conservation preserves, newly enrolled CRP, city parks, county parks, and protected natural areas. Projects can be located on multiple parcels.
For more information, visit BWSR.
For more information, visit https://bwsr.state.mn.us/apply