OutdoorMN News - DNR accepting applications for coastal area grants

[Rick]

The Department of Natural Resources is accepting grant applications for projects through its Minnesota’s Lake Superior Coastal Program. Approximately $450,000 will be available for grant projects starting after July 1, 2017 through funding provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office for Coastal Management. Applications are due Monday, Dec. 12.

Grants support projects that impact the natural, economic, recreational or cultural resources of Minnesota’s coastal area. The coastal area covers portions of Carlton, Cook, Lake and St. Louis counties and the Minnesota waters of Lake Superior.

Local, state and tribal governments, nonprofit organizations, area-wide and regional planning agencies, colleges and universities, public school districts, port authorities, joint powers boards, and sanitary sewer districts are eligible to apply.

Grant requests can vary from $10,000 to $100,000. Applicants must provide 50 percent of the total project costs from a non-federal source.

“This is a great opportunity,” said Amber Westerbur, coastal program manager. “These grants provide chances to launch new ideas and expand on-going programs that might not be possible otherwise.”

Minnesota’s Lake Superior Coastal Program has dispersed more than $12 million in grants to over 500 projects since 1999. Recent grant recipients are working to enhance public understanding of natural resource concerns along the North Shore of Lake Superior and piloting new approaches for sustaining flow and water quality of Lake Superior tributaries. Others are identifying important migratory patterns and wintering locations of common terns and constructing new public restrooms and an interpretive trail.

Application materials and additional details are available at www.mndnr.gov/mlscp. Questions can be directed to Cynthia Poyhonen, grants specialist, at 218-834-1447 or [email protected].

Discuss below - to view set the hook here.