It's never too early to start thinking about grant opportunities. Whether it's a project that's been on a wish list or the back-burner; the prospect of supplemental funding can never be understated.
Two opportunities that should be on a municipality's radar are the Urban Forestry Grant and the DNR Urban Nonpoint Source (UNPS) Construction Grant.
URBAN FORESTRY GRANT:
The Urban Forestry Grant is a great opportunity to get on top of your Emerald Ash Borer treatments or getting that old tree inventory back in check. The grant provides communities with funding to help support, create, or recreate their tree management programs. With a 50/50 match up to $25,000, communities can develop a plan to tackle various initiatives aimed at sustaining a healthy urban forest.
The Wisconsin DNR offers two sizes of 50/50 match forestry grants. The first being, the 'Startup' grant which reimburses between $1,000 - $5,000. This grant is meant to support "Startup" initiatives or smaller projects such as starting a tree management program, public outreach, and/or Emerald Ash Borer treatments. The larger of the two grants is the Urban Forestry Grant, which reimburses $1,000 - $25,000. Objectives for this grant opportunity may consist of, but are not limited to, calculating your urban tree canopy density, completing a tree inventory, creating a GIS tree inventory database, developing a tree ordinance, and/or conducting tree maintenance. Diversifying the budget and enhancing the areas that your tree management program is lacking will increase your chances of being awarded this awesome funding opportunity.
Deadline: October 2017
DNR URBAN NONPOINT SOURCE (UNPS) CONSTRUCTION GRANT:
The UNPS Construction Grant is ideal for shovel ready projects to implement pollutant control practices within a municipality. The goal of the grant is to help communities meet their MS4 and TMDL requirements by reducing pollutants such as TSS or phosphorus. These storm water quality projects are typically in areas of high pollutants or have been identified in a Storm Water Quality Master Plan. These projects can either modify or construct a storm water BMP.
A construction project can receive a 50/50 match from the DNR of up to $150,000. While some of the funding is available for project planning, projects are ranked higher if they are construction ready. It is important to think early, often, and creatively for possible BMP construction opportunities within your community!
Deadline: April 2018
About the Authors
Brennen Fischer, P.E., CFM
Project Engineer
Brennen has extensive experience in both design and construction review of street reconstruction, street rehabilitation, utilities such as storm sewer, sanitary sewer, water main, and storm water studies. Brennen’s attention to detail and communication skills offers a fresh perspective into a municipality’s wants and needs.
Kevin M. Korth
Technology Solutions Advisor
Kevin has a diverse background focused around GIS, public works processes, software implementations, and client success management. He utilizes these skills to work closely with clients to advise them on the best technologies to meet their goals. A combination of his skill set and personality drives his passion for training clients and setting them up for success. His involvement with numerous software implementations has given him the experience of working with several departments within an organization to achieve both community and department goals.
