East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District announces its 2014 Partners in Conservation (PIC) grants totaling $862,000 awarded to conservation and environmental education projects in the District’s boundaries (all of Multnomah County east of the Willamette River).
The District received 39 PIC applications this year, representing projects in each of its grant program areas: restoration, sustainable agriculture, project design/engineering, pollution prevention, stormwater management, monitoring, and environmental education. The PIC grant program funds projects on an annual basis through a competitive process that seeks to support those efforts most closely aligned with the District’s strategic priorities.
This year, the EMSWCD Board of Directors awarded 27 grants, including three multi-year PIC Plus grants, which are multi-stakeholder initiatives that demonstrate benefits from committed multi-year support. Projects vary considerably in scope, from restoring large acreages of habitat in the Johnson Creek watershed to community gardening with immigrant populations in East Portland. “The quality and diversity of projects this year is incredible. These grants allow us to reach all corners of the District, supporting the great work of these organizations while also leveraging other funding,” said Jay Udelhoven, Executive Director of EMSWCD.
The District created the Partners in Conservation program in 2007 to support organizations working to fulfill the District’s mission. Since that time, over $4.2 million has been distributed through 178 PIC grants to over 80 different organizations. “We have such a rich assortment of groups in the District that are approaching soil and water conservation in many different ways. It’s incredibly rewarding to see how these organizations are able to work with their communities to change how people understand and relate to the environment and make a difference on the ground as well,” said Suzanne Easton, Grants Specialist at EMSWCD.
Read the full press release, which includes the full list of 27 grant projects and details about each.