East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District awarded 2018 Partners in Conservation (PIC) grants totaling $750,351 to 17 conservation and environmental education projects in the District’s boundaries. EMSWCD received 31 PIC applications this year, representing projects in each of its five primary grant program areas: restoration and monitoring, stormwater management and naturescaping, urban gardening and sustainable agriculture, environmental education, and equitable access to conservation benefits. PIC funding for 2018 will also leverage more than $2 million in additional support through matching in-kind and cash contributions.
Partners In Conservation Grants
Adventures Without Limits, $6,529
Adventures Without Limits – Experiential Learning for Underserved Youth
This project partners with local nonprofits Hacienda CDC and Friends of the Children to provide six full day experiential learning opportunities for underserved youth, including one overnight camping trip.
Audubon Society of Portland / Columbia Land Trust, $35,000
Backyard Habitat Certification Program – Outer East Multnomah County Expansion
This project provides technical assistance, incentives, resources, and recognition to east Multnomah County residents as they create backyard habitats and manage stormwater, deepening investment in eastern part of the County.
Columbia Riverkeeper, $17,000
Columbia River Monitoring and Restoration Project
This project will collect and share E. coli water quality data to promote safe swimming and fishing, partner with Wisdom of the Elders Workforce to restore riparian habitat, and organize a Conoce Tu Columbia/Know Your Columbia stewardship and educational event for Latino communities.
Depave, $60,000
Depave 2020
Depave projects engage communities and reconnect urban landscapes to nature through education, advocacy and stewardship. Depave’s 2018/19 work in east Multnomah County will develop, plan and implement three projects – Boise-Eliot Humboldt School, Kelly Elementary School, and Rockwood Greenspace. Capacity building will focus on training and support for the new executive director.
Ecology in Classrooms and Outdoors, $26,000
Ecology Enrichment in Elementary Schools
ECO will provide lessons and outdoor experiences to classes in Title 1 elementary schools, working with teachers to define and implement district and school-specific environmental education, which will be focused on the goal of creating the next generation of conservation-minded leaders.
Friends of Trees, $114,919
Urban Forestry and Restoration Adult Training Program
The project will organize and host a paid twelve-week adult training program focusing on urban forestry and restoration related topics, with the participation of four community benefit organizations – APANO, POIC, VERDE, and Wisdom of the Elders. Upon completion, participants will be placed in a paid internship.
Friends of Zenger Farm, $100,036
Reducing Barriers: Developing Future Farmers and Relevant Youth Programming
Through a multi-year farm internship program, Zenger aims to reduce barriers and increase interest among a diverse range of potential farmers. The project will also enhance Farm School (a youth field trip program) to ensure relevancy to classroom curriculum and the culturally diverse David Douglas School District.
Green Lents, $75,000
Lents Green Ring: Connecting People & Pollinators
This project builds capacity in partnership with ROSE CDC and Wisdom of the Elders through supporting conservation youth internships, establishing pollinator habitat at approximately 10 sites in Lents, and working to deliver environmental equity in the community.
Grow Portland / Outgrowing Hunger, $100,000
Expanding ecological gardening opportunities for East Portland
Grow Portland and Outgrowing Hunger will work in partnership on this project, which focuses on expanding ecological gardening opportunities for underserved communities in East Portland and East County. The project will include: building three new community and school gardens, refurbishing and expanding four school gardens, delivering culturally relevant garden education, and planning for future community gardens in low-income communities.
Janus Youth Programs, Inc., $22,000
Garden Works
This is the first of a 3-year project to develop and implement a cooperative model that leverages the existing food infrastructure and leadership capacity of low-income North Portland communities, all as a part of Janus Youth’s Village Gardens program. The project includes training in financial literacy, food access, conservation, community cohesion and program equity.
Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, $75,000
Lower Eagle Creek Restoration
The project goal is to assess feasibility and begin to develop designs for restoring lower Eagle Creek to benefit salmon, steelhead, and lamprey. LCEP will assess restoration alternatives and develop designs for stakeholder-chosen alternatives to improve processes, Cascade Hatchery operations, riparian conditions, and visitors’ recreational experiences.
Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center Inc., $40,115
POIC+RAHS & Friends of Trees Student Crew Leadership Training Program
In partnership with Friends of Trees, this project offers environmental education, leadership, and community engagement opportunities to low-income and minority high school youth. Through hands-on classroom learning and site-based experiences, students restore habitats; participate in community outreach, volunteer recruitment, and training; plant, monitor, and prune public trees; and gain an appreciation for the region’s urban forest and watersheds.
Reynolds School District, $25,537
Multnomah Youth Cooperative
In partnership with conservation organizations, MYC students are given the opportunity to learn about natural resources, human impact, habitat and restoration through hands on projects in natural areas. Students take part in invasive plant removal, native plant revegetation, erosion control and field education.
Sauvie Island Center, $10,000
Connecting Urban Students to a Working farm
The project will support the participation of 15 classes from schools in North, NE and SE Portland in the farm-based environmental education program at Howell Territorial Park on Sauvie Island, coupled with a winter classroom visits. Lessons take place on a farm and natural area, using the farm environment to introduce children to nature and science curriculum including plant life cycles, healthy soils, wildlife, the food web, and pollination.
Wisdom of the Elders, $20,000
Wisdom Workforce Development
This project will strengthen Wisdom’s capacity in environmental assessment, habitat restoration, and monitoring by training Native American adults in service learning projects with 12 conservation partners. It will also involve Native youth in similar activities, provide indigenous perspectives including Traditional Ecological Knowledge in ecosystem restoration at public events in the community, and build organizational capacity for improved workforce development.
World Salmon Council, $13,215
Salmon Watch
Using salmon as a keystone species of Northwest ecosystems, the program provides students with a unique opportunity to learn about ecosystem and watershed health firsthand through comprehensive, multidisciplinary education in the classroom, field study and in-stream observation, and community service. The project will engage over 1,500 students and will partner with the Blueprint Foundation to increase participation of youth that have faced historical barriers to inclusion.