Congratulations to our 2017 Mini-Grant Recipients!
Although we only had a limited amount of funds to distribute this year, we are pleased to announce that everyone who applied was at least partially funded! In some cases applications included requests for funds that fall outside of our grant guidelines, in other cases we simply did our best to give everyone a share without watering down the soup too much. Here are the results of the deliberations of the mini-grant committee:
- Lance Olsen: Climate and Biodiversity Listserv Support: $200.00. Gather and circulate information about climate change and its many consequences, environmental and economic. Lance provides a valuable service to the Heartwood network by searching a broad range of science journals and other important media every day, and notifying list members about latest available peer-reviewed information.
- The Clinch Coalition, VA: High Knob Naturalist Rally: $400.00. This supports a one-day annual event that embodies the Heartwood Forest Watch ethos, directly connecting visitors and community members with their national forest. The 11th Annual High Knob Naturalist Rally will be held September 30 at High Knob Lake, and will feature hikes, presentations, and other educational activities designed to promote the protection of the native biodiversity of the Clinch Mountain region and the Jefferson National Forest.
- Green Mountain Earth First! Plainfield, VT: Direct Action Training for Trainers: $500.00. GMEF! will be offering intensive training September 22-24, where participants can gain skills in organizing and direct action. Participants will have the chance to practice training exercises, troubleshoot local issues relative to trainings in local areas, spend time in the forest learning and practicing skills of scouting and surveying, and get to know other trainers and activists. This event will serve a number of HW member organizations and provide valuable skills to organizers throughout the region that can be applied to a wide range of issues.
- Shawnee Forest Sentinels, Anna, IL: Shawnee Forest Defense Training: $400.00 Shawnee Forest Defense Training will inform, educate and train citizens in the Shawnee National Forest area to identify key issues with forest proposals, evaluate and create public comment addressing forest management or mis-management, which will help protect forested areas from fragmentation, logging, burning and herbicide use.
- Grown In Town Farmstead, Bloomington, IN: Urban Agriculture Workshops and Creation of Urban Grower Network: $400.00 This project will plan and coordinate a series of 4 workshops/gatherings focusing on sharing information on how forms of urban agriculture can help improve food systems and local and regional ecosystems. The first two workshops will provide an overview of common types of urban agriculture activities and their multiple environmental, economic and social benefits. The third and fourth workshops will focus on key challenges and resources associated with farming in cities as well as group brainstorming sessions for building a formalized network of support for urban growers in Monroe County and beyond.
- Indiana Forest Alliance, Indianapolis, IN: Wild Indiana Campaign: $500.00 IFA is organizing five steering committees near Owen-Putnam, Morgan-Monroe, Yellowwood, Clark, and Ferdinand State Forests. They will advocate and build support for protecting specific areas from logging. They will provide training, and support for each steering committee to help organize a community-based coalition, meet with local leaders, host hikes and tours of the targeted state forest areas, host community forums, meet with state forest managers and communicate with the Governor to set aside these areas of state forest from logging.
- Becca Pollard, Columbus, OH: Wayne National Forest Documentary (film): $600.00 Create compelling video content using footage from interviews, protests, and wildlife observation to raise awareness about the threat that horizontal fracking and the Rover Pipeline pose to Wayne National Forest, adjacent waterways, and the surrounding community. The HW member group Keep Wayne Wild! is a partner in this project.
Renew your membership today! You can also earmark your donations to go straight into our Mini-Grant program!
