Next Urban Waters Meeting: April 27 @9:30a Please join us on Wednesday April 27 and meet the new Urban Waters coordinator, Victoria Wittig. Bring your project updates and announcements. Full meeting agenda and connection information will be sent the week before. Spring Tree Planting in Northwest Indiana CommuniTree: Fifteen northwest Indiana communities requested more than 500 free trees through NIRPC's CommuniTree program this spring. Jen Birchfield (now at NIRPC!) could use some heip offloading and loading these trees on April 12. Contact Jen for more information. Tree Planting Events: On April 27 at 1:00 p.m., the Student Conservation Association will help celebrate the renaming of Maywood Elementary to Anne Burn Hicks Elementary with a tree planting at the school. More info and sign up here. On Arbor Day, April 29 at 10 a.m., a tree planting event at Nunez Park in East Chicago will honor long-time public servant and civil-rights defender Richard Morrisroe. More info and sign up here. Jobs: The Student Conservation Association is hiring young people for its Northwest Indiana tree care crews. More information here Grand Calumet AOC Lake George Branch - Middle Section Remediation A sediment remediation project is underway in the Lake George Branch Middle Section to protect human health and the environment. This cleanup is being conducted by the U.S. ------- Environmental Protection Agency, East Chicago Waterway Management District, and Atlantic Richfield Company and BP Products North America Inc. through a Great Lakes Legacy Act partnership. The remediation contract is being administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. See this fiver tor more information. Funding Opportunities The Northwest Indiana Urban Waters Partnership may be able to provide assistance to advance your initiatives by exploring grant opportunities, building partnerships, and helping you develop competitive proposals. Email urbanwatersnwi®amail.com to discuss your projects and ways we can help. Partners for Places Grant Program This grant program improves communities by supporting equitable sustainability projects that build partnerships between local government leaders, frontline community groups and place-based funders. Grants are offered by the Funders Network in partnership with the Urban Sustainability Directors Network. * Deadline: April 13 * Award range: $25,000 to $75,000 for one-year projects, $75,000 to $150,000 for two- year projects; 1:1 match required USDA Urban Agriculture Grants Program These grants support the development of urban agriculture and innovative production projects. Total funding available is around $4 million for both planning and implementation. Planning projects initiate or expand efforts of farmers, gardeners, citizens, government officials, schools and other stakeholders in urban and suburban areas. Implementation projects accelerate existing and emerging models of urban, indoor and other agricultural practices that serve multiple farmers. * Deadline: July 20 * Award range: $50,000 to $300,000; no match required U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Program 2022 This is a voluntary, community-based program that provides technical and financial assistance to coastal communities, conservation partners, and landowners to restore and protect fish and wildlife habitat on public and private lands. * Deadline: September 22 * Award ceiling: $200,000; no match required (Mostly) Free Trainings and Webinars Webinar: Greenspace Preservation in Distressed Communities Dr. Cassandra Johnson with the US Forest Service will present research findings on the tension between distressed social conditions and environmental preservation in Atlanta. Allen Doyle with the South River Forest Coalition will outline recent efforts to establish the "South River Forest,' which could include 3,500 acres of both green and developed spaces. April 13 at noon Central time. No pre-registration required. Training Seminar: Community Forestry and Gravel Beds STAGE OF COMPLETION Lake George Branch - Middle Section PROJECT TYPE J Navigational ^ Great Lakes Legacy Act Enforcement ^ Remediated Planning/In Progress ------- The US Forest Service and University of Minnesota Department of Forestry Resources will present practical advice for using community gravel beds to restore tree canopy in your city. Drew Hart of the US Forest Service will moderate. The direct Zoom link is here: no need to pre-register. April 13, 2:00-3:30 Central time. Webinar: Designing Park Projects That Improve Community Health The City Parks Alliance is hosting a virtual workshop, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, on the physical, mental and environmental benefits that city parks provide. The webinar will focus on two case studies that received Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) grants. To learn more and register, click here. April 28, 1:00- 2:00 p.m. Central time. Conservation Finance Boot Camp - Virtual Option Available The Conservation Finance Network will host the 16th annual Conservation Finance Boot Camp at Colorado State University. The boot camp helps mid-career professionals use effective financing strategies to increase social and ecological resilience. There is a hybrid participation option for core sessions and there is no application process for virtual participation. To register for the virtual sessions, click here. To view the application for the in-person events, click here. June 27 to July 1, 2022. $165 for virtual participation. Other Useful Resources USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Source Water Protection Website NRCS has developed a new website that includes national maps of source water priority areas under the 2018 Farm Bill. The maps show the 2022 priority source water areas by type of water system (groundwater, surface water or both) and resource concern for water quality, quantity or both. State and local source water partners can contact their NRCS State Conservationist's office to request state specific maps of priority source water areas. To view the state offices directory, click here. Guide to Nature's Impact on Human Health Thus useful resource steps you through the process of evaluating the human health impacts of green interventions. It is available on the Vibrant Cities Lab website which also offers information and action guides on urban forestry careers, urban wood reuse, and other urban forestry topics. White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Draft Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool The CEQ has released a beta version of the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool. The tool is a key component of the President's environmental justice commitments, including Justice40. The beta version of the tool is open to feedback from the public. Federal Funding Clearinghouse developed by the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities & Economic Revitalization The centralized clearinghouse features billions of dollars in existing federal funding sources. The government-wide list offers access to fund infrastructure, environmental remediation, job creation and community revitalization efforts. EPA Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) Best Practices Guide for Financing Nonpoint Source Solutions Each state's CWSRF program defines its own goals and operating policies, while also following federal requirements. EPA developed this guide to share the collective wisdom from states that have achieved particularly notable success at using CWSRF funds to target nonpoint source needs. The Northwest Indiana Urban Waters Partnership focuses on the Lake Michigan watershed in Lake, LaPorte and Porter Counties, Indiana. Urban Waters works to connect urban communities, particularly those that are overburdened or ------- economically distressed, with their waterways by improving coordination among federal agencies and state and local partners. The goals are to improve the Nation's water systems and to promote their economic, environmental and social benefits. ------- |