Save the Date for an In-Person Networking Event with the Northwest Indiana (NWI) Urban Waters Partnership What: NWI Urban Waters Partnership Networking Event When: Thursday, May 18, 2023 9:00-11:00am CDT Where: Indiana University Northwest (IUN) Restored Prairie, 3400 Broadway, Gary, IN 46408 Questions? Please reach out to Victoria Wittig at vwittig@priw.edu Parking: North of IUN Savannah Center. View the location on the Were you inspired by Dr. Spencer Cortwright's presentation at the April NWI Urban Waters Partnership Meeting? Are you eager to learn more while networking with partners in NWI? Please join us for a tour led by Dr. Cortwright of a restored prairie on the IUN campus. We will learn about restoration potential and challenges along the West Branch of the Little Calumet River, including exciting collaborations with partners such as Audubon Great Lakes, The Wetlands Initiative, The Nature Conservancy, Lake County Parks and more. map here Above: Yellow, purple arid white praire plants in full bloom on the Indiana University Northwest campus. Photo by Dr. Spencer Cortwright. Save the Dates for the next two NWI Urban Waters Partnership Meetings Thursday, July 20, 9:30-11:30am CDT, location TBD Thursday, October 19, 9:30-11:30am CST, location TBD Thank you for sharing your preferences in our recent survey. Upcoming meetings will be held in-person with a virtual call-in option. Look out for details in NWI Urban Waters Partnership Newsletters. Above: Red and pink perennial hibiscus in full bloom on a sunny day. L "ttle Calumet Conservation Collaborative Receives Grant Funding for Restoration and Community Engagement on the West Branch ------- The Little Calumet Conservation Collaborative including partners from Audubon Great Lakes (AGL), The Wetlands Initiative (TWI), The Nature Conservancy, Lake County Parks and Recreation Department, the Little Calumet River Basin Development Commission, the City of Gary, and the Northern Indiana Public Service Company and others, recently kicked off a multi- Above: An aerial map showing a wetland restoration site along the West Branch of the Little engagement project th3t will Calumet River and adjacent to communities and highways. center on Hatcher Park, the Marshalltown Marsh community and adjacent wetlands along the West Branch of the Little Calumet River in Gary, IN. Partners led by AGL have received $307,000 in funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act for a two-year community engagement effort, including $50,000 for restoration work that will integrate community feedback into restoration plans. A further $100,000 from the Coastal States Organization (CSO) will fund the development of a 60% engineering design for Hatcher Park and Marshalltown Marsh. The CSO project aims to understand the feasibility of re-meandering a 1.5-mile stretch of the West Branch of the Little Calumet River, floodplain and marsh restoration, recreation opportunities, and community access. Covering 300 acres, this project will represent one of the largest restored wetland complexes in NWI and will become a valuable resource for residents of surrounding communities. Read Post-Tribune Article Above: Yellow, purple and white praire plants in full bloom on the Indiana University Special Funding Announcement: US Forest Service Urban & Community Forestry Program Notice of Funding Opportunity The Urban and Community Forestry Inflation Reduction Act Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) has been announced! The U.S. Forest Service is making up to $1 billion available in Urban and Community Forestry competitive grants for projects that: • Increase equitable access to urban tree canopy and associated human health, environmental, and economic benefits in disadvantaged communities, • Broaden community engagement in local urban forest planning, • Improve community and urban forest resilience to climate change, pests, and storm events through best management and maintenance practices. Funding Criteria: • Proposal deadline is June 1, 2023 • $100,000 minimum and $50 million maximum funding request • 5-year grant agreement • All federal grant funds are to be matched at least equally (dollar for dollar) with non- federal match. Above: Red and pink perennial hibiscus in full bloom • Match waivers are available for proposals that deliw#4©0% of the funding/program benefits to disadvantaged communities. ------- • Organizations must have an active registration and Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) from SAM.gov to apply. Creating a first-time registration may take several weeks or more to complete, so apply for SAM registration early. Resources: Visit the Grant Application Website here. View Grant Application Webinars here. Access the Grant Application Guide here. View answers to FAQs here. For questions regarding your application, email the US Forest Service at SM.FS.UCF IRA@usda.aov For help developing your proposals and/or to seek additional technical assistance please reach out to Victoria Wittig at vwittig@pnw.edu 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 Victoria Wittig to discuss your projects and ways we can help. National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) Acres for America Acres for America is NFWF's premier land conservation program and was established to provide urgently needed funding for projects that conserve important large-scale habitats for fish, wildlife, and plants through voluntary land acquisitions and perpetual conservation easements. Up to $4 million will be available to support projects in 2023. Read the RFP here. View the applicant webinar here. *Pre-Proposals due May 3, 2023 *lnvite-Only Full Proposals due July 12, 2023 NFWF Monarch Butterfly and Pollinators Conservation Fund NFWF is soliciting proposals to protect, conserve, and increase habitat for the monarch butterfly and other native insect pollinators through the Monarch Butterfly and Pollinators Conservation Fund. The Fund will award up to $2.7 million in grants in 2023: up to $600,000 for technical assistance for private working lands and up to $2.1 million for habitat improvement. Read the RFP here. View the applicant webinar here. *Pre-Proposals due May 11, 2023 *Full Proposals due July 13, 2023 US Environmental Protection Aaencv CEPAI Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmakino (EJ TCGM) Program This new, innovative program will fund up to 11 entities to serve as "Grantmakers" to community-based projects that reduce pollution. Selected "Grantmakers," such as Minority Serving Institutions, will develop an efficient, simplified process so that organizations that historically have faced barriers to receiving funding can more seamlessly apply for grants that address environmental harms and risks. Learn more here. *Applications due May 31, 2023 US EPA Pollution Prevention (P2) Grant: Environmental Justice in Communities The EPA P2 Grant aims to provide technical assistance to businesses (e.g., information, training, expert advice) on source reduction. Grantees must demonstrate that the project will improve human health and the environment in disadvantaged communities by implementing P2 approaches. Read the RFP here. View the applicant webinar here. *Applications due June 6, 2023 *Award Range: $100,000-800,000 for individual projects or up to $1.2 million for multi- ------- state or multi-tribal projects Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) 319 Nonpoint Source (IMPS) Pollution Grant Program IDEM is seeking applications for projects that will reduce Nonpoint Source (NPS) pollution in Indiana's lakes, rivers, and streams. The NPS Program provides funding and technical assistance to groups that work with citizens to develop locally-based solutions to NPS pollution including conducting watershed inventories and water quality assessments for the purpose of developing comprehensive watershed management plans (WMPs); implementing approved WMPs, including implementation of best management practices (BMPs) that directly reduce sources of NPS pollution; and education and outreach on watershed management. *Notice of Intent to Apply due June 1, 2023 *Applications due September 1, 2023 National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWR Coastal Resilience Fund The National Coastal Resilience Fund will make investments in planning, design, and implementation of natural and nature-based solutions. The goal is to enhance protections for coastal communities from the impacts of storms, floods, and other natural coastal hazards and to improve habitats for fish and wildlife. View the Request for Proposals here. View recent applicant webinar here. *Pre-proposals due April 12, 2023 *Full proposals due June 28, 2023 *Match not required, but encouraged *Award Range by Project Category: Community Capacity Building and Planning, Site Assessment and Preliminary Design, and Final Design and Permitting: $100,000-1,000,000 Restoration Implementation Projects: $1,000,000 to $10,000,000. NFWF America The Beautiful Challenge NFWF is soliciting proposals through the America the Beautiful Challenge program. The program is dedicated to funding landscape-scale conservation and restoration projects that implement existing conservation plans across the nation. Via the Request for Proposals here. View recent applicant webinar here. *Pre-proposals due April 20, 2023 *Full Proposals due July 20, 2023 *Award Range by Project Categories, such as: Implementation Grants: $1-5 million Planning Grants: $200,000-2 million Partner Opportunities & Resources Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission (NIRPC) Draft NWI 2050+ Plan Open for Public Comment Following 16 months of engagement and feedback from stakeholders in Lake, Porter and LaPorte Counties, the NIRPC Draft NWI 2050+ Plan is open for public comment. This Plan builds on the main themes of envisioning a region which is connected, renewed, united, and vibrant. NWI 2050+ takes a deeper dive into several topics of importance to NWI including roadways, transit, freight traffic, active transportation networks, land use patterns, and climate change. The public comment period is open until May 5, 2023. Instructions for how to comment are available here. US Forest Service i-Tree Workshops These workshops will provide an overview on how to use i-Tree tools for upcoming urban and community forest funding opportunities. Register for the workshops here. *Benchmarking and Prioritizing Impacts - Wednesday, May 3, 12:00-1:00 pm CT ------- *Monitoring, Forecasting, and Strategic Management - Friday, May 5, 12:00-1:00 pm CT *Office Hours - Monday, May 8 and Wednesday, May 10, 12:00-1:00 pm CT EPA Watershed Academy EPA offers a Watershed Academy Web Training Certificate after completion of a distance learning program, Watershed Academy Web. Watershed Academy Web is a set of self- paced training modules that represents a basic, but broad introduction to watershed management. This program's goal is to provide useful information to local, state and tribal efforts aimed at improving the nation's waters. EPA WaterSense Webinars WaterSense, a voluntary partnership program sponsored by EPA, is both a label for water-efficient products and a resource for helping people save water. WaterSense has developed webinars that address different sectors and indoor and outdoor water use. White House Report: Opportunities to Accelerate Nature-based Solutions In November 2022, the White House released a report, Opportunities to Accelerate Nature-Based Solutions: The Roadmap for Climate Progress, Thriving Nature, Equity, and Prosperity. Developed in partnership with the Green Infrastructure Federal Collaborative members, the report provides five recommendations to accelerate nature-based solutions to confront climate change and other major challenges. For the companion guide, click here- National Park Service (NPS) Short Film: "Twenty & Odd" Twenty & Odd is a short NPS film, produced by six African American women as part of the 400 Years of African American History Commission Act signed by Congress in 2018. Twenty & Odd provides an opportunity to motivate and empower people to cultivate personal connections with national parks and embrace parks as welcoming sources of health and healing. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Guidebook The IRA provides grant programs, loan programs and other investments for clean energy and climate action. Billions of dollars of federal funding has been specifically allocated to "Harnessing Nature-Based Solutions and Climate-Smart Agriculture to Deliver Economic, Climate, and Resilience Benefits," as outlined on page 129. Download the IRA Guidebook here. The Northwest Indiana Urban Waters Partnership focuses on the Lake Michigan watershed in Lake, Porter and LaPorte 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. NWI Urban Waters | Northwest Indiana, Lake, Porter, & LaPorte Counties, IN 46360 Unsubscribe vwittia@pnw.edu Update Profile IConstant Contact Data Notice Sent byvwittig@pnw.edupowered by k Constant Contact Try email marketing for free today! ------- |