Call for Projects to Protect Barnegat Bay (NJ)

Ocean County, New Jersey, 2/4/2005 The Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national nonprofit land conservation organization, today announced that for the eleventh consecutive year, grants will be offered to nonprofit organizations for local and regional projects directly benefiting the Barnegat Bay and its watershed.

Eligible nonprofit organizations can apply for funding for projects that encompass environmental education, planning, monitoring, research, and/or stewardship. The grants will range from $500 to $5,000 each. For 2005, TPL’s Barnegat Bay Environmental Grant Fund will award up to $25,000.

Proposals for 2005 grants must be received by March 4, 2005 and awards will be announced the week of April 4. While only 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations are eligible, schools and government entities, such as municipalities, and environmental commissions are encouraged to partner with a qualifying nonprofit organization if they have a project that would benefit the bay.

In 2004, grants were awarded to local nonprofits for dune grass planting, erecting osprey nesting platforms, to assist municipalities implementing stormwater management practices, to support a stewardship program that removes trash from the shoreline and local estuaries and for a study of the role of Northern Diamondback Terrapins in the Barnegat Bay system.

“Public education projects are of the highest priority for the board and getting the public out on the land is one of the best ways of educating and promoting stewardship of the watershed,” said Kathy Haake, project manager for the Trust for Public Land and one of nine members of the Barnegat Bay Environmental Grant Fund board. Studies that will provide research to help future planning for the bay are also encouraged.

The grants are generated from a portion of a fund established by a $2.5 million donation to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) from the former Ciba-Geigy Corporation. Under contract with the DEP, the Trust for Public Land was designated as the administrator of the fund because of its long-term protection effort on behalf of the Barnegat Bay. This arrangement is the largest of its type ever made with a nonprofit land conservation organization in New Jersey. Since the inception of the grants program, $270,000 has been awarded to support projects to protect the Barnegat Bay and its watershed.

Organizations interested in applying for a grant should contact Erin Maguire at the Trust for Public Land, 20 Community Place-2nd Floor, Morristown, New Jersey, 07960, (973) 292-1100 extension 20 or erin.maguire@tpl.org to request a copy of the application and guidelines or receive additional information.

The application is also available on TPL’s website.

The Barnegat Bay Environmental Grant Fund is one element of the Trust for Public Land’s Barnegat Bay Initiative, a long-term strategic approach to land preservation that includes land acquisition of critical properties, public education, scientific research, land planning, and stewardship.

The Barnegat Bay ecosystem encompasses 660 square miles of tidal shoreline, back bay islands, marsh creeks and pine-oak forest on the New Jersey shore. For more than a decade, TPL has been working to protect sensitive watershed and wildlife habitat in the state’s most rapidly developing region. To date, TPL has published two reports on the Barnegat Bay ecosystem and has protected more than 10,000 acres of critical Barnegat Bay land. The goal of the program is to balance appropriate public access and recreation with the protection of water quality and critical wildlife habitat.

The Trust for Public Land is a national nonprofit land conservation organization that conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens, and other natural places, ensuring livable communities for generations to come. Since its founding in 1972, TPL has helped protect more than 1.6 million acres of land in 45 states, including more than 21,000 acres in New Jersey.