Environmental Initiative- Planning Grants

The Environmental Initiative Grant Program by the Laura Jane Musser Fund aims to support public and nonprofit entities in enhancing the ecological integrity of open spaces. It promotes community involvement in planning and implementing projects that improve quality of life and public health while protecting ecosystems. Grants range from $8,000 for planning to $35,000 for implementation, targeting projects in specific states, fostering sustainability, and ensuring active local participation.

The Laura Jane Musser Fund was established by the estate of Laura Jane Musser of Little Falls, Minnesota to continue the personal philanthropy, which she practiced in her lifetime.
Environmental Initiative Program
The Laura Jane Musser Fund assists public or not-for-profit entities to initiate or implement projects that enhance the ecological integrity of publicly owned open spaces, while encouraging compatible human activities. The Fund’s goal is to promote public use of open space that improves a community’s quality of life and public health, while also ensuring the protection of healthy, viable and sustainable ecosystems by protecting or restoring habitat for a diversity of plant and animal species.
Projects must..
Focus on protecting/restoring a sustainable ecosystem that is a defined, public open space.Promote public access to and use of the defined open space.Involve active participation of local community members, with a particular appreciation for volunteer and youth engagement and stakeholder contributions.Contain measurable outcomes within the first 12-18 months.Include a plan for the long term financial and environmental sustainability of the proposed program.
Projects during any one grant period will be eligible for either:

• planning grants or implementation grants
• Environmental Initiative- Planning Grants
• Planning grant applications must demonstrate commitment to a broad-based, active community process for the design and use of local publicly-owned open spaces.

Note: This stage is optional and not a required phase prior to applying for or receiving an implementation grant. If an organization receives a planning grant from the Musser Fund, this in no way implies a commitment on the part of the Musser Fund to provide the organization with any subsequent implementation grant. But organizations that receive a planning grant may apply for subsequent implementation support after their planning activities are completed.

Eligibility

Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizationsLocal units of Government Only programs in Colorado, Hawaii, Minnesota, Wyoming, and limited counties in North Carolina may apply.Eligible counties in North Carolina are located in the Mountains Region:Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Clay, Cherokee, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, and Yancey counties.

Ineligibility

Organizations with fiscal sponsors are not eligible.Building or repair of parking lots, driveways, or other facilities for auto use.Designing, constructing or repairing buildings located in public open spaces. Projects requesting funds for land acquisition costs.Advocacy