2014 Wells Fargo Environmental Solutions for Communities Awards

2014 Wells Fargo Environmental Solutions for Communities Awards

   The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and Wells Fargo are pleased to
announce the 2014 Environmental Solutions for Communities recipients. The goal of this
    grant program is to help communities create a more sustainable future through
                       responsible environmental stewardship.

Combating Invasives with Community Volunteers and Education (FL)
The Nature Conservancy
Award Amount: $25,000.00

The Nature Conservancy will utilize partnerships in Central Florida to create educational tools and
coordinate volunteer opportunities, workshops and events to remove invasive species and increase
awareness about invasive species in Osceola County and the Heartland region (which includes Polk,
Highlands, Hardee, and Desoto counties). Outcomes for this project include invasive species
removal on public and private lands, reducing re-infestation on conservation lands through
increased detection and response efforts while increasing visibility for invasive species issues in
Central Florida.

Sun Ray Green Library Project (MN)
Children and Nature Network
Award Amount: $98,403.04

The Children and Nature Network will partner with the Sun Ray Green Library Project to create a
highly-visible demonstration project serving as a model to other communities across the U.S. This
project will demonstrate integrated community participation in urban green spaces around and
near public libraries. The newly renovated library will include an outdoor reading area, which will
be the primary site for rain gardens and native plant installation for encouraging wildlife. The land
restoration efforts of this project are enhanced by the fact that the library is surrounded on three
sides by a City of St. Paul public park.

The Beloved Streeets of America Urban Agriculture Initiative (MO)
Beloved Streets of America
Award Amount: $25,000.00

Beloved Streets of America (BSA) will partner with the St. Louis Education Institutions to promote
hi-tech career training in hydroponic technology. The process will include rehabilitation and
renovation of an abandoned commercial facility as a green technology application. Project partners
will prepare the facility to accommodate the hydroponic work with improvements to the energy
efficiency and security systems, add solar panels, wind turbines and water reclamation systems.
BSA will recruit and train workers for new hi-tech employment and career opportunities at the
urban hydroponic factory though partnerships with schools and community programs.

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Advancing Environmental Stewardship in Marsh Creek (CA)
Friends of Marsh Creek Watershed
Award Amount: $40,000.00

Friends of Marsh Creeek Watershed will improve stormwater management and promote green
infrastructure practices in the region by engaging thousands of people in restoration and
stewardship of Marsh Creek. At 61,000 acres, Marsh Creek Watershed is the second largest
watershed in Contra Costa County and forms an important ecological link to the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta, offering a vital natural refuge for wildlife. It is located on the northeastern edge of the
San Francisco Bay Area, home to 7.4 million people.

Seattle Youth Agriculture and Wetlands Restoration Project (WA)
Seattle Tilth Association
Award Amount: $76,851.00

Seattle Tilth Association will work with 100 at-risk youth to gain employment and leadership
training through on-the-job sustainable agriculture and conservation activities in public spaces
through the Seattle Youth Agriculture and Wetlands Restoration Project. This project improves
water quality and wildlife habitat while sustainably producing food in a mixed use agricultural and
4 acre wetlands site. Additionally, project partners will improve a salmon-bearing waterway
draining into Lake Washington and restores connectivity in the watershed and engages 2,500
community members in conservation and restoration activities.

Arbolera de Vida Community Garden (NM)
Sawmill Community Land Trust
Award Amount: $41,318.55

Sawmill Community Land Trust (SCLT) will complete the construction of a one acre community
garden site. The community garden space is an integral part of the SCLT Master Plan and initiates
our final development phase. Project partners will emphasize access to growing space and technical
assistance to support production of fresh, raw foods as a supplement to home budgets and to
reinforce the importance of quality nutrition. One third of the site is dedicated to traditional
agricultural practices, another third consists of 38 raised beds (six of which are wheelchair
accessible) and the last third is dedicated as a staging area for materials (mulch, amendments, etc.),
educational workshops and a grower’s market.

Urban Agriculture Education and Community Greening (IL)
Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance
Award Amount: $25,000.00

The Garfield Park Conservancy Alliance will engage Chicago residents in sustainable urban
agriculture education and training by focusing on plant propagation, garden maintenance,
composting and beekeeping. These programs will show residents inexpensive and environmentally
friendly methods for starting and maintaining home and community gardens to increase access to
healthy foods in Chicago. The Alliance will also provide training, resources and materials to support
community groups to create and sustain green spaces to improve underserved areas within the
local community and to contribute to the vitality of Chicago's West Side.

Living Labs at Mountain View College (TX)
Mountain View College
Award Amount: $28,824.00

The Living Labs at Mountain View College will educate, inform and encourage community
participation in a variety of sustainable practices. The Community Garden will include 44 beds
available for sponsorship by college students, high school students from our on-site Early College
High School and community members. The Labs are located on 200 acres and this project will
include one of the first community colleges to be designated as an Urban Wildlife Sanctuary. An
Outdoor Classroom will offer students and urban neighbors a chance to explore nature and receive
information about the area’s flora and fauna and the Aquaponics Lab will serve as an educational
tool about food production systems.

Beautify Austin – Montopolis Restoration Project (TX)
Keep Austin Beautiful
Award Amount: $37,500.00

Keep Austin Beautiful (KAB) will partner with the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department
to host community-led workdays to engage 1,400 volunteers to restore seven acres of wetlands
along the Colorado River. Volunteers will install signage transforming the space into an educational
venue. Each KAB-led workday will mobilize at least one hundred volunteers and work in succession
to restore the wetlands. During these workdays, volunteers will remove invasive chinaberry and
Chinese tallow trees which disrupt the natural ecosystem by out competing native species, clean-up
illegal dumping and trash runoff, plant 100 trees and more than 1,000 native grass plugs along the
shoreline.

Cal State Project Promotes Desert Conservation in So Cal (CA)
CSUSB Philanthropic Foundation
Award Amount: $50,000.00

California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) will create a pilot program to utilize a 68-acre
reserve of undeveloped land in Chaparral habitat, including native botanicals and wildlife, on the
perimeter of the campus for community education and university instruction and research. The
university will partner with two local school districts to engage youth grades 5-12 in bus trips and
tours of the "Land Lab" and learn about habitat conservation and restoration. Partners will also
create community events to engage volunteers from the university community, area businesses and
others in San Bernardino and Coachella Valley.

Indian River County Junior Scientists Fellows Program (FL)
Florida Atlantic University Foundation, Inc.
Award Amount: $40,000.00

The Indian River County Junior Scientists Fellows Program will create an ongoing group of Student
Fellows who understand and know how to provide solutions to environmental problems in our
community. Scientists will mentor team student research projects and generate scientific results to
help solve conservation issues in Coastal Oaks Preserve, a 185-acre environmentally sensitive
property owned and managed by Indian River Land Trust. The Preserve, part of a five-mile
conservation corridor in an area of dense residential development, is comprised of tropical oak
hammocks, wetlands and ponds that provide a critical habitat for hundreds of wildlife species.

Community-based Coastal Habitat Restoration (FL)
Youth Environmental Alliance
Award Amount: $25,000.00

The Youth Environmental Alliance (YEA) will restore 4 miles of local beach habitats via dune
plantings using sea oats, railroad vine, dune sunflower, mixed dune grasses, dune and upland
shrubs. Project partners will also engage 30,000 community youth in conservation projects and
raise awareness of the importance of environmental stewardship through in-school programs.
Youth Environmental Alliance will accomplish these goals by identifying highly-visible project sites,
leveraging existing relationships with local youth groups to recruit volunteers, teaching and
training the students about coastal ecosystems, quantifying and reporting the results of the
volunteer efforts and promoting the accomplishments.

Veteran Jobs TrainingGreen Energy Efficient Building (TX)
Green Extreme Homes CDC
Award Amount: $50,000.00

Green Extreme Homes will provide 60 Veterans with "hands-on" construction training to develop
the necessary work tools for their trade and offer job placement in the green, sustainable, energy-
efficient construction industry. This training will give the veterans a competitive advantage to
compete for construction jobs in the new energy-efficient home building business. Additionally,
veterans in the program will acquire the necessary skills in constructing performance homes and
rehabbing existing homes to use less energy and natural resources, thus reducing the carbon
footprint for Dallas construction.

High Country AG Land Enhancement (ID)
High Country RC&D Area, Inc.
Award Amount: $54,999.80

High Country RC&D Area will reach out to agriculture irrigators located in the Snake River
Watershed who utilize sprinkler line, pump irrigation systems and provide technical assistance to
assess water and energy savings potentials on current systems. Participation will include active
habitat improvement and/or education about stewardship practices leading to sustainability. This
project will increase the viability of native species including the Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout,
Trumpeter Swan and Sandhill Crane by providing technical assistance to irrigators to implement
energy and water savings while improving habitat.

Upper Sandy River Basin Aquatic Habitat Restoration (OR)
The Freshwater Trust
Award Amount: $50,000.00

The Freshwater Trust (TFT) is partnering with the US Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) to lead the 44-acre Upper Sandy River Basin Habitat Restoration Project. This
project will restore side channel, mainstem and riparian habitat to Salmon River and Still Creek
sites located on public lands managed by BLM and USFS. The project will accelerate habitat recover
within the stream channels and riparian areas of Salmon River and Still Creek to increase
production and survival of juvenile and adult coho salmon, spring Chinook salmon, winter
steelhead, cutthroat trout and lamprey. TFT will recruit 50 volunteers and provide additional
technical assistance to undertake riparian restoration efforts, connecting local communities to fish
recovery.

Urban Habitat Restoration Through Community Engagement (WI)
UEC/MVP Project Inc.
Award Amount: $25,000.00

The UEC/MVP Project will create Three Bridges Park as an outdoor science classroom. This project
will build upon the 24-acre Three Bridges Park completed in late summer 2012 and now open to
the public. Project partners will ensure the long-term sustainability of the park by establishing a
community-led land stewardship program, building the volunteer base for annual care of the park
and community outreach to increase use and engagement at the park, intensive land management
in the first two critical growing seasons, installation of plants and trees and establishing restoration
research protocols.

Summer Intern Farmers for Teens (SIFT) Project (MO)
Community Action Agency of St. Louis County
Award Amount: $25,960.80

The Community Action Agency of St. Louis County will create paid summer internships of 10
teenagers in low-income families. A curriculum teaching crop production, nutrition, marketing,
community engagement, job skills and personal development will be utilized within the 13 weeks of
the internship. The interns will work with two farm managers and 48 families who will become
shareholders of farm produce using the the two-tiered Community Sustainable Agriculture model.
Interns will perform outreach in the community, assist with farmer stands that will gross $250 each
weekly and develop 10 new residential gardens. Through this program the Farms will become
neighborhood anchors, improve self-reliance, increase access to healthy food and expand
nutritional values.

Pier 68 Park Restoration Project (PA)
Delaware River Waterfront Corporation
Award Amount: $75,000.00

The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (DRWC) will transform a six-mile section of formerly
industrial waterfront land into a model for urban ecological restoration in the City of Philadelphia.
The Pier 68 Park Restoration Project will transform an abandoned, environmentally-degraded pier
and upland parcel into a riverfront park providing access and recreational amenities for the
community, including low-to-moderate income residents. DRWC will restore upland habitat,
improve soil conditions and cultivate native plant vegetation to buffer and protect the river from
urban stormwater runoff. Outreach, education and engagement of the community including 60 new
volunteers and 500 community members will build greater awareness and understanding of the
Delaware Estuary.

Conservation and Education Demonstration Planter Project (CA)
Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District
Award Amount: $36,805.00

Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD) will construct a Conservation and Education
Demonstration Planter Project at the front entrance of its headquarters. The demonstration project
will provide customers, residents and students with a tangible set of landscape conservation
activities and systems. Project outcomes include water conservation of an estimated 7,280 gallons
per year by removing non-native high-water-consuming trees and replacing with low-water plants.
Volunteer conservation activities will reach over 2,400 teachers and students and over 4,000
customers through tours of the demonstration project and through promotional literature sent to
all EVMWD customers.

The Blue Ridge Parkway Environmental Education Project (VA)
FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway
Award Amount: $27,419.00

FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway developed the Blue Ridge Parkway Environmental Education
Project (Environmental Project) to engage new audiences and foster new stewards for the Parkway
and the natural environment. This project will increase capacity and meet the Blue Ridge Parkway's
needs by offering environmental education programs focused on the needs of the park, local
communities and environment. FRIENDS' Environmental Project will promote the Blue Ridge
Parkway as a learning laboratory to develop greater awareness and commitment to the
preservation of cultural and natural resources.

Citizens promoting Clean Water Frederick City! (MD)
Land and Cultural Preservation Fund, Inc.
Award Amount: $57,568.35

The Land and Cultural Preservation Fund will raise awareness about Frederick City’s drinking
water source and pride in clean water. It will engage citizens to clean trash from 10 city stream
segments, plant trees to restore one stream bank area, test water in the tributaries that make up the
city’s major drinking water source (Lake Linganore) and prepare a plan to remediate the water
quality threats.
This project will address water quality to improve economic, social and environmental
sustainability in Frederick City.

Savannah River Watershed Conservation (GA)
U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities
Award Amount: $47,500.00

The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities will perform mapping, planning and outreach
activities on working forests, agricultural lands and other natural infrastructure in the Lower
Savannah River Watershed. This outreach will inform efforts to engage residents of the watershed
in voluntary conservation programs to preserve rural lifestyles and working forests and
agricultural lands that support family-supporting jobs, particularly for minority landowners.
Project partners will also work with water utilities to secure funding from user fees or other
approaches to help address long term costs.

A water quality monitoring program for Roanoke (VA)
Virginia Tech Foundation, Inc.
Award Amount: $25,000.00

The Virginia Tech Foundation will partner with the Western Virginia Water Authority to perform a
reservoir survey and an in-depth monitoring of drinking water reservoirs in Roanoke, Virginia
during 2014-2015. This survey will determine if harmful blooms are increasing and the prevalence
of toxins in the drinking water supply. The project will also perform outreach, education and
technical assistance by increasing the number of people with knowledge and changed behavior,
improving habitat management monitoring and restoring habitat by increasing water quality and
reservoir restoration.

Pulaski Park Urban Stormwater Management Initiative (WI)
Sixteenth Street Community Health Center
Award Amount: $25,000.00

Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers will partner to install 3-4 green infrastructure
demonstration sites in blighted urban Pulaski Park and conduct educational events to raise
awareness and stewardship. The installations implementation recommendations from an unfolding
Neighborhood Stormwater Management Plan to protect the Kinnickinnic (KK) River. Green
infrastructure will restore riparian zones, make measurable pollutant reductions, improve
stormwater capture and build capacity for public/private partnerships. Comprehensive community
engagement activities will continue to develop a long-term vision for a revitalized Pulaski Park and
attract additional investments for park enhancements.

Creating Learning Gardens to Foster Environmental Stewards (TX)
REAL School Gardens
Award Amount: $50,000.00

REAL School Gardens (RSG) will create learning gardens at high-poverty schools in North Texas.
Each garden will feature at least 150 square feet of native plant and animal habitat, rainwater
catchment and drip irrigation systems which will help conserve more than 2,000 gallons of water
annually per school. The gardens will provide organic vegetable beds, composting bins and many
other features that enhance learning and promote sustainability. These gardens allow teachers to
incorporate conservation education directly into the school day and reach communities
underserved by traditional conservation programs.

Virginia Key North Point Ecological Restoration (FL)
Museum of Science, Inc. dba Miami Science Museum
Award Amount: $74,524.00

The Miami Science Museum will work through its innovative volunteer-based restoration project,
MUVE (Museum Volunteers for the Environment) and the City of Miami, Miami-Dade County and
other partners to restore seven acres of coastal habitat in two protected areas. The project utilizes a
unique portfolio of social media, science exhibits and iconic eco-art installations to promote
participation in all phases of the restoration effort. This project also includes coastal habitat
restoration and post- restoration monitoring by teams of volunteer citizen scientists.

Green Neighborhood Tool Kit
Temple University - Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education
Award Amount: $25,000.00

Temple University will develop Green Neighborhood Tool Kits and conduct training to enhance the
capacity of community-based organizations serving Philadelphia’s low-income neighborhoods.
Temple University’s Center for Sustainable Communities and Community and Regional Planning
Department will partner with the Philadelphia Association of Community Development
Corporations and New Kensington Community Development Corporation to create tool kits based
on development by students in the Department's new Community Development major capstone
service-learning course.

Environmental Education & Stewardship for Underserved Youth
NatureBridge
Award Amount: $50,000.00

NatureBridge will create an environmental education program in the Golden Gate National
Recreation Area for students in grades K-12 the opportunity to learn hands-on science. Students
will explore the coastal ecosystems of Rodeo Beach, coastal hillsides, tide pools, an estuary and a
freshwater pond, participate in inquiry-based learning by collecting and identifying invertebrates in
Rodeo Pond. Educational activities will include observing seals from the bluffs and studying the
adaptations of tide pool creatures in an intertidal marine lab.

Native American Models for Control of Local Food Systems
First Nations Development Institute (IL)
Award Amount: $25,000.00

First Nations Development Institute will develop the capacity of three existing Native American
food-related programs that are working to increase the availability of healthy, locally-produced
foods in Native communities and create change by increasing control of local food systems. Each
recipient is a Native-controlled nonprofit organization focused on natural resource management,
conservation and/or agriculture. The project will expand efforts to provide expanded quantities of
healthy and locally-produced foods to Native American communities, to progress toward
organizational sustainability and to uphold the natural resource management goals.

The Anne Springs Close Greenway Nature Preserve (NC)
Anne Springs Close Greenway/Leroy Springs & Co., Inc.
Award Amount: $100,000.00

The Anne Springs Close Greenway will treat 160 acres affected by invasive plants and implement an
invasive plant management strategy. Project partners will treat invasive bush honeysuckles,
Chinese privet, kudzu, mimosa, silverthorn and tree-of-heaven in the months of February and
March. The Greenway will complete the forest and invasive plant inventory on approximately 1,150
acres and plant 24,640 tree seedlings in the greenway. In addition, the project will engage 100
volunteers and will work with 13,000 more community members to maintain the greenway for
recreational use and wildlife habitat.

The John King Community Garden Natural Resource Project (CA)
San Francisco Conservation Corps
Award Amount: $62,449.05.00

The San Francisco Conservation Corps will create a community-based public park enhancement
and create a partnership between the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department (SFRPD) and
the San Francisco Conservation Corps (SFCC). The project will be a visible and accessible
demonstration project that showcases innovative, cost-effective and environmentally-friendly
approaches to urban gardening. Project partners will hire landscaping trainees and a supervisor
from the San Francisco Conservation Corps to build planter boxes, renovate the garden entrance to
meet ADA standards and install innovative rainwater collector benches.

Sustainable Agricultural Practices Upstream of Des Moines (IA)
The Nature Conservancy, Iowa Chapter
Award Amount: $97,445.25

The Nature Conservancy will partner to restore 4-5 oxbows comprising 2 acres that remove 45% of
nitrates, store 17 million gallons of flood water annually and provide wildlife habitat for the
federally endangered Topeka shiner. The scaling up of oxbows will make it easier to demonstrate
the practice to farmers. Partners will additionally collecct bi-weekly water samples of the
surrounding groundwater and the creek to gather data on water quality as well as conduct fish
monitoring to document species that are utilizing the oxbow habitats.

Growing Alaska’s Farmers
Alaska Pacific University, Spring Creek Farm
Award Amount: $50,000.00

Alaska Pacific University (APU) will address food security issues in Alaska to incorporate, build
upon and extend growing seasons, create learning laboratories at the Alaska Botanical Garden,
Spring Creek Farm and regionally diversified farms. The project will educate new farmers and
interested Alaskans in the use of successful regional growing techniques and increase the
production of locally grown, nutritious foods throughout Alaska. APU will also develop a long
lasting, integrated curriculum which trains people in local farming practices, sustainability issues
and local marketing techniques to ensure their success as Alaskan farmers.

Let Us Build Cully Park! (OR)
Verde
Award Amount: $50,000.00

Verde will transform a 25 acre brownfield into accessible environmental infrastructure that
restores habitat, improves water quality, engages the community and provides green jobs. This
infrastructure includes restoration of a 3.28 acre area. The project will replicate a native Columbia
Gorge Native meadow landscape (75% of planted zones), forested berms and scree slopes (25% of
planted zones) to provide the most potential habitat for a range of birds, mammals, insects and
other species. The project will also create an Intertribal Gathering Garden to provide the Portland
Native community and Tribes whose ceded land includes the Cully Park site with a place to
commune and cultivate indigenous foods and materials for cultural practices and traditions.

Fresno Farm Sustainability Education & Certification (CA)
Fresno Metro Ministry
Award Amount: $100,000.00

Fresno Metro Ministry will develop and test sustainable agriculture education and certification
programs, which they will apply first to the Fresno Food Commons growers and enterprises, and
then adapt to all of the other Food Commons nation-wide. This program will include the
development of an education and certification program, offer assistance to 6 local growers in
sustainable agricultural practices and improve sustainable agricultural practices on 85 acres of
farmland. Partners will work with 50 growers to adopt sustainable agricultural practices, resulting
in the improvement of 1,000 acres by the end of 2018.

Anchorage Greenbelt Restoration (AK)
Anchorage Park Foundation
Award Amount: $25,000.00

The Anchorage Park Foundation will partner with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife to improve salmon
habitat in Anchorage Greenbelts to connect the Chester Creek Trail Rehabilitation Project with 1.5
acre restorations on Chester Creek and Campbell Creek as a Greenbelt Restoration Project. Project
partners will additionally engage 125 volunteers to connect the trails to restored riparian areas at
University Lake, Valley of the Moon Park and Westchester Lagoon areas in conjunction with the
Youth Employment in Parks program.

Jordan River Conservation and Get Into the River Festival (UT)
Foundation for the Provo-Jordan River Parkway
Award Amount: $75,006.00

The Foundation for the Provo-Jordan Parkway will collaborate with Salt Lake County on restoration
and improvements at the Redwood Nature Area and Little Confluence as well as work with
TreeUtah and the Kennecott Nature Center of Murray to expand the reach of environmental
programming to under-served youth. Additionally, the Foundation will conduct a major community
river festival with the Jordan River Commission, municipal partners and nonprofit organizations to
increase community awareness and improve perceptions of the Jordan River’s 51-mile corridor.
The project will remove invasive species on 2 acres, restore 8 acres of wetlands, reseed areas with
poor vegetation, plant 2,200 trees, and install interpretive signage at two sites to enhance
conservation literacy amongst under-served youth living close to the project sites.

Minneapolis Small Business Energy Coaching Project (MN)
Great Plains Institute
Award Amount: $50,000.00

The Great Plains Institute will train and deploy “energy coaches” to act as representatives and
volunteers from trusted local business associations who will build energy efficiency by fostering
relationships with local small business owners. This project utilizes a partnership among non-
profits to advance energy efficiency and local relationship-focused business associations. The
partners will train individuals as energy coaches, offer technical assistance to business owners to
implement energy efficiency actions, publish case studies on energy efficient businesses, reduce
energy used by local businesses and develop a new model for achieving energy efficiency in the
small business sector.

Polar Bear Transition Center (AK)
Alaska Zoo
Award Amount: $50,000.00

The Alaska Zoo will create a dedicated facility for the care of polar bears rescued from the North
Slope to further the conservation of the species. The facility will further the effort to respond and
care for rescued polar bears, enhance participation in research and deliver a global reach for polar
bear education programs through existing video conferencing facilities. The Polar Bear Transition
Center consists of a new 1,200 sf. transition building, a 1,200 sf. holding/maternity den facility and
three natural substrate yard areas which provide space for up to 6 cubs, a family group or 3 adult
bears in three dens.

Solar 4 Sustainability (ID)
Nez Perce Tribe, Water Resources Division
Award Amount: $50,490.69

The Nez Perce Tribe will provide hands on training and demonstration in areas of sustainability
that the Tribe currently pursues including aquaculture, silvaculture, sustainable agriculture, air
quality, solid waste management, non-point source management and stream restoration. Project
partners will utilize the Tribe’s Cherrylane fish hatchery for a field day to transport four of the
Reservation School Districts to the facility that have committed to participate in the Solar 4R
Schools project. Sixteen teachers have signed up to teach the curriculum to Reservation youth.

Corona: Library Conservation Garden & Educational Strategies (CA)
City of Corona Department of Water and Power
Award Amount: $40,000.00

The City of Corona will create a conservation garden located at a public library in California's Inland
Empire. The garden will be approximately 20,000 sq. ft. and will include water-wise plants, low-
volume, drip irrigation and bioretention features to treat stormwater runoff and reduce runoff
volume. The Library serves 400,000 annual patrons, is in an underserved low-income
neighborhood and is a highly-visible anchor in the community. The Library will save nearly two
million gallons of water annually to help reduce the City's reliance on imported water and will
reduce water runoff.

Merced College, Los Banos Food Forest (CA)
Merced Community College District
Award Amount: $50,000.00

Merced College’s Los Banos Food Forest (LBFF), located in the heart of California's Central Valley
region, will provide a landscape feature to serve as nocturnal habitat for native animals using the
adjacent riparian corridor along Los Banos Creek. The site will demonstrate environmental
responsibility and sustainability by composting campus green waste, providing an organic food
source for students and the community and establishing a living laboratory for conservation
biology to be taught complementary to existing science and arts curricula. Participating students,
faculty, staff and the broader community will restore a degraded environment and provide ongoing
experiences in permaculture and sustainability.

HHC Green Corridor Extension Project (IN)
Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County
Award Amount: $31,575.00

The Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County (HHC) will enlist partner and volunteer
resources to transform an existing pedestrian pathway along the banks of the White River and Fall
Creek in downtown Indianapolis using green infrastructure techniques. This project will extend an
existing crushed limestone trail along 6,000 feet. Local businesses, schools, universities and
hospitals will advertise the availability of the Green Corridor, incorporate access into existing
efforts and utilize the space in projects including tree planting, habitat conservation, invasive
species removal and floodplain re-forestation.

Arizona Forest Restoration
The Nature Conservancy
Award Amount: $25,000.00

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) will work with partners, contractors and local community colleges,
to restore Ponderosa Pine forest ecosystems. As part of this effort, TNC will provide workforce
training that will create jobs for skilled workers, improved business practices to help stimulate a
forest-based economy in Northern Arizona and cutting–edge technology that will speed up the
thinning process to improve forest health. To quantify the impact of forest thinning benefiting
people and nature, TNC’s Center for Science & Public Policy worked with Northern Arizona
University researchers to demonstrate that forest thinning can increase water flow in Arizona
rivers by up to 20%.

Urban Wetland Stewardship & Free Nature Education Programs (IN)
Little River Wetlands Project
Award Amount: $20,000.00

Little River Wetlands Project (LRWP) will enhance habitats at its three wetland preserves in and
near Fort Wayne, Indiana, benefiting native wildlife and people in the Upper Wabash River
watershed and will engage communities in environmental learning and conservation. Project
partners will host an event engaging up to 100 scientists to identify flora and fauna for habitat
enhancements and work to save native plants impacted by the federal Watershed Separation
Project to prevent transfer of aquatic nuisance species such as Asian carp between Mississippi
River and Great Lakes basins.

Living Shorelines, Sustainable Tourism, Thriving Community (WA)
Kwiaht: Center for the Historical Ecology of the Salish Sea
Award Amount: $40,069

Kwiaht: Center for the Historical Ecology of the Salish Sea will build upon an existing volunteer
program and launch the restoration of Fisherman Bay and the Lopez Village community by
undertaking five living shoreline demonstration projects and providing technical assistance to
landowners and public land managers. Project partners will train up to 50 local volunteers and
provide an intensive design course to local students. Projects proposed by design course students
will begin the next phase of living shoreline projects around the shoreline. Partners and students
will use collected data to model tidal circulation and generate a proposal to improve circulation and
dissolved oxygen as part of the long term restoration.

Climate Education and Youth Leadership Development (CA)
Alliance for Climate Education
Award Amount: $25,000.00

The Alliance for Climate Education (ACE) will educate young people about the realities of climate
change and conservation through a multimedia climate science assembly reaching 36,000 students
and will provide curriculum support for 400 teachers and youth action labs designed to reach and
train 180 youth leaders. This project will provide underserved populations with quality science
education and hands-on experiential learning opportunities. ACE will target students who are
eligible for free or reduced lunch, public schools and Title 1 at-risk schools in low-income districts.

Confluence Park (TX)
San Antonio River Foundation
Award Amount: $50,005.00

The San Antonio River Foundation will engage 40 volunteers and plant over 250 trees to transform
a former industrial yard in one of San Antonio’s most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods
into a unique, interactive learning and recreational space for local residents, school students and
families. Confluence Park will provide educational opportunities, outdoor recreation space and
pedestrian access to the San Antonio River and historic Missions. The park will include a solar-
powered educational pavilion, large-scale water catchment systems, community gardens, ecotype
demonstration quadrants, interactive educational play stations and a gateway to hike and bike
trails along the San Antonio River.

Texas Conservation Corps Sustainable Recreation*
American YouthWorks
Award Amount: $30,000.00

Sixteen or more youth and young adult corps members will be enrolled in the Texas Conservation
Corps program at American YouthWorks (TxCC) and will receive training to introduce them to
basic conservation and natural resource topics as well as additional skills trainings such as the
federal S212 chainsaw certification and proficiency training in GPS and GIS technologies and
software. TxCC will recruit, train, and equip two teams of 8 young adults, from a multi-state urban
area. Participants will each serve at least 100 hours each resulting in over 1,600 hours of
conservation and stewardship experience for the project and over 2 miles of trail rehabilitation.

Buread of Land Management Phoenix District Youth Initiative (AZ)*
Bureau of Land Management - Arizona State Office
Award Amount: $75,000.00

The BLM Phoenix District Office created The Conservation and Resource Management Field
Certification Program or “Field School,” a 16-week training and education program for local,
underserved youth. Using BLM funds and funding from the Department of Labor’s Workforce
Investment Act, youth ages 18 to 21 are trained and hired to work in natural resource management
and conservation projects. The BLM Field School provides 16 college credits towards the BLM
sponsored Environmental and Natural Resource Stewardship Academic Certificate at Phoenix
College. Graduates then apply for internships at DOI agencies or continue on in education

Watershed Stewards (CA)*
California Conservation Corps
Award Amount: $99,988.16

The California Conservation Corps will work with 44 youth (ages 18-25) to address watershed and
fish habitat restoration needs. Partners will provide youth with extensive training in various topics
to better prepare them for professional careers in conservation related fields. Throughout their
term of service, members will collectively assess, monitor and/or restore 1,850 stream, riparian
and upslope miles; engage 630 community volunteers in watershed restoration projects; educate
1,000 Title I K-12 students in WSP’s Real Science curriculum; and provide community members
with presentations and educational opportunities.

Shore Corps: Green Stewards Youth Workforce (NY)*
Rockaway Waterfront Alliance, Inc.
Award Amount: $49,999.50

Rockaway Waterfron Alliance will combine hands-on, interactive, on-the-job training in a variety of
skills related to RWA’s mission and work around environmental stewardship and conservation,
with more conventional, classroom-based training in basic employability skills that will leave
participants ready to enter the workforce, in the area of green collar jobs. Students will lead a tree
inventory and tree planting restoration along the Arverne Dune Preserve/Arverne East site, in Far
Rockaway, NY that suffered severe damage during Hurricane Sandy.

Youth Crew Restoration and Outreach Along the Bosque (NM)*
Talking Talons Youth Leadership
Award Amount: $47,322.26

The Talking Talons Youth Leadership, in partnership with the Valle de Oro National Wildlife
Refuge (NWR), Reclamation, the New Mexico State Land Office, Ciudad Soil and Water
Conservation District, the Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program, Amigos Bravos, Friends
of the Valle de Oro, and Friends of the Sandia Mountains will provide 560 hours of paid
employment for urban and minority youth in conservation work that benefits the public
lands and mission of the Valle de Oro NWR, Reclamation, and State of New Mexico. A six
member youth crew will receive in-depth education and training in diverse aspects of
environmental restoration, monitoring, and stewardship, as well as job and organizational
skill development in event management, networking and facilitation of community
outreach events.

*Projects with asterisks contain a mix of funding from Wells Fargo and NFWF Federal Partners.