Financial help

Building a Community Ecology Project

Contents of this article are shared for informational purposes only. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources does not endorse and makes no representations, expressed, inferred or implied, concerning these organizations, programs or services.

By Paul Fliss, City Forester, City of New Berlin, WI

The City of New Berlin applied for a National Fish and Wildlife Federation (NFWF) Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Grant in 2017. The proposed project will cover 9.59 acres and encompass the length of Deer Creek and the wetlands to the south and east of the City Center Business District. Common to this area are several species of resident birds, migratory songbirds, owls and waterfowl. Recent history has revealed an abundance of whitetail deer and smaller animals such as muskrats, raccoon, opossum, skunks, various mice/voles and even evidence of a beaver. The habitat for these species is that of an urban to rural interface and wetland transition ecology. The current state of the defined proposal areas vary between ‘poor’ with construction debris, litter and heavily infested invasive species to ‘fair’ with few invasive species and nearly undisturbed lowland habitat, native trees and wetlands plants. Continue reading “Building a Community Ecology Project”

Second round of Urban Forestry grants awarded

The DNR Urban Forestry Grant program awarded $86,185.66 to five Wisconsin communities for urban forestry projects during our 2017 second round of funding. In order to ensure a pool of catastrophic storm funds throughout the year, we have switched to awarding grants in two rounds, instead of awarding all of our funds in December. The communities who received grants in April include DeForest, Neillsville, Port Washington, Watertown, and Witting. Continue reading “Second round of Urban Forestry grants awarded”

Financial assistance is available for controlling invasive species.

Looking for a financial assist in your efforts to control invasive species?

The Wisconsin Invasive Species Council website lists 61 different grant opportunities that are available from Federal and State agencies as well as private foundations. The list is searchable by applicant (tribe, government agency, company, non-profit, individual) and type of invasive organism (plant, animal, aquatic, invertebrate, disease). All but one has a link that takes you to more information or a contact person.

Why not take a few moments to explore these opportunities?

Written by: Michael Putnam, invasive plants program specialist, Madison (Michael.Putnam@wisconsin.gov), 608-266-7596.

EAB mitigation grants support communities

The Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission (RPC), in partnership with WI DNR and two other Wisconsin RPCs, awarded $82,450 to nine Wisconsin communities for projects to mitigate the impacts of Emerald Ash Borer (EAB).  Grant funds will support planting nearly 700 diverse trees to help local governments prepare and recover from EAB.  The grant awards ranged from $2,400 to $20,000, with recipients providing at least a 25% match of the total project. This funding was made available through a U.S. Forest Service Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GRLI) grant received by Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission earlier this year.

For more information contact Ellen Clark (EllenA.Clark@Wisconsin.gov), Urban Forestry Communication Specialist, at 608-267-2774.