Grants available for environmental projects

The Kokanee Salmon School Program is one of the projects that has benefited from environment grant support from the Columbia Basin Trust. — Photo credit courtesy Joanne Siderius.

(Columbia Basin) – Community groups, organizations and societies with project ideas that will maintain or enhance environmental conditions are invited to apply for a grant of up to $10,000. Apply now through June 27, 2014, by visiting cbt.org/eg.

Eligible projects include ones that strengthen ecosystems, help communities mitigate and adapt to climate change, and support environmental education—all of which address goals in the Trust’s new Environment Strategic Plan.

Through environment grants, the Trust has provided over $5 million during the past 12 years for environmental conservation, restoration, stewardship and education projects across the Basin. The Kokanee Salmon School Program is one of the projects that has benefited from support. Delivered by the West Arm Outdoors Club, this program brings youth and adults to the Kokanee Creek spawning channel along Kootenay Lake to teach them about healthy habitats, life cycles, fisheries management and the importance of stewardship relative to Kokanee salmon.

“This project is important because it has several components that are crucial for the youth of the Basin to experience at an early age: the direct interconnections between animals and plants, and predators and prey in an ecosystem, the life cycle of the Kokanee salmon and the solid fisheries management of a precious natural resource,” said Nancie Dohan, Program Coordinator. “The impact of this project is far-reaching. Youth, parents and teachers directly experience a sense of place and gain stewardship values as they participate in the program."

“We are looking for community-initiated and -supported projects that contribute to larger regional impacts,” said Sabrina Curtis, Trust Director, Sector Initiatives. “We want these projects to make a real difference to both the local environment and residents of the entire Basin area.”

Earlier this year, the Trust finalized its Environment Strategic Plan, which will guide the Trust’s water and environment initiatives from 2014 to 2019. It sets goals in five areas: water, ecosystems, climate change, environmental education and helping to strengthen the wide range of organizations that focus on the environment.

As in previous years, an environment grant intake, offering grants over $10,000, will take place in the fall. It will look different from how  it has in the past, with refinements that build on a range of suggestions the Trust has heard from residents, environmental experts and various organizations. Watch the website for details.