Grants Offered for Barnegat Bay Projects

For the eighth year, TPL will offer grants to nonprofit organizations for projects directly benefiting New Jersey’s Barnegat Bay and its watershed. Grant areas include environmental education, planning, monitoring, research or land stewardship. The Barnegat Bay Environmental Grant Fund is supported by a $2.5 million donation to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection from the former Ciba-Geigy Corporation.

Morristown, New Jersey, February 14, 2002–The Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national land conservation organization, today announced that for the eighth consecutive year, grants will be offered to nonprofit organizations proposing 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 2002, TPL’s Barnegat Bay Environmental Grant Fund will award a total of $25,000.

The grants are generated from 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, TPL was designated as the administrator of the fund, because of its long-term protection effort on behalf of the 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, $220,000 has been awarded to support projects to protect the Barnegat Bay and its watershed.

Proposals for 2002 grants must be received by March 1, and awards will be announced the first week in April. While schools and government entities, such as municipalities, and environmental commissions, are not eligible, they are encouraged to partner with a qualifying nonprofit organization if they have a project that would benefit the bay.

Grants for eight projects in 2001 supported such organizations as the Alliance for a Living Ocean, New Jersey Audubon Society and the Youth Environmental Society. The latter received $4,550 to initiate and coordinate a volunteer program at the former Lighthouse camp in Waretown.

Interested parties should contact Kathy Haake at the Trust for Public Land, 20 Community Place,-2nd Floor, Morristown, New Jersey, 07960, (973) 292-1100 to request a copy of the application and guidelines or receive additional information.

The Barnegat Bay Environmental Grant Fund is one element of TPL’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 Trust for Public Land, with a state office in Morristown, is a national nonprofit land conservation organization dedicated to preserving land for public use. TPL works with local, state, and federal agencies, and grassroots land trusts using its real estate, legal and public financing expertise to protect land. TPL has protected more than 1.4 million acres nationwide, including more than 9,400 acres in Barnegat Bay.