The Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council (HCC) announces $210,000 in funding is available through its 2023 Natural & Cultural grant program. An additional $75,000 is available this year for projects that inform Douglas County’s Open Space planning.

The Heritage Conservation Council encourages applications that focus on the conservation of cultural, natural, agricultural or environmental resources, or projects that produce educational programs or products on these topics. All projects must take place in Douglas County, Kansas, and be completed within two years.

To be eligible for funding, projects must fall into at least one of the following categories:

• Elevating under-told stories or magnifying the narratives from indigenous communities, immigrant or refugee populations, BIPOC, LGBTQIA or marginalized groups; give visibility to little known places; record oral histories.
• Prairie; woodlands, waterways; habitat restoration/preservation; cultural landscapes; recreational and historic trails; inform Open Space planning; audit existing conservation efforts with a lens of diversity, equity, justice and inclusion.
• Agriculture (agrotourism; heritage farms; high-quality agricultural soils; working farms).
• Adaptive reuse of historic structures; access to historic sites and historic cemeteries; conservation of designated structures, districts and landscapes.

Who may apply? Douglas County based entities such as nonprofit organizations, businesses, K-12 schools, universities or any unit of local government. Out-of-county organizations, businesses or units of government must have a Douglas County partner.

There will be an information session from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 28, at the Lawrence Public Library in Meeting Room C. No registration is required. You are not required to attend to be eligible to apply for a grant. The grant guidelines and application are available on the Douglas County website at: http://dgcoks.org/hccgrants23.

The grant application deadline is May 4. Interested parties are required to discuss their project with Heritage Conservation Program Coordinator Kaitlyn Ammerlaan by April 21 in advance of the application deadline. To schedule a meeting, email kammerlaan@dgcoks.gov. The Council will evaluate all proposals and make recommendations for funding to the Board of County Commissioners in June for approval.