2015 Douglas County Natural & Cultural Heritage Grant Information Session January 22nd

The Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council will hold a grant workshop on Thursday, January 22nd encouraging potential grant applicants to learn more about the new guidelines and criteria for the 2015 Douglas County Natural & Cultural Heritage Grant Program cycle. The meeting will be at the Carnegie Center, 200 West 9th Street in Lawrence at 7 p.m. This year the Heritage Council promotes the conservation of our cultural and natural heritage to honor our past, enrich our present, and inspire our future. The Heritage Council is encouraging proposals that will preserve cultural, natural, agricultural or environmental resources or produces education programs on these topics. Beginning in 2011, the Douglas County Commission has awarded $834,050 which has secured nearly $1.5 million in additional funding from both public and private entities.

These grants to individuals and groups have helped preserve Douglas County natural and cultural heritage for future generations. Projects funded to date include stabilization of the Turnhalle, conservation easements, and educational programs. These grants encompass agriculture, historic structures, prairie, woodlands, waterways and habitat restoration/preservation. Included are Freedom Frontier themes, Civil War and pre-Civil War heritage, settlement stories, enduring struggle for freedom and pre-settlement history. These projects are required to be done in Douglas County. The Heritage Grant Program offers smaller target grants up to $89,999. Major grants are available for projects above $90,000. The grant guidelines are available on the Council’s website: https://dgcoks.gov/hcc. Applications for this year’s grant cycle are due on March 13, 2015. The Council evaluates all proposals and recommends allocations to the Douglas County Commissioners in early May for their final approval.

Contact: Lori Hutfles, board member at 785-550-6453 and kayaklori@att.net.