Teddy Parker-Renga, Department of Natural Resources
LOVELAND, Colo. – Larimer County Department of Natural Resources awarded $20,646 in grant funds to support 11 community and neighborhood projects that help educate people and connect them to the land.
The awards were given to a variety of organizations in Larimer County through the department’s Small Grants for Community Partnering program. They were presented to grantees by Commissioner Tom Donnelly and staff during a ceremony at this month’s Open Lands Advisory Board meeting in Loveland.
The grantees, projects, amounts and locations include:
| Grantee | Project Name | Award Amount | Location |
| Denver Museum of Nature & Science | Identifying a Mass Extinction in Larimer County Open Space Geology | $3,000.00 | Red Mountain Open Space |
| Estes Land Stewardship Association (ELSA) | ELSA Weed Roundup & Monitored Weed Drop-off | $2,988.50 | Estes Park/Valley |
| Estes Land Stewardship Association (ELSA) | ELSA 2018 Weed Booklet | $755.00 | Estes Valley |
| Kendall Brook Master Association HOA | Restoring the Biological Diversity of Kendall Brook HOA Wetlands | $500.00 | Loveland |
| Loveland Youth Gardeners | Enhancing Garden Spaces | $3,000 | Loveland |
| Mulberry Community Gardens | Hoop-la: Hoop House Enhancement Project | $1,143.90 | Fort Collins |
| Wellington Middle School | Partnering with Our Environment: Compost is too Good to Waste | $2,000.00 | Wellington |
| Ridgewood Hills HOA | Raptor Perches & Kestrel Boxes | $1,100.00 | Fort Collins |
| Rocky Mountain Raptor Program | Rocky Mountain Raptor Program Educational Outreach | $3,000.00 | Northern Colorado |
| Soaring Eagle Ecology Center (SEEC) | Technology to Enhance SEEC Environmental and STEM Learning | $2,144.00 | Red Feather Lakes |
| Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) | VOC Medicine Wheel Garden Construction and Planting at High Plains Environmental Center | $1,014.50 | Loveland |
Small Grants for Community Partnering is an initiative of Larimer County Department of Natural Resources to disperse a portion of Help Preserve Open Spaces sales tax dollars for projects that help connect people to the land. Annually, $20,000 is set aside from the tax funds for grant awards each year. Since 2008, Larimer County has awarded $287,800 for 192 community and neighborhood projects.
For more information about the program, contact Jennifer Almstead, grant program coordinator, at (970) 619-4569 or [email protected], or visit www.larimer.org/