The Habitat Enhancement Landscape Pilot (HELP) program is focused on restoring and enhancing strategically located, diverse native habitat across Minnesota on conservation lands and natural areas to benefit populations of pollinators and beneficial insects.
Donor Name: Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources
State: Minnesota
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 02/23/2023
Size of the Grant: $20,000 to $60,000
Details:
Declines of bees, butterflies, dragonflies and other at-risk species that support ecosystems and food systems have raised significant alarm among scientists and conservation professionals both locally and globally. This costshare grant program is made possible through an appropriation (Laws of Minnesota 2021, 1st Special Session, Chapter 6, Article 5, Section 2, Subd. 8b) from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF) and is focused on restoring and enhancing strategically located, diverse native habitat across Minnesota on conservation lands and natural areas to benefit populations of pollinators and beneficial insects as well as overall plant and animal diversity. The program also provides co-benefits of carbon sequestration, soil health and water quality improvements, and increased landscape resiliency.
Funding Information
$273,740 is available through this Request for Proposal. Applicants can apply for grants of $20,000 to $60,000 which can include projects on multiple properties.
Who May Apply?
Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Watershed Districts, Watershed Management Organizations and Counties are potential applicants.
Project Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible projects can be located on lands with a long-term commitment to conservation management through conservation easements, long-term conservation contracts and public ownership. Eligible lands include those with existing RIM easements, CRP (with a long-term commitment), lands with other types of conservation easements, non-profit conservation preserves, newly enrolled CRP, city parks, county parks, and protected natural areas. Projects can be located on multiple parcels.
- To the extent possible landscapes need to be specifically identified at the time of the application as information about proposed projects and their potential for benefitting beneficial insects will be part of application ranking.
- Projects can focus on:
- Establishing new floral-rich plots or riparian plantings 0.25 to 10 acres in size; and/or
- Converting existing non-native cover to native vegetation (.25 to 10 acres in size); and/or
- Enhancing prairie, savanna, wetland, and shoreline communities that are not currently dominated with invasive species and can be enhanced to provide high value habitat that is planned to benefit a variety of beneficial insects and at-risk species (no acreage maximum).
- A plant or animal is considered “at-risk” when:
- It is proposed for listing as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act
- It is a candidate species for listing; or
- It has been petitioned by a third party for listing; or
- Its populations are rare, declining, or may be vulnerable to decline.
- Find a list of At-Risk Pollinator Species on the Lawns to Legumes Partners webpage.
For more information, visit BWSR.