{"id":36731,"date":"2022-08-25T13:35:17","date_gmt":"2022-08-25T17:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=36731"},"modified":"2022-08-25T13:39:56","modified_gmt":"2022-08-25T17:39:56","slug":"maryland-state-parks-receive-grants-for-important-conservation-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2022\/08\/25\/maryland-state-parks-receive-grants-for-important-conservation-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland State Parks Receive Grants for Important Conservation Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nonprofit Provides \u2018Small Grant, Big Impact\u2019 Funds for 15 Projects\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\"Photo

Rocky Gap State Park Nature Center. Maryland DNR photo<\/p><\/div>\n

The Maryland Park Service was awarded 15 improvement project grants by the <\/span>Friends of Maryland State Parks<\/span><\/a> through the organization\u2019s program, \u201cSmall Grants, Big Impact!\u201d This funding is for projects that focus on conservation, environmental education, and outdoor recreation, and are important additions benefitting Maryland State Parks and their millions of visitors.<\/span><\/p>\n

Through its small grants program, launched in 2020, the nonprofit provides $1,000 grants to various state parks to help them achieve their mission.<\/span><\/p>\n

The recently-awarded grants, totaling $25,840, provided funding that has enabled parks throughout the state to collaborate with community partners on small but vital projects: pollinator habitats, interpretive signage upgrades, park aviary expansions, new lifeguard stands, historical renovations, and hiring Youth Conservation Corps to assist with projects throughout the state.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are extremely excited about the diversity of projects,\u201d Friends of Maryland State Parks President Chuck Hecker said. \u201cThe projects submitted were very creative and demonstrate how park visitors can recreate and, at the same time, learn about conservation, cultural diversity and how to camp in Maryland State Parks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Program funding this year increased by 90%, as compared to 2021, due to an influx of small donations from the general public.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith the steady increase in visitation over the past three years, it has become even more important to improve educational and recreational features,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Maryland Park Service<\/span><\/a> Superintendent Nita Settina said. \u201cSupplementing the state\u2019s record investment in the park system, the Friends of Maryland State Parks grant program is a creative and targeted way to leverage funds for specific park projects.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Parks and their projects funded by Small Grants this year are:<\/span><\/p>\n

Assateague State Park<\/span><\/a> \u2013 pollinator habitats and alternative energy demonstration campsite<\/span><\/p>\n

Deep Creek Lake State Park<\/span><\/a> \u2013 interpretive signage, including braille text<\/span><\/p>\n

Gambrill State Park<\/span><\/a> \u2013 Camp Out program for beginner campers<\/span><\/p>\n

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park<\/span><\/a> \u2013 educational legacy garden<\/span><\/p>\n

Janes Island State Park<\/span><\/a> \u2013 two inspiration gardens<\/span><\/p>\n

Martinak State Park<\/span><\/a> \u2014 six new kayaks (in partnership with Caroline County)<\/span><\/p>\n

North Point State Park<\/span><\/a> \u2013 native garden<\/span><\/p>\n

Pocomoke River State Park<\/span><\/a> \u2013 aviary expansion<\/span><\/p>\n

Rocky Gap State Park<\/span><\/a> \u2013 nature center improvements<\/span><\/p>\n

Sandy Point State Park<\/span><\/a> \u2013 new lifeguard stands<\/span><\/p>\n

Sang Run State Park<\/span><\/a> \u2013 Election House renovations<\/span><\/p>\n

South Mountain State Park<\/span><\/a> \u2013 food storage poles<\/span><\/p>\n

Wolf Den State Park<\/span><\/a> \u2014 tree plantings<\/span><\/p>\n

Youghiogheny Wild River Natural Environmental Area<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Champion Tree Trail and signage<\/span><\/p>\n

More information on each project can be found on the <\/span>Friends of Maryland State Parks website<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Small Grants, Big Impact! Program supports creative and\/or critical conservation and education projects and the small grant funding can be leveraged with volunteer activities and\/or state funding to go even further in helping a state park achieve its goals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nonprofit Provides \u2018Small Grant, Big Impact\u2019 Funds for 15 Projects\u00a0 The Maryland Park Service was awarded 15 improvement project grants by the Friends of Maryland State Parks through the organization\u2019s program, \u201cSmall Grants, Big Impact!\u201d This funding is for projects that focus on conservation, environmental education, and outdoor recreation, and are important additions benefitting Maryland  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957],"tags":[5304,5243,3565,4981,3006,5303],"class_list":["post-36731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","tag-big-impact","tag-friends-of-maryland-state-parks","tag-grants","tag-maryland-state-parks","tag-nita-settina","tag-small-grants"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36731"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36734,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36731\/revisions\/36734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}