Governor O’Malley has announced a new grant program, designed to create innovative approached to stream restoration needs across the state. From the Department of Natural Resources website:

Maryland’s Stream Restoration Challenge is a competitive grant program open to local governments and non-government organizations to establish 1,000 acres of stream-side forests by 2015. For this challenge, the State and its partners will make available $6 million to plant forested stream buffers with the goals of improving Bay water quality and creating opportunities for middle and high school students to engage in service-learning and environmental literacy activities.

Local governments are among the targeted entities that may apply for the grants:

Through this RFP, the State and its Partners are soliciting proposals from local governments and non-governmental organizations, including bi-county agencies, counties, municipalities, forest conservancy district boards, soil conservation districts, faith-based organizations, and academic institutions, including school systems

More detail on the program is available from the DNR website.

See the Program’s official Request for Proposals document.

For questions about the RFP and to gain technical assistance, please contact:
Gabe Cohee
gcohee@dnr@dnr.state.md.us
410.260.8753

For further assistance with educational components and connecting with school groups, please contact:

Bill Reinhard
wreinhard@msde.state.md.us
410.767.0486