Monday, September 30, 2013

Watershed Land Use Impacts

I provided a 19-minute voice-over narration of these slides at http://youtu.be/pvVPNkP-63U

 But when I listened to it I thought, "Hmmm, that should be played back at 1.5x or a viewer will fall asleep."    You're welcome to watch it until I create a new version. But you may be a LOT happier simply viewing these slides at your own pace.

September 30 Hangout


Google+ Hangout  - look for Jim.Egenrieder@gmail.com  (G+ users can add me to their circles)

FreeConferenceCall.com - (661) 673-8600  access code: 766199#  (If you use voice over IP, you might get errors.  The FreeConferenceCall.com backup number for those using Voice-over-IP is  805-360-1075.


Monday, September 23, 2013

Monday, September 16, 2013

Hangout - September 23 - 7pm

Tonight I'll be answering questions, and I'll direct you to an online demo of simple watershed mapping and measuring strategies.

Google+ Hangout  - look for Jim.Egenrieder@gmail.com  (G+ users can add me to their circles)

FreeConferenceCall.com - (661) 673-8600  access code: 766199#  (If you use voice over IP, you might get errors.  The FreeConferenceCall.com backup number for those using Voice-over-IP is  805-360-1075.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Virginia Naturally Grant Resources

http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/virginia_naturally/grants.shtml


Grants & Funding

State and regional programs

Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund Grant Program due October 1 annually
The Chesapeake Bay Restoration Advisory Committee accepts grant applications to conduct Chesapeake Bay-related education and restoration activities. To be eligible for receiving a grant, applicants should submit proposals emphasizing environmental education or restoration and conservation of the Chesapeake Bay. The grants are funded with monies from the sale of the special Chesapeake Bay license plate, Friend of the Chesapeake. This year more than $300,000 will be awarded to eligible applicants.
Chesapeake Bay Trust GrantsFunds projects that create wetland habitat, improve water quality, and engage students and communities in restoration and environmental education projects.
James City County Watershed Protection Mini-grants
Watershed protection mini-grants are available through the James City County's Protecting Resources in Delicate Environments (PRIDE) Program. Neighborhoods, storm water facility (BMP) owners, and community groups can qualify for up to $500. Projects emphasizing water quality improvement through watershed restoration/protection include tree planting, wetland planting, BMP restoration, and stream bank stabilization. ContactPRIDE@james-city.va.us or call (757) 259-1446.


National

National Environmental Education Foundation provides grants to strengthen the environmental education EE programs and to support the efforts of other organizations.
EPA Environmental Education Grants are awarded annually to schools, nature centers, museums, and other nonprofit institution for professional development and training to educational providers including businesses, health care providers, community leaders, and adult populations.
Wal- Mart Foundation provides grants in the areas of Community, Education, Children and the Environment. All requests for funding must be directed through your local Wal-Mart.
Jenny's Heroes Community Grant Program offered by talk show host Jenny Jones will donate up to $25,000 for each project that will promise long-term benefits to the community. There is no deadline.
The Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education Grant Program gives small monetary grants to schools, nature centers, or other non-profit educational organizations for the purpose of establishing outdoor learning centers. The grant recipient learning centers are those which most successfully reflect the Wild Ones mission to educate and share information about the benefits of using native plants in our landscape and to promote biodiversity and environmentally sound environmentally sound practices
Nature of Learning Grants provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), in cooperation with the USFWS (National Wildlife Refuge System and the National Conservation Training Center) and National Wildlife Refuge Association, solicits applications from organizations interested in initiating The Nature of Learning program, the community-based environmental education initiative.
Outdoor Classroom Grant Program is a partnership of the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation, International Paper and the International Paper Foundation, and NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER classroom magazine. As part of Lowe's continued commitment to public education, Lowe's will provide more than $200,000 in outdoor classroom grants to benefit public schools nationwide. Teachers may apply for grants up to $2,000. For school districts with major outdoor classroom projects, grants may be awarded for up to $20,000.
National Fish and Wildlife FoundationThis organization offers grants pertaining to keystone initiative grants pertaining to fish, bird, marine and costal, and wildlife and habitat conservation in addition to an assortment of other charter grant programs.
National Geographic Society Education Foundation Teacher Grants support individual teachers or teaching teams in the classroom, district or community for work in four areas: 1) exploring uses of new technologies; 2) expanding student experimental learning opportunities; 3) providing professional development and mentoring; and 4) engaging families and/or communities in education. Grant amounts vary from $500 to $5,000.
Melinda Gray Ardia Foundation provides grants of $1000 to educators to develop or implement environmental curricula. Prefer to support the actual development of a curriculum rather than provide funds to purchase equipment.
K-12 Environmental Excellence Awards offered by Seaworld/Busch Gardens/Fuji Film recognizes K-12 students & community groups working at the grassroots level to protect and preserve their local environment.

Resources

The Blue Sky Fund is dedicated to improving the lives of underprivileged children in Richmond, VA through outdoor based after-school programs.
DonorsChoose accepts project proposals from teachers and posts it to the website. Private donors can visit the website and choose which projects to fund.
EPA Five-Star Restoration Program brings together citizen groups, corporations, youth conservation corps, students, landowners and government agencies to undertake projects that restore stream banks and wetlands. The program provides challenge grants, technical support, and peer information exchange to enable community-based restoration projects.
Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE) makes it easier to find teaching and learning resources from the federal government. More than 1,500 federally supported teaching and learning resources are included from dozens of federal agencies. New sites are added regularly.
Gardening for Kids Grants has resources and grant opportunities for school youth gardens.
Planet Connect offers an assortment of grants to promote environmental learning and stewardship.
School Grants is a collection of resources and tips to help K-12 educators apply for and obtain special grants for a variety of projects.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Restoration Center has available funding for individual community-based habitat restoration projects under theCommunity-Based Restoration Program (CRP). The CRP is a financial and technical assistance program that funds grass-roots, community-based activities that restore living marine resources and their habitats, including anadramous species (like salmon and herring that spawn in freshwater and migrate to the ocean.)
Watershed Funding offered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a watershed funding website to provide tools, databases, and information about sources of funding to help non-profit watershed organizations, state and local governments and funders (such as foundations) more easily access information on how to effectively obtain and invest resources to improve watershed health.

Tools

GrantsAlert helps nonprofits, especially those involved in education, secure the funds they need to continue their important work.
Grant Writing Tips for those who need help in developing grant proposals.
The Grantsmanship Center offers workshops designed to give practical skills.
School Funding Services Grant of the Week features a new grant on its website.
Fundsnet Online Services dedicated to providing nonprofit organizations, colleges, and universities with information on financial resources available on the Internet.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Webcast: Incorporating Wetlands into Watershed Planning

Register for Watershed Academy Webcast on the “Wetlands Supplement: Incorporating Wetlands into Watershed Planning”

                Join us for a Watershed Academy Webcast on Sept. 17, 2013 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pmEastern on the new “Wetlands Supplement: Incorporating Wetlands into Watershed Planning.” This new document published by U.S. EPA Region 5 is a supplement to U.S. EPA’s Handbook for Developing Watershed Plans to Restore and Protect Our Waters and is intended to encourage the inclusion of proactive wetland management in the watershed planning process. The Supplement promotes using a watershed approach that protects existing freshwater wetlands and maximizes opportunities to use restored, enhanced, and created freshwater wetlands to address water quality problems. This new document is available at:  www.epa.gov/region5/agriculture/pdfs/wetlands-in-watershed-planning-supplement-region-5-201302.pdf.

               
                To register for this webinar, please visit www.epa.gov/watershedwebcastsThe webcast presentation will be posted in advance at this url and webcast participants are eligible to receive a certificate for their attendance.   

Anne Weinberg
Communications Coordinator
Assessment and Watershed Protection Division
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

__________________________________________________
Mailing Address:                                           Off. Location & Fed. Ex. Address
Mail Code 4503T                                            1301 Constitution Ave. NW
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW                               Room 7417K
Washington, DC 20460                                Washington, DC 20004

Priorities for the week of September 8

1. Invasive Plants - Focus on the details of a specific invasive, provide a brief summary of 8, 10 or more invasives, or alternatively, do something best suited for your watershed or your academic or professional goals. Some may wish to study both invasive plants and animals.
  • Invasive Plant Description Template Option 1 - LINK
  • Invasive Plants in My Area Template Option 2 - LINK

2.  Dendrology - Create a list of 20 or more trees in your watershed, your neighborhood, or based on any other category relevant to you.  using any presentation format (Google Doc, Google Slides, Wiki, or simply a blog post), include common name(s), Family name, Genus and species names.  You might consider hyperlinking to the matching fact sheet on the VT Dendrology page (see below).

3.  Continue to refine your other projects (watershed exploration, blogs, watershed group overview).  A template for the watershed group can be found here.


Notable Trees

Arlington County maintains a list of notable trees, and I used the list to plan my dendrology walks.  Of course such lists are great ways to see the potential of any tree species.  Hopefully you might find something similar from a local nature center or naturalist in your area.  For those of you inside the DC Beltway, visit this list:

http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/parksrecreation/documents/file61727.pdf

Monday, September 9, 2013

VT Dendrology Tree Fact Sheets


http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/factsheets.cfm







VT Tree ID
  
 
Factsheets
Search the database:
  • You can search for all or part of a name.
  • No fields are required.
  • If you return no matches, try a more general search (ie. "maple" instead of "ashleaf maple").
Family:State: 
Genus:Hardiness Zone: 
species:
Floristic Region (Biome):
common:
 more info on Plant Hardiness Zones and Floristic Regions
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Trees of your location?

Natural Resources Education
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