Hanover, NH - The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation announced grants of $354,925 from its Wellborn Ecology Fund to support environmental, ecology and place-based education programs in the Upper Valley.  

The grant dollars will go to 14 projects run by local schools, agencies and community organizations within the Foundation’s Upper Valley Region, which serves 61 communities in NH and VT. Programs receiving support include summer nature camps, professional development opportunities for teachers, nature-center interpretive design and improved trails near schools.

A $30,000 grant to Audubon Vermont will enable expansion of a landowner-education program designed to raise awareness about the importance of the Upper Valley forest for priority bird species and engage residents directly in enhancing habitat for these species. The project involves landowners, foresters, volunteers and towns in learning about natural values and in taking practical steps to improve habitat.  To participate in this program, please contact Audubon Vermont at 802-434-3068.

The Wellborn Ecology Fund is dedicated to promoting awareness of environmental and ecological issues in the Upper Valley through increasing knowledge of natural systems, providing opportunities for “hands-on” nature study, increasing environmental skills, creating links and networks among people and institutions and expanding overall environmental education capacity in the region. 

Grant awards were made to the following organizations and programs:

• Audubon Vermont received $30,000 for the first year of a three-year program to expand local awareness of the importance of bird habitat in the Upper Valley.
• Center for Woodlands Education received a two-year, $30,000 grant to provide core operating support for ecology programs in the region.
• Green Mountain Union High School was awarded a grant of $5,000 to support improvements to the trail system adjacent to the school in Chester, VT, in order to facilitate nature study by students and community members.
• Lake Sunapee Protective Association received $30,000 for the first year of a two-year program to devise and implement a long-range environmental education program for the Kearsarge, Newport and Sunapee school districts.
• Lebanon School District (in partnership with Four Winds Nature Institute) received $30,000 for the first year of a two-year program to create "Linkages for E-Literacy", a planning and resource hub for K-12 environmental education partnerships and teacher professional development.
• Marsh-Billings Rockefeller National Historical Park (in partnership with Shelburne Farms, National Wildlife Federation and Green Mountain National Forest) was awarded a three-year $75,000 grant to further develop and promote the Forest for Every Classroom Fellows program.
• Marsh-Billings Rockefeller National Historical Park also received $5,000 to support the second year of Mountains and Rivers Forever Summer Camp for children aged 12-15.
• Montshire Museum of Science was awarded $47,250 over two years to develop best practices for nature interpretation using the forests, trails and habitats around the museum.
• Nature Museum at Grafton received $22,150 for the third phase of development, implementation and evaluation of “Beyond Your Doorstep”, a professional-development program for teachers focused on nature journaling.
• New England Institute for Landscape Ecology received $4,750 to support a three-day intensive field-immersion program for environmental science/biology teachers in the Upper Valley.
• The Fells received $3,275 to support an education intern for summer 2008 at their facility in Newbury, NH.
• Vermont Institute of Natural Science received $30,000 for expansion of its summer Nature Camp programs.
• VerShare received a two-year, $22,500 grant to provide core operating support for environmental components of the VerShare Community Camp in Vershire, VT.
• White River Natural Resources Conservation District received $20,000 to assist with expansion of the BLUE summer nature camp and school program in Newbury, VT.
  

The next Wellborn Ecology Fund application deadline for grant requests greater than $5,000 is February 1, 2009.  Applications for grant requests up to $5,000 may be submitted at any time.  Grant guidelines are available on our website www.nhcf.org in the section “Applying for a Grant”. 

The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation has been working to improve the quality of life in our communities since 1962.  It builds and manages a collection of funds, totaling nearly than $490 million, created by individuals, families and corporations for charitable purposes. In 2007, the Foundation awarded more than $33 million in grants to nonprofits and scholarship funds to students. In the past five years alone, the Foundation has granted a total of more than $125 million. Based in Concord, the Foundation roots itself in communities across the state through seven regions including Lakes, Manchester, Monadnock, Nashua, North Country, Piscataqua and Upper Valley.  For more information about the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, visit www.nhcf.org or call (603) 225-6641.