OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Three agencies are teaming up to offer up to $7.5 million in competitive grants to protect key agricultural, scenic and natural resource areas in the San Francisco Bay Area. The pilot program aims to preserve and enhance the natural, economic and social value of rural lands as the region’s population continues to grow. The grants are an outgrowth of Plan Bay Area – the region’s long-range transportation and land-use/housing plan.
The grants are being offered through the new Priority Conservation Grant Program, initiated by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) in partnership with the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and the State Coastal Conservancy (SCC), with the SCC now administering the grant program. Organizations interested in applying for the grant program can find out more at a pair of workshops set for May 20, 2013, in Mountain View, and May 23, 2013, in Oakland (details below).
As outlined in the grant guidelines (http://scc.ca.gov/), the sponsoring agencies are seeking projects that protect globally unique ecosystems and productive agricultural lands, while promoting healthy fisheries, recreational opportunities and climate protection. Priority Conservation Areas comprise over 100 regionally significant open spaces that face near-term development pressures.
“Open space is a huge part of what makes the Bay Area a magnet for so many people from around the world who want to live or visit here,” said MTC Chair Amy Worth, who also serves as a member of the Orinda City Council. “These are places where people can recreate and where wildlife can thrive. They also are home to many of California’s world-famous vineyards and wineries.”
Proposed projects should protect or enhance resource areas or habitats, provide or enhance bicycle and pedestrian access to open space and parkland resources, or support the Bay Area’s agricultural economy. Eligible applicants include local governments, county congestion management agencies, Native American tribes, water/utility districts, resource conservation districts, park and/or open space districts, land trusts and other land/resource protection nonprofit organizations. Eligible projects must be located in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo or Santa Clara counties.
MTC is providing $5 million in federal transportation funds for this five-county effort, which will be combined with up to $2.5 million in additional funding provided by SCC. MTC has provided another $5 million for a related PCA grant program being administered separately by congestion management agencies in the region’s North Bay counties.
“Open space is literally our life-support system,” said Amy Hutzel, program manager for SCC’s SF Bay Area Conservancy program. “We depend on these areas for clean air, safe drinking water, healthy food and a vibrant agricultural economy.”
The call for proposals is available online at http://scc.ca.gov/. Letters of Interest are due on July 19, 2013. Applications will be reviewed by an evaluation committee consisting of staff from SCC, MTC and ABAG. The SCC Board is scheduled to consider approval of PCA grant awards in February or March of 2014.
The times and locations of the two workshops for potential applicants are as follows:
-
May 20, 2013, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Mountain View Community Center
201 South Rengstorff Avenue
Mountain View, CA 94040
-
May 23, 2013, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Oakland State Building, Room 11
1515 Clay Street
Oakland, CA 94612
MTC is the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area’s transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency. SCC is a state agency that works to purchase, protect, restore and enhance coastal resources, and to provide access to the shore. ABAG is the council of governments and regional planning agency for the nine counties and 101 cities and towns of the San Francisco Bay region.
