The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) is seeking to support public lands that have been impacted by increased use during the COVID-19 pandemic. With social distancing regulations in place, people are turning to the outdoors more than ever for exercise and rejuvenation. At the same time, the agencies and organizations responsible for maintaining public lands are hampered by reductions in staff, volunteers, and resources, leaving them ill-equipped to keep up with increased human presence in these delicate ecosystems on top of existing maintenance backlogs.

The Restoration and Resilience COVID Recovery Fund will help restore these special places by distributing resources and mobilizing volunteers. Through this funding, NEEF will sponsor public lands sites in order to:

• Demonstrate the need for volunteer service to restore public lands that have been impacted by increased use during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Engage volunteers in restoration and conservation projects that address the impacts of the pandemic
• Contribute to improvement of the sponsored public land sites through community engagement, as evidenced by volunteer participation numbers, types of projects, value of volunteer service, and conservation outputs

Types of projects supported include: Conservation projects, accessibility projects, maintenance projects, and cultural preservation projects.

Amount: Grants of up to $2,500 will be awarded.

Eligibility: Nonprofit organizations, state or federal government agencies, federally recognized tribes and local governments, and educational institutions that have been in existence for at least two years.

Deadline: Four funding cycles will be held with the following deadlines: December 1, 2020; February 1, 2021; April 1, 2021; and June 1, 2021.