Grassland Heritage Foundation (GHF) preserves prairies in eastern Kansas through education, stewardship, and land protection. We are continuing our program that provides financial help for people who have created small prairie plantings at their school, church, or other location to assist with prairie management or use. See details below; note that we are particularly enthusiastic about our funds being used in such a way to increase the awareness and interest of young people to prairies.

 

About the Fund Program

The Sustaining Prairies Fund was created by GHF to continue to invest in, maintain, and improve exiting prairie habitat and learning spaces. Our experience is that people embark on prairie plantings with great enthusiasm. But sometimes as years go by, these plantings are neglected or underused.  We hope to provide financial support through this program to uplift these spaces and increase their ecological and/or educational use.

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Eligibility and Activities Supported

What types of sites are eligible for this program? Sites should have been predominantly planted with native prairie plants. These can be of various sizes, from small pollinator gardens to larger prairie restorations or reconstructions. 

What types of activities would be appropriate for this funding? We invite applications that focus on one or both of the following areas:

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• Prairie management. Weedy plants and/or shrubs and trees may colonize prairie plantings. We could provide funds to assist with removing unwanted weeds from a garden and provide education on continued management. For example, a teacher or mentor could create a simple prairie internship program and use our funds to buy tools for maintenance or provide rewards or compensations for students working in the prairie. Our funding could also be used to pay a conservation professional for advice on prairie management or to pay for a prairie burn.

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• Prairie use. Prairie plantings can be underutilized. We could provide funds for creative ideas that increase use of prairie sites by young people. Teachers at a school with a large restoration, for example, bought jumpsuits and rubber boots for students, making it easier and more comfortable spending time inside the prairie. Curriculum development, signage, or funds to develop a “prairie day open house” could also fit in this category. Other options might be collecting nets, magnifiers, or reference books.

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Both of the above categories provide examples of activities supported by this program, but we invite other creative uses of the funds that fall within in the goals of this program.​

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Application for Funds

We are offering funds from $500-$1,000, with a focus on projects in northeastern Kansas.  Note that we do not provide funds for creating prairie plantings.  GHF is currently accepting proposals through June 01, 2024 and will award scholarship funds in July 2024. Successful applicants should use funds within a year’s time and are expected to submit an essay about their prairie and how they used the funds for our GHF newsletter.

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Click the button below to download the application for the Sustaining Prairies Fund: