This July, Southern Maine Conservation Collaborative with support from the Onion Foundation piloted the Land Trust Grant Fund Program, our very first grant-giving initiative. Through this process, we were able to distribute $280,000 in unrestricted grants to 24 conservation-focused land trusts across the state of Maine.
The SMCC Land Trust Grant Fund Program aims to give land trusts throughout Maine the resources they need to grow and succeed. This program was created in order to:
- Strengthen the land trust community’s governance, leadership, strategic planning, financial stability, programming, and organizational development.
- Help land trusts integrate equity and inclusion in their organizational policies, practices, and programming.
- Position land trusts to broaden their membership, including by engaging BIPOC, low-income people, LGBTQIA+, and people with disabilities.
- Support land trusts in developing additional social capital and infrastructure by facilitating connections to share lessons, opportunities, and growth.
- Ensure that conservation is rooted in community and that conserved land is accessible to the broadest range of communities for meaningful experience.
Today we are proud to publicly announce the recipients of the SMCC’s Land Trust Grant Fund Program!
Arundel Conservation Trust
Blue Hill Heritage Trust
Bomazeen Land Trust
Chebeague & Cumberland Land Trust
Coastal Mountains Land Trust
Downeast Coastal Conservancy
Falmouth Land Trust
Forest Society of Maine
Georges River Land Trust
Great Works Regional Land Trust
Harpswell Heritage Land Trust
Inland Woods + Trails
Kennebec Estuary Land Trust
Kennebec Land Trust
Kittery Land Trust
Land In Common Community Land Trust
Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust
Royal River Conservation Trust
Sanford Springvale Mousam Way Land Trust
Scarborough Land Trust
Sebasticook Regional Land Trust
Three Rivers Land Trust
Upper Saco Valley Land Trust
