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Executive Director Corner
Well
another grant deadline has come and gone.
We received 111 grant applications for $33M compared to 112 for $42M
last year. As always, there are some
very interesting applications. You can
go on our website and read the 200 word summaries of all 111 applications. Now projects will be reviewed by technical
experts and then the Grants Committee will begin scoring applications in
November and December.
The
last few weeks have been very busy for the Trust staff as we had a booth at the
State Fair, Heron Haven’s Wetland Festival, Papio-Missouri River NRD’s World of
Water Festival, Marsh Wren Open House and the Ponca Outdoor Expo. It is always good to meet so many new
people and talk about the Trust and the many great projects we partner with
across the State. We also get to see
partners and catch up with them and their projects.
The
Huskers Volleyball team is currently ranked 3rd in the country and
is looking very strong again. John Cook
knows how to put together a perennial powerhouse. I don’t think a majority of fans have given
up on Coach Scott Frost and know it will take a few years for his recruits to
get into a majority of the starting roles. I had hoped we would be 3-0 or at least 2-1 now, instead of 0-2, but I
have at least seen a bit more fire on the field and flashes of greatness. I still feel good about the future of Husker
football. We have the tough part of our
schedule ahead of us, but don’t give up the faith.
Have
a safe harvest and Go Big Red!
Mark
A. Brohman
Executive
Director
Nebraska Environmental Trust Invites Comments on 2019 Grant Applications
The Nebraska Environmental Trust
entered the 2019 grant cycle on September 4, 2018 receiving 111 new
applications and 32 carry-over projects requesting a total of $33,687,862
in grants. Last year the Trust received 112 new applications and 39 carry-over
projects. The Trust has completed 25 grant cycles and will announce the results
of the 26th round of award recommendations in February 2019.
As part of the grant application
process, the Trust invites members of the public to review the proposed grants
and provide written comments about the projects. A summary of each proposal
will be available soon on the Trust’s web site www.environmentaltrust.org. Comments
on the grant applications will be accepted until April 3, 2019, at the Nebraska
Environmental Trust, 700 S 16th Street, PO Box 94913, Lincoln, NE 68509-4913 or
via e-mail to marilyn.tabor@nebraska.gov.
 Students attending the Monarch education program.
Save Our Monarchs Foundation
Save Our Monarchs
Foundation, a grassroots non-profit organization with offices in Minnesota and
Nebraska, visited Lexington Middle School on Monday, September 10th to provide
Monarch education to the 7th grade science class. Students at the school have
been growing Milkweed at their school garden to help support the Monarchs and
now they will be rearing Monarchs in their classrooms. Save Our Monarchs has
helped to install and provide seeds for over 4000 school pollinator gardens in
the US and Mexico.
Save Our Monarchs, in
collaboration with the Nebraska Environmental Trust, provided students with 50
young Monarch caterpillars to raise. Over the next month, students will learn
more about the life-cycle, migration, and biology of the monarch butterfly. At
the end of the month, Save Our Monarchs will return to Lexington Middle School
to host a Monarch citizen science tagging event. All of the Monarchs that they
reared will be tagged and released to improve citizen science efforts in the
tracking their great migration to Mexico.
Compressed Natural Gas Station in North Platte
KALM Energy, LLC and the Nebraska Environmental Trust (NET)
have collaborated with Clean Energy, Inc. to install a fast fill compressed
natural gas (CNG) station located beside the Flying “J” Travel center in North
Platte, NE. Clean Energy already had installed a liquefied natural station (LNG)
at the travel center and intended to convert it to a C/LNG station at about the
same time as KALM was awarded the NET grant to build their station. North
Platte is too small to support two stations so Clean Energy and KALM approached
the NET board and received approval to work together to upgrade the
existing station. The state of the art C/LNG
station has 2 fast fill CNG dispensers and easy access for class 8 trucks or
passenger vehicles traveling on Interstate 80 or located in surrounding
communities.
The new CNG station in western Nebraska has been a vital cog
in the regional alternative fuel infrastructure. The station has filled a large
mileage gap that existed between Lincoln and Denver as well as other points
west on I-80. For example, United Parcel Service runs dedicated CNG vehicles
out of their Denver and Omaha locations but before the installation of the new
station they were precluded from utilizing CNG because of their tank capacity. Now
they can use alternative fuel to deliver to all Nebraska communities!
Filling the CNG void in western Nebraska was instrumental in
convincing the federal government to designate I-80 as an alternative fuel
corridor. The designation will provide future funding opportunities for
alternative fuel investment and without the new station we might have been
ignored. Suffice it to say the generous grant that NET provided has had a
dramatic impact on both the environment and the economy of western Nebraska!
Sept. 22 proclaimed National Hunting and Fishing Day in Nebraska - Courtesy of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
Nebraska Lt.
Gov. Mike Foley honored the state's hunters and anglers on Monday during a
ceremony in which he proclaimed Sept. 22 National Hunting and Fishing Day in
Nebraska.
For more than four decades, National Hunting and Fishing Day has
recognized America’s hunters and anglers for their leadership in fish and
wildlife conservation. National Hunting and Fishing Day, celebrated the fourth
Saturday of every September, remains an effective grassroots effort to promote
the outdoor sports and conservation.
In Nebraska, these ventures are promoted through the Nebraska
Game and Parks Commission’s partnerships that work to pass along the state’s
outdoor heritage, providing funding for conservation efforts. Programs such as
mentored youth hunts, family fishing events and $8 youth permits introduce
young people to these fulfilling activities.
Nebraska’s 289,000 hunters and anglers support the state’s
economy through spending more than $780 million annually while engaged in their
pursuits. In addition, hunting and fishing support more than 12,085 jobs in
Nebraska and generate more than $81 million in state and local taxes.
“Hunters and anglers are invaluable to conservation in Nebraska,
and they also are a powerful force in the state’s economy,” said Scott
Smathers, executive director of the Nebraska Sportsmen’s Foundation. “We’re
honored that Gov. Pete Ricketts and Lt. Gov. Mike Foley recognize the value of
hunting and fishing in Nebraska.”
Visit OutdoorNebraska.org to find out more about hunting and
fishing opportunities in Nebraska. Visit nhfday.org to learn more about
National Hunting and Fishing Day.
 Lt. Governor Mike Foley, Senator Bruce Bostelman and members of conservation groups attending proclaimation ceremony.
Marsh Wren Open House
Partners (including City of
Lincoln, Nebraska Environmental Trust, Lower Platte South NRD, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and
Nebraska Chapter of Pheasants Forever, Inc.) of the Saline Wetlands
Conservation Partnership sponsored an “Open House” at the Marsh Wren Community
Wetland Area on September 12th.
The event featured the Marsh
Wren Conservation Project including a saline water distribution system,
identification of saline and prairie plants, bird viewing (28 species
identified during event), Platte Basin Timelapse project, Nebraska ‘s Natural
Legacy Program, and Monarch tagging among others. Approximately 120
persons attended the Open House.
 Marsh Wren Courtesy of The Flatwater Group
Upcoming Events
4th Quarter Board Meeting - Thursday, November 1, 2018, Ferguson House, Lincoln NE. (1:00 pm to 4:30 pm)
Christmas Open House - Sunday, December 9, 2018, Ferguson House, Lincoln NE. (noon - 5:00 pm)
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