Capacity Building for Land Trusts

The Keep Maryland Beautiful Grant Program presents the Land Trust Capacity, Excellence and Stewardship Grants. These grants are intended to increase land trust capacity, support programing and innovation and foster stronger, better connected land trusts that will protect all natural resources and enhance the lives of Maryland citizens and generations to come. These grants are available to local land trust in Maryland and include:

Aileen Hughes Grant of up to $5,000
This grant recognizes an individual representing a Maryland land trust for outstanding leadership, partnership and innovation in a conservation project or organization development.
Janice Hollmann Grant of up to $10,000
This grant is awarded to Maryland land trusts to increase capacity, support community programing and innovation and foster stronger, better connected land trusts.

*NEW FOR LAND TRUSTS*
Maryland land trusts can apply for a Janice Hollmann Grant, as well as nominate an individual (from their own land trust or another Maryland land trust) for the Aileen Hughes Award. Separate applications must be submitted for Hollmann and Hughes to be considered.

Aileen Hughes Grant

The Aileen Hughes Grant of up to $5,000 is awarded annually to an individual representing a Maryland land trust who demonstrated outstanding leadership in land conservation. Funding is awarded to a land trust, on behalf of an individual and their good work (not to the individual).

The grant honors the late Aileen Hughes, a true leader in the conservation movement. Aileen was a supporter of women's and civil rights, as well as the protection of our State's natural and cultural resources. Aileen was the President for many years of the American Chestnut Land Trust.

The Aileen Hughes Grant recognizes an individual who demonstrates outstanding leadership, partnership and/or innovation in a conservation project or organizational development. Since 2006, Maryland Environmental Trust has recognized 18 land trust leaders and awarded $41,000 in funding to support local land trust programming. Past recipients of the Aileen Hughes Award are listed here.

To Apply:
Click Here

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Janice Hollmann Grant

Janice Hollmann Grants of up to $10,000 are awarded to land trusts within Maryland. All grants require a 100% match from the land trust of in-kind services and privately raised funds and are subject to a competitive application process.

The Janice Hollmann Grant was added to the Keep Maryland Beautiful Grant Program in 1990. Janice Hollmann exemplified citizen leadership of local land trusts in Maryland. She co-founded the Severn River Land Trust and the Arundel Conservation Trust, and served on the Severn River Commission. She was Izaak Walton League’s Conservationist of the Year in 1989 and the Capital newspaper’s Person of the Year for 1990. Janice died of cancer in April 1990.

Thanks to the long standing partnership and support of Maryland Department of Transportation, Maryland Environmental Trust has awarded 177 grants totaling over $545,000 to 45 Maryland land trusts. In turn, local land trusts have provided a funding match of more than $775,000 to foster stronger, better connected land trusts that protect natural resources and enhance the lives of Maryland citizens and generations to come.

The purpose of the Janice Hollmann Grant program is to build sustainable land trusts by increasing organizational capacity, developing community programs and services, implementing Standards and Practices and increasing public support for the diverse spectrum of conservation, stewardship and related land trust activities in the State of Maryland.

To Apply:
Click Here

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