The purpose of the SBEP Bay Partners Grant Program is to promote environmental education, awareness, community involvement, and stewardship to improve the overall quality of Sarasota Bay and its tributaries. To support these goals, funding is available from SBEP for projects that focus on Bay Education, Bay Restoration or Bay-Friendly Landscaping.
Types of projects eligible for funding:
- Create a wildlife garden.
- Remove invasive species and replace them with native plants.
- Enhance an existing landscape with native plants.
- Improve and beautify an existing foot/bike trail with Bay-Friendly Landscaping.
- Micro-irrigate a Florida-Friendly landscape.
- Enhance a pond with Florida native plants.
- Improve an impacted tributary riparian habitat.
- Design and implement a targeted Bay education and stewardship program.
- Install Bay education signage.
- Put in a rain garden or bioswale.
- Retrofit a Bay-Friendly landscape.
- Educate neighbors about pet waste and distribute biodegradable doggie bags.
Types of projects NOT eligible for funding:
- Creation of a playground.
- Non-environmental programming.
- Projects on private property.
- Projects that damage rather than restore native habitat.
- Addition or repair of walls, fish ponds, swimming pools, patios, decks, benches, light fixtures, road signs or any other non-natural feature of the neighborhood.
- Projects related to compliance, regulation, code enforcement, or penalties.
- Projects that use invasive plant species identified on either FLEPPC plant list http://www.fleppc.org/list/list.htm.
Grant Applications
Click here to complete application (word doc). Contact Sara Kane at 941.955.8085 or sara@sarasotabay.org if you have additional questions.
DEADLINE: Applications must be received by 4 pm on Thursday, March 1, 2012. Applications can be emailed as a Word document or PDF file to Sara Kane at sara@sarasotabay.org. Regular mail applications are also welcome, but please send four (4) copies of your application. The mailing address for SBEP is 111 South Orange Avenue, Suite 200W in Sarasota and the zip code is 34236. The SBEP Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) reviews the applications and the grants are awarded in the fall.
2011 Bay Partners Grant Recipients
Fully Funded
City of Holmes Beach Parks and Beautification Advisory Board $3,000 – Grassy Point Landscaping Improvements. The project will use Florida Friendly landscaping principles to improve the Grassy Point Habitation Restoration Area incorporating native plants and signage for the public. The signs will include plant identification and a site map. The advisory board will be contacting residents and volunteers to help select the plants and their locations.
Cortez Village Historical Society, Inc. $3,000- The KITCHEN of Cortez. The planning, selection of components, and production of an educational movie to include a description of the Sarasota Bay estuary and its role in providing food, the current destruction of habitat, and the debunking of myths on harvesting seafood.They will have a grand presentation open to the public for the film viewing.
GWIZ The Science Museum $3,000- GWIZ Water Wonders School Program. A hands-on workshop using science-based educational programming addressing critical issues of water quality and vulnerable water resources. Education will include lab techniques and classifying plants and organisms. 150 Sarasota County students in grades 5-8 will attend.
Nature’s Academy $3,000 – Island Adventures Pilot Project. A hands-on, outdoor, marine science field trip program focusing on barrier island ecology and estuary conservation. Education will include a mangrove ecology kayak tour, seagrass invertebrate collection, shark dissection, water quality tests and a coastal cleanup. The target audience is fifth grade students.
New College of Florida $2,871.40 – PUSH/SUCCESS: How the health of Sarasota Bay Affects the Health of Its Citizens. This summer program will provide intensive academic activities for middle and high school students. Activities are designed to highlight environmental issues important to understanding Sarasota Bay and its watershed. It will also include an outreach activity with a poster on pet waste clean up. Target audience will be low income, potentially first in the family to attend college or underrepresented students in science.
Rogers Garden Elementary $1,878.45- Help Make Our World Greener. Host a green fest at their school to highlight their use of vegetable gardening, composting, recycling program, and more. They also want to start new composting bins, replace invasive species with natives, and create a butterfly garden area.
Sunbow Bay Condo Association $3,000 – Retrofit of existing turf area to a Florida Friendly Garden– Bay friendly landscaping project to continue the work they began in 2010 with native plantings. They will have an ongoing educational program to keep residents and other condo associations aware of the benefits of Bay Friendly Landscaping.
Partially Funded
Beachplace Association, Inc. $1,500— Beachplace Association Storm-water Detention Pond Upgrade. Bay Friendly project that will work on the removal of an existing pressure treated wood retaining wall, and add Rip Rap stones along the banks of the pond.
ELM West Coast Inc. $2,000- LID Expo- A Tradeshow of Innovative Low Impact Development Techniques. A fully planned and executed LID expo that will occur in the spring of 2012. It will highlight Low Impact Development and survey all attendees. The goal is uniformity of the LID manual with regional flexibility within the Sarasota Bay watershed. Volunteers will be used for planning and setup.
Mote Marine Laboratory $2,000 – Mote High School Internship Education Program. High school students will participate in marine research by collecting data on the biodiversity of New Pass estuary. This will engage students in the scientific process and enhance their understanding of local marine life. They will also develop outreach materials and organize a beach cleanup.
Palma Sola Botanical Park Foundation $1,500 – Enhancement of foot/wheel chair pathways. Enhancing an existing landscape with native plants and improving the foot/wheel chair pathways connecting the native plant beds to the rest of the path network. Utilize volunteers from local schools, West Manatee Firefighters, and more. Also identifying areas in need of signage regarding plants and animals and install them.
South Gate Community Association, Inc. $1,500- South Gate Community Center Invasive Plant Removal. Removal of invasive Brazilian peppers and carrot wood tree along shores of Philippi Creek. Open up area along bank for possible future nature trail.
Windward Bay Condominium Association $1,500 – Expand Saltwater Bioswale and surrounding areas from 5,000 sq. ft. to 30,000 sq. ft. – Bay Friendly landscaping project for an expansion of their demonstration plot of a bioswale with native plants. They will convert more of the swale area, about 15,000 sq. ft. from mowed lawn to salt tolerant plants. They will also develop a Plant ID guide for residents.
Community Education Grant Program
The Community Education Grant Program provides opportunities for people to create community-based educational experiences that lead to the protection and conservation of Florida’s ecosystem. When people participate in water resources projects near their homes, they develop longer-lasting involvement in environmental protection. For more information: http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/business/communitygrants/