Grants of up to $50,000 available for ecologically-focused projects

The College of New Caledonia Research Forest Society is welcoming proposals for environmentally-focused projects.

The successful candidates can receive up to $50,000 through the Society’s money fund to endure their work behind and energizing local natural resources.

Launched in 2019, the fund is made accessible through the harvest and sale of timber affected by spruce beetles within CNC’s research forest north of Prince George. Since 2019, the fund has provided $190,000 to tasks in northern British Columbia.

“Initially the funding was intended for ecological improvement works within the CNC research forest, but the Society known the unique chance of serving the broader CNC region,” said research forest director Carl Pollard. “We are seeing great outcomes from all the funding recipient so far because each of those jobs is led by local people who are fervent about improving the greater CNC communities.”

Last year, two awards, each for the maximum amount of $50,000, were given: The Fraser Headwaters Alliance for their work upgrading the historic Goat River Trail and the Nazko First Nation’s Landscape Retrieval program for their work reclaiming native plants and reinstating habitats.

“Each year there is a astonishing variety of proposals because the fund is available to advocates within a vast land,” continued Pollard. “We hope to see that again with this year’s requests so we can support one more group that is ready and motivated, but just requirements our funding to cross the finish line.”

The fund is open to individuals, businesses, community groups, First Nations communities, management agency, as well as secondary and post-secondary schools within the communities CNC serves (Prince George, Bear Lake, McLeod Lake, Mackenzie, Quesnel, Fort St. James, Vanderhoof, and Burns Lake).