Wildlands Engineering is Well-Versed in Helping Clients Fund Projects With Grants

“Wildlands’ experience and technical expertise was invaluable to Catawba Land Conservancy’s 2020 NCLWF restoration grant application. Wildlands worked with us to develop the site vision and communicated the existing site deficiencies, design, and ecological gains in a clear, concise application that resulted in the award of funds.”

Sean Bloom, Biologist and GIS Director | Catawba Lands Conservancy

 

As a vertically integrated ecological restoration firm, our municipal clients often call upon us to assist in securing critical project funding by identifying applicable grants, grant application writing, conceptual design creation, and developing funding strategies to leverage multiple funding sources. Wildlands has a successful track record of applying for, receiving, and implementing water resource grants for municipalities, recently including City of Charlotte, Hendersonville, Black Mountain, Morganton, and Woodfin, NC; Greenville, SC; and for non-profits, such as MountainTrue, RiverLink, Mainspring Conservation Trust, and the Catawba Lands Conservancy. These grants have included the NC Land and Water Fund (LWF), EPA Section 319, the Environmental Enhancement Grant (EEG), DWR’s Water Resources Development Grant (WRG), the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Grants, Section 205j, and other public and private grant funding sources. Wildlands has also assisted with non-grant funding programs like the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF), which is a low-interest loan available to local governments. Featured below is an example of a recent successful grant application project is the Mud Creek Stream and Wetland Restoration Planning project in Hendersonville, NC.

If you have a project that could benefit from grant funding, Wildlands can help you:

• identify the most appropriate suite of grants to pursue;
• prepare grant-specific project narratives, project scopes, conceptual maps and drawings, and other supporting information to target grantor funding priorities; and
• develop accurate engineer sealed cost-estimates based on our extensive design and construction experience.

Click the button below to view a table that outlines upcoming application deadlines for popular grants. With the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act (Covid-19 relief fund) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, many new and improved federal funding programs are available to cover the planning, design, and construction phases of water resources projects. Some examples are stream and floodplain restoration, nature-based flood mitigation, dam and culvert removal, stormwater green infrastructure, stormwater master planning, asset management, and stormwater utility development. Our staff is specialized and experienced in navigating these sometimes complicated programs and helping clients develop a roadmap to get from concept to close-out. Wildlands would love to assist you in preparing your application – contact us today!

Mud Creek Stream and Wetland Restoration Planning Project, Hendersonville, NC

In 2021, Wildlands worked closely with the City of Hendersonville to develop a competitive application for the North Carolina Land and Water Fund’s Planning Grant program. We met frequently with the City Stormwater Division to conceptualize a project focused on evaluating opportunities for restoration, flood storage, and passive park amenities on three city-owned sites along Mud Creek. Wildlands guided the client to incorporate highly competitive elements into the application, wrote sections of the grant, and developed a detailed scope. Pre-application meetings with the NCLWF representative indicated the project would score highly, and the grant was awarded in 2022. Currently, Wildlands, in partnership with Land of Sky Regional Council of Governments, is assisting the City in pursuing NCLWF’s new Flood Risk Reduction grant program to cover final design and construction of phase 1 of the project. Additionally, we are supporting the development of an application to the American Rescue Plan Act Local Assistance (ARPA) for Stormwater Infrastructure Investment program (LASII) to cover construction of phase 2 activities.

“Wildlands Engineering has provided exceptional professional engineering service to the City of Hendersonville, NC on multiple grant funded projects ranging from stream restoration and green infrastructure design to ecological restoration planning and site analysis. Most recently, Wildlands worked with the City Stormwater Division to develop a detailed grant application and scope of work for a multi-site wetland and stream restoration study that resulted in the award of funds from NCLWF Planning Grant Program.”

 

– Mike Huffman,  Stormwater Administrator | City of Hendersonville, NC