The GRO1000 Gardens and Green Spaces Grant Awards Program, an initiative of The United States Conference of Mayors and the Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, promotes mayoral leadership in the development of greenscapes across the nation. Every municipality in the United States may nominate one new or one substantial addition to an existing public garden, edible garden, or green space within their community. All garden and green space projects initiated by city governments are eligible, including projects developed with community garden groups and other community partners. The four focal areas of the GRO1000 program include: Outdoor Play - creating natural playgrounds for youth, Urban Revitalization - transforming vacant and abandoned properties, Nature Gardens - increasing pollinator-friendly gardens and landscapes, and Food Deserts - providing access to fresh healthy foods. Four winning cities will each receive a total of $40,000 in monetary funds and products. The application deadline is November 15, 2016. Visit the GRO1000 website to learn more about the program and to submit an online application.

Applications are being accepted for the Colorado Corn FFA Grant program. The National FFA Organization was founded in 1928, and, with its focus on middle school and high school classes that promote and support ag education, is the largest of the career and technical student organizations in U.S. schools. For a fourth year, the Colorado Corn Administrative Committee is accepting applications from FFA chapters around the state as part of its Colorado Corn FFA Grant Program. The Colorado Corn FFA Grant Program assists FFA chapters in Colorado on projects that lack funding within their school district's budget. The deadline to apply is November 15th, 2016. Click HERE for more information.

Conservation Alliance Invites Nominations for Conservation Projects. The Conservation Alliance is a group of outdoor businesses that seeks to protect threatened wild places throughout North America for their habitat and recreational values. As a group of outdoor industry companies, alliance recognizes its responsibility to help protect the wild lands and waterways on which our customers recreate and wildlife thrives. Grants of up to $50,000 will be awarded for projects that seek to secure permanent and quantifiable protection of a specific wild land or waterway. Priority will be given to landscape-scale projects that have a clear benefit for habitat. In addition, campaigns should engage grassroots citizen action in support of the conservation effort and must have a clear recreational benefit. Nominations must be received no later than November 1, 2016. Upon review, selected nominees will be invited to submit full proposals by December 1, 2016. Visit the Conservation Alliance website for program guidelines, information about how to be nominated by an alliance member, and application procedures.

The Bureau of Reclamation will begin to provide funding for the Cooperative Watershed Management Program (CWMP) Phase II watershed management projects in fiscal year (FY) 2017, to support local watershed groups in implementing collaborative solutions to water management issues. All funding will be awarded through a competitive process, using established criteria. The FY 2017 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for CWMP Phase II projects will be posted to grants.gov in January 2017. For information on FY 2017 funding opportunities for the CWMP, please see Reclamation’s website at www.usbr.gov.