Maryland: Keep Maryland Beautiful Grant Program 2025

The Keep Maryland Beautiful grant program builds the capacity of land trusts and supports other community-based organizations that are increasing civic engagement and the adoption of stewardship practices and developing solutions to local environmental problems.

Donor Name: Chesapeake Bay Trust

State: Maryland

County: All Counties

Type of Grant: Grant

Deadline: 11/15/2024

Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000

Grant Duration: 1 Year

Details:

The Keep Maryland Beautiful Grant Program is a partnership between the Chesapeake Bay Trust and Maryland Environmental Trust (MET), Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA), and the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT).

Proposed projects activate residents and encourage stewardship through education, outreach, and planting activities while increasing awareness of and working towards addressing local environmental problems.

This grant program welcomes applications for projects in the state of Maryland. Applicants can request funds from one of the following tracks.

Track 1: Community Stewardship (up to $5,000)
- Honoring the legacies of Bill James and Margaret Rosch Jones, this track supports community-driven projects that enhance Maryland’s environment and inspire stewardship.
- Eligible projects can include, but are not limited to:
  - Community Engagement: Actively involving residents, particularly youth, in project planning, implementation, and evaluation.
  - Environmental Education: Increasing public awareness of environmental challenges such as litter, stormwater pollution, and climate change.
  - Problem-Solving: Identifying and addressing the root causes of local environmental issues.
  - Hands-On Stewardship: Implementing tangible, measurable projects that improve the environment.
  - Place-Based Learning: Fostering a deep connection to the local community and its natural resources.
Track 2: Capacity Building for Land Trusts Grant (up to $10,000)
- In honor of Janice Hollmann, a visionary leader in Maryland land conservation, this grant supports projects that strengthen land trusts and enhance their ability to protect and steward the state’s natural heritage.
- To build sustainable land trusts by increasing organizational capacity, implementing best practices, fostering public support for conservation, and supporting the long term stewardship of permanently protected lands.
  - “Organizational capacity” is defined as activities that strengthen an organization to help it better fulfill its mission. Organizations that are strong and healthy are more effective in carrying out their missions and are more consistent and sustainable partners.
- Eligible Project Categories:
  - Strategic Land Conservation: Foster partnerships and collaboration among land trusts to achieve statewide conservation goals. Projects should demonstrate innovative partnerships and a clear alignment with local, regional or statewide conservation priorities.
  - Enhanced Land and Easement Stewardship: Develop and implement innovative approaches to improve the care of protected lands. Projects should address the stewardship gap and enhance a land trust’s capacity to monitor and manage its portfolio of protected lands.
  - Land Trust Organizational Strengthening: Build strong, effective land trusts through capacity building initiatives. Projects may focus on board development, staff training, financial sustainability, or implementing Land Trust Alliance Standards and Practices.
Track 3: Tree Planting on Agricultural Lands (up to $50,000)
- Examples of project types include but are not limited to:
  - Tree planting and reforestation projects;
  - Establishing, enhancing and/or preserving riparian buffers; and/or
  - Creating, enhancing and/or preserving larger contiguous tracts of forest.