Land Trust of North Alabama is pleased to announce it has been awarded a $24,000 Restoration and Resilience Grant from the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF), with major funding support from Toyota Motor North America. These funds will support the continued restoration of trails on Monte Sano Nature Preserve. The Land Trust first received a Restoration & Resilience Grant in 2018 for improvements to Bluff Line Trail.

NEEF established the Restoration & Resilience Grant to assist nonprofits conducting restoration and community engagement projects on public lands throughout the U.S. that have been impacted by natural disasters while also making those lands more resilient to future disasters. Through this grant, local land trusts and foundations have the capacity to mobilize community volunteers and educate participants about the importance of their actions and their relationship to the long-term sustainability of local public lands.

“NEEF has a history of partnering with public lands and spaces to ensure their sustainability and integrity for the public and surrounding communities,” said Meri-Margaret Deoudes, president and CEO of NEEF. “We are excited to continue to support these awardees as they work to improve our public lands for all Americans to enjoy.”

The goal of the Land Trust’s previous Bluff Line Trail Reconstruction Project was to return a vital Land Trust trail—damaged by drought and erosion—to a usable and sustainable condition, and use the renovation as an educational experience in sustainable trail building to be used on Land Trust and other public recreation properties, such as Monte Sano State Park. For this second round of Restoration & Resilience Grant funding, the Land Trust will conduct a similar renovation of High Trail, which connects the Land Trust’s Monte Sano Nature Preserve to the Monte Sano State Park trail system. Volunteers including individuals, corporate groups, and partners such as HAMR and Monte Sano State Park will combine efforts to complete the project while also learning about sustainable trail building techniques.

“Our previous NEEF grant project was a learning experience that gave our staff and volunteers the hands-on training they need to apply sustainable trail building techniques to trail projects for Land Trust nature preserves and others. We all benefit from outdoor recreation and along with our partners we’re working to enhance our trails while also preserving them for the future.” said Marie Bostick, Land Trust of North Alabama Executive Director. “We’re grateful for the opportunity to continue improvements on Monte Sano Nature Preserve.”NEEF awards annual grants through a competitive application and review process. For over twenty years, NEEF has partnered with Toyota to provide a variety of grants and awards to support national and regional environmental preservation projects.

For more information on NEEF’s 2020 Restoration & Resilience grant recipients, visit neefusa.org/about-us/neef-announces-awardees-second-round-restoration-resilience-grants.

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About National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF)

NEEF’s vision is that by 2022, 300 million people living in the U.S. actively use environmental knowledge to ensure the wellbeing of the earth and its people. To achieve its vision, NEEF offers science-based, unbiased information through its own communications platforms, as well as a network of trusted professionals and affinity communities that, with their relationships and credibility, amplify environmental messages to national audiences.