The Maryland Departments of Natural Resources, Transportation, and Agriculture, along with the Chesapeake Bay Trust, are partnering to accept applications for this year’s Keep Maryland Beautiful Grants program. About $327,000 is available for this year’s grant round. These grants are offered annually to volunteer groups, nonprofit organizations, communities, and land trusts in Maryland to support environmental education projects, community stewardship, and the protection of natural resources in urban and rural areas. Applications for funding will be accepted from September 6 through November 15. Awards will be announced in March 2025.
Keep Maryland Beautiful grants include:
- Community stewardship grants for volunteer groups, nonprofits, local governments, and schools;
- Capacity building grants for Maryland’s land trusts; and
- Grants for nonprofits to implement forestry projects on agricultural land.
Funding for the Keep Maryland Beautiful Grants is provided by the Maryland Environmental Trust, a unit of the Department of Natural Resources; the Department of Transportation; and the Department of Agriculture.
“I look forward to yet another impactful year of grantmaking with this team of partners,” said Maryland Environmental Trust Director John Turgeon. “The Keep Maryland Beautiful program always funds truly inspiring projects, and I am excited to see what applications are submitted for this round!”
Keep Maryland Beautiful was assigned to Maryland Environmental Trust at its creation by the state’s legislature in 1967. The nonprofit Chesapeake Bay Trust administers the program’s grant application and award process.
“From neighborhood cleanups to rain gardens to tree plantings on agricultural lands, Keep Maryland Beautiful invests in community-led projects that together preserve our natural resources for generations to come,” said Jana Davis, Ph.D., president of the Chesapeake Bay Trust. “We are excited to help administer funding through this program to continue to empower stewards across Maryland to protect the environment.”
The following grants are available:
- Community Stewardship Grants of up to $5,000 are awarded to schools, nonprofits, and other community organizations whose missions are centered upon directly engaging community members (especially children and young adults) in environmental education and stewardship. These grants also support organizations that demonstrate active engagement as defenders of the environment by developing innovative solutions to local environmental problems.
- Capacity Building for Land Trusts Grants of up to $10,000 are awarded to Maryland land trusts to increase capacity, support programming and innovation, and foster stronger, better-connected land trusts that will protect natural resources and enhance the lives of residents and generations to come.
- Aileen Hughes Grant of up to $5,000 is awarded to an individual representing a Maryland land trust for outstanding leadership, partnership, and innovation in a conservation project or organization development.
- Tree Planting on Agricultural Land Grants of up to $50,000 are awarded to nonprofits to implement reforestation or afforestation projects on qualifying agricultural land to support Maryland’s efforts in planting and maintaining 5 million trees by 2031.
Last year’s awards included 18 grants totaling $236,000 for projects in 12 Maryland counties and Baltimore City. The list of the 2024 award recipients with project descriptions is available online.