FINDING, APPLYING, & ADMINISTERING GRANTS
Many programs are available to fund your program beyond the Countywide Action Plan Block Grants: The National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, State Conservation Commission, and Department of Conservation & Natural Resources are just a few of the organizations that offer grants you may be eligible to receive. HRG has vast knowledge of the many funding programs for water and land conservation initiatives. We can help you identify the ones that best fit your plan, assemble a competitive application, and manage the paperwork and administration that often comes with the money you receive.
IDENTIFYING RESOURCES & TARGETING WHERE THEY’LL MAKE THE MOST IMPACT
County staff are often stretched thin. They may not have sufficient time and resources to commit to existing environmental initiatives, let alone allocate time and resources for new ones. HRG can you help you coordinate existing staff to maximize their efficiency, and we can help you work with state and federal agencies to get support for new staff to assist with implementation.
But – even with the right team in place – it can sometimes be hard to know where to start. Your Countywide Action Plan may include dozens of ideas to improve stream health. Unfortunately, you don’t have the time and resources to do them all at once, and you have nutrient and sediment load reduction targets to hit if you want to avoid regulation. Our experts can analyze the data and pinpoint a few key areas where investment will have the biggest impact.
LEVERAGING OUR PARTNERS TO CUT COSTS & MAXIMIZE RESULTS
We’re currently assisting 12 counties with their Countywide Action Plan. We can identify opportunities to work together and share resources in order to take advantage of economies of scale, maximize the results of our initiatives, and lower the cost burden on each individual county. We also have a large partner network that cooperates with our clients, including non-profits, municipalities, volunteer organizations, private sector businesses, agriculture organizations, and conservation groups. These partnerships help our clients use their resources in the most efficient ways. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Foundation of Pennsylvania Watersheds, Penn State Extension, Clear Water Conservancy, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and numerous local watershed associations are just a few of the partners we work with on a regular basis.
ESTABLISHING TRUST WITH THE AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITY
Farmers will play an important role in meeting water quality targets, and their participation is crucial to the success of the Countywide Action Plan program. We’ve done extensive outreach with the agricultural community, and we’ve learned that one-on-one farmer outreach is the most effective way to establish partnerships. It helps that we have people on our team with farming experience of their own. They know the needs and challenges farmers face firsthand, and they know how to craft partnerships that have mutual benefit. We also work with the Lancaster Farmland Trust, an organization with unparalleled ability to build trust and cooperation among Amish and Mennonite farmers.
OFFERING A UNIQUE COMBINATION OF TECHNICAL, ANALYTICAL & ADMINISTRATIVE SKILLS
Implementing a Countywide Action Plan requires a broad range of skills. You need to master technical skills like GIS analysis, BMP verification, and the calculation of nutrient and sediment loads, but you also need to be good at resource planning and coordination, public outreach, analytical thinking, grant application, and administrative reporting. Few firms can help in all of those areas, but HRG is one of those firms. If you work with us, you have one contact you can turn to for everything you need.
