Ecosystem grant ideas subject of meeting

The next Fox River Ecosystem Partnership's bi-monthly meeting will be at 1 p.m. Nov. 14 at the Barrington Hills village hall, 112 Algonquin Road, Barrington Hills. The focus of the meeting will be the presentation of preliminary grant proposal ideas for the C2000 FY09 Grant cycle.

C2000 is a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the grant program awards ecosystem project grants in the areas of habitat, land acquisition, education and outreach, planning, resource economics and research. Since the grant program was established in 1999, $34.9 million has been awarded statewide. The Fox River watershed has received 58 grants totaling more than $4.4 million during this time.

All grant proposals for projects within the Fox River watershed need to go through FREP's review process, beginning with the meeting Nov. 14. Each individual, group, organization, or government body that would like to pursue a FY09 grant should have a representative attend the meeting and present an informal, five-minute overview of their grant idea. Those interested in presenting a grant proposal project should e-mail foxriverinfo@comcast.net to be put on the presentation list.

More information can be found at foxriverecosystem. org/c2000_main.htm.

Each project proposal will be assigned to the appropriate committee for further consultation and assistance in preparation. After proposals are submitted to IDNR, FREP will be involved in project review and ranking.

Presenters should bring a one-page description with contact information to submit at the time of the presentation. Maps and visuals of the proposed project are helpful but not required. The grant application is now available online, though the application form does not need to be completed at this time. The deadline for the online grant application is Feb. 29.

Details on the grant program and the application can be found at www.dnr.state.il.us/orep/c2000/ecosystem/fy09/index.htm.

The Fox River Ecosystem Partnership, established in 1997, is one of 41 ecosystem partnerships in the state under the auspices of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Its territory is the entire Fox River watershed, covering 1,720 square miles and situated within Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, Lee, and McHenry counties. For details, visit www.foxriverecosystem.org.

For details on this meeting, or the Fox River Ecosystem Partnership, call Becky Hoag at (630) 482-9157.