Tropical Wings, Inc. will award grants of up to $1000 to individuals, businesses and organizations in the St. Croix River Watershed to preserve and restore migratory bird habitat. If you or your organization is interested in applying please complete and return the following by March 15, 2022.
Projects will be selected by April 15, and we ask all grant recipients to send a representative to our Bird Celebration the second weekend in May in Hudson, WI to formally receive your funds. If we need to change to a virtual celebration, we ask you to join us virtually. We also ask for a representative to attend our fall migration celebration in October to give a short presentation describing your project progress and answer questions from attendees. If we decide to do a virtual fall celebration we will ask for a PowerPoint slide on your project.
Nearly 3 billion birds have been lost in North America since 1970. One way to reverse this trend is through habitat restoration. From native plant gardening in bird friendly backyards to large landscape projects, every effort contributes to healthier bird populations.
Grants will be awarded based on efforts that directly benefit migratory birds and their habitat. Priority will be given to projects on lands that are permanently protected for conservation, including private lands with conservation easements (see below for resources).
Preferred Criteria that contribute to a greater positive potential impact for birds include:
- Restoring a diversity of native plants along migratory corridors (birds follow river corridors and use upland areas for stopover sites),
- Restoring prairies with a native shrub component and a higher percentage of forbs to grasses
- large blocks of protected habitat within or nearby the project
- Ongoing, long term management practices to control invasive species
Apply
Please return the grant application to:
info@tropicalwings.org OR mail to Tropical Wings, Inc., 2107 Chestnut Dr., Hudson, Wisconsin, 54016
- Organization Name:
- Contact Name:
- Mailing Address:
- Phone Number:
- Email:
- Brief (maximum TWO SHORT sentences) overview of project:
- Narrative: (please write a brief narrative – 300 words or less – on how you would use the funds, why it is important and the impact you hope to achieve for migratory bird habitat)
The directors of Tropical Wings, Inc reserve the right to use their discretion, including rejecting any or all applications.
Resources:
- Native Plants/Backyard landscaping for birds – http://www.bringingnaturehome.net/
- Conservation Easements:Minnesota https://mnland.org/, Wisconsin https://www.landmarkwi.org/Cornell Lab of Ornithology https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/bring-birds-back/
