LINCOLN- Last Thursday, the Nebraska Environmental Trust voted to award nearly $20.5 million in grants to 49 projects, ranging from recycling and groundwater monitoring programs to restoring streams and marshes. Last year, the agency only awarded $11 million in grants for 23 projects, which was half of all available funds. Ungranted funds from last year were later shifted to a state water resources fund through a proposal by Gov. Pillen, which drew heaps of criticism.

This year, the Trust received 80 applications for grants, of which 69 were deemed eligible. The 49 highest-scoring projects were then granted funding by the Trust. One of these involved a $297,204 grant to the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, which is currently seeking to open a "tribal national park" in the southeast corner of Nebraska.

Trust Board members said during a meeting that a "process improvement" initiative undertaken by the agency to attract more applicants has helped to clarify which grant applications were eligible and which are most worthy of funding. Trust Board member Josh Andersen, who also heads the committee that scored the grants, said he still hopes more groups will apply for grants during the next award cycle.

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