Annual Jones County Grant Review Meeting
Have you heard of REAP? Even if you haven’t you have been touched by the amazing projects REAP has supported and funded throughout Iowa. This historic program has been supporting Iowa's natural resources for over three decades. Since its inauguration on May 27, 1989, REAP (the Resource Enhancement and Protection program) has helped fund the protection of many of Iowa’s special natural and cultural resources. Each year REAP provides money for projects in the form of distributions and grants through these opportunities listed on the Iowa DNR REAP page at https://www.iowadnr.gov/Conservation/REAP/REAP-Grants
City Park and Open Spaces: Available to cities through competitive grants. Parkland expansion and multi-purpose recreation developments, like trails, are typical projects funded under this REAP program.
County Conservation: Available to counties, if they are dedicating at least 22¢ per $1,000 of the assessed value of taxable property in the county for county conservation purposes, through competitive grants. This money is available to counties for land easements or acquisition, capital improvements, stabilization and protection of resources, and environmental education, etc.
Private/Public Open Space Acquisition: This money is available for cost-share land acquisitions with private organizations. The cost-share arrangement entails 75% of the acquisition costs coming from REAP and the other 25% coming from private contributions. The DNR owns and manages the property that is jointly purchased.
Conservation Education Program (CEP): This money is available to grantees for programs that teach people of all ages about their environment and how to make intelligent, informed decisions about its well-being.
Historical Resource Development Program: Grants are available to private individuals and businesses, as well as to non-profit organizations and agencies of Certified Local Governments. Grants under this program support a wide variety of projects that fall under three basic categories: (1) historic preservation; (2) library and archives; and (3) museums.
Roadside Vegetation: This money is available for state, county, and city management of roadside vegetation. The establishment of attractive gateways into cities is also becoming a popular use for this money. Demonstration and research projects are typically funded under this program in an effort to learn and share new approaches to vegetation management.
Soil and Water Enhancement: These funds are available to landowners for soil and water conservation and enhancement projects and practices. Project money is directed towards protecting the state's surface and ground water resources from point and non-point sources of contamination. Practices money is directed towards reforestation, woodland protection and enhancement, wildlife habitat preservation and enhancement, protection of highly erodible soils, and water quality protection.
Grant applications for City Park/Open Space and County Conservation grant applications are required to get comments from their local county REAP committee. The Jones County REAP Committee Grant Review Meeting will be held on Thursday, August 8th beginning at 10 AM. Interested individuals are invited to attend. Members of the Jones County REAP Committee will meet in the Central Park Nature Centers Lower-Level Meeting Room to review and comment on proposed 2024 Jones County REAP Project applications. The meeting agenda will include the election of Jones County REAP Committee officers, review of grants being submitted with input and recommendations on any proposed projects, and updates on any recent Jones County REAP Grants awarded.
To date, over $4 million REAP dollars have benefited Jones County historic preservation, native roadside vegetation management, soil and water conservation, community trails, land management, city parks, and county conservation board area acquisition and management. For a downloadable information sheet on REAP projects in Jones County go to https://www.iowadnr.gov/conservation/reap/projects-by-county For more information on REAP grant funding opportunities visit https://www.iowadnr.gov/Conservation/REAP/REAP-Grants
