NRI Partners Awarded Grants Through America the Beautiful Challenge
The Department of Defense's (DoD) Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program recently announced over $141 million in grants through the new America the Beautiful Challenge (ATBC). The 74 new grants will support projects that conserve, restore, and connect habitats for wildlife while improving community and installation resilience across 46 states and three U.S. territories.
The ATBC coordinates funding from multiple Federal agencies and private philanthropy into one competitive grant program. The Federal agencies contributing to the 2023 ATBC include DOD through the REPI Program, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) through the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Forest Service.
At NRI, we partner with REPI to support the dual mission of military readiness and environmental sustainability. The REPI program contributed over $5.2 million to seven different ATBC project locations, including $723K to the Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape in San Antonio, TX where we lead a Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).
We would also like to congratulate the partners of the "Building Resiliency of Longleaf Pine Ecosystems in Southeastern Sentinel Landscapes” proposal that was awarded $2.8M (Partner Contributions - $284K, Department of Interior - $1.7M, and Department of Defense - $814K). This proposal was led by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, the Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability (SERPPAS) Steering Committee State Co-Chair, in coordination with the other State Wildlife Agencies and was supported by SERPPAS, SEAFWA, SECAS, each of the local Sentinel Landscapes and many more. At NRI, we partner with SERPPAS to support the military mission and implement collaborative conservation efforts, and spearheaded a campaign connecting the Texas Longleaf Team to landowners within the historic range of longleaf pine to provide them with the assistance needed to restore longleaf habitat.
Review the full America the Beautiful Challenge announcement from REPI here.