OWEB is now accepting online applications for the Fall 2024 Open Solicitation Grant Offering for the following grant types:
- Restoration (25% match is required)
- Technical Assistance (NEW: 5% match is required; no cap on requests)
- Engagement (NEW: 5% match is required)
Applicants are encouraged to consider the impacts of this year’s extensive wildfires on native fish and wildlife habitat and watershed processes and to contact their regional program representative to discuss potential restoration projects in burned areas.
OWEB anticipates making a combined total of over $12 million available for Restoration, Technical Assistance, and Engagement grants through this solicitation.
Change to Match Requirements
Recognizing that matching funds are more difficult to obtain for Technical Assistance and Engagement projects and are sometimes a barrier to participation in OWEB grants, the OWEB board recently reduced the match requirement for these grant types. OWEB will now require a minimum 5% match contribution, which may include in-kind services, for qualifying Technical Assistance and Engagement applications.
While the board reduced match to $1 in the previous open solicitation, legal research since then indicated that more significant match is required to remain consistent with state law. State law requires that a Conservation Grant Fund recipient provide a “matching contribution from other program funds, in-kind services or other investment in the project” (ORS 541.958(1)).
The 25% match requirement for Restoration remains in place.
How to Apply
Grant applications are due by 5 pm on Monday, October 28, 2024, and must be submitted via OWEB’s online grant application. The OWEB Board plans to make grant awards at their April 2025 meeting.
Please click on the links to the grant type of interest (above) for application requirements and login information. If you already have an Online Application login, you may access the application directly.
These grants support voluntary efforts by Oregonians to protect and restore healthy watersheds–including actions supporting the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds and the Oregon Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy.
Funding is from Oregon Lottery revenue, federal Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Funds through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and revenue from the sale of Salmon License Plates.
Questions
If you have questions about applying for an OWEB grant, please contact the Regional Program Representative for your region. If you are new to OWEB and our grant program, please visit OWEB’s website.
Thank you for your interest in watershed restoration and protection!
Eric Williams Grant Program Manager
George Custer lives in Oakridge with his wife Sayre. George is a former smokejumper from his hometown of Cave Junction, a former captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. and ran a construction company in Southern California. George assumed the volunteer duties as the Editor of the Highway 58 Herald in 2022. He loves riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, building all things wood, and playing drums on the weekends in his office.
