Examples of the kinds of projects that would be eligible for support include, but are not limited to, innovative projects that would: • Advance land protection and ecological management projects reflecting the two primary themes of the Resilient Lands Initiative – reducing the impacts of climate change and addressing environmental justice inequities. • Increase resilience of soil and water resources to the impacts of climate change such as innovative forest or farm management including the use of biochar and renewable heat and energy projects; • Organize local working groups to carry out grass roots conservation projects; • Assist forest and farm businesses to make them more sustainable and viable; • Implement projects to reduce stream bank erosion and help make watersheds more resilient to climate change including installation of larger culverts to accommodate increased stormwater runoff and fish passage needs; • Implement impactful programs to control invasive plant species on farms, forests and conservation land in rural, suburban and urban settings; provide technical assistance for sustainable management of farms and forests in innovative ways; create demonstration projects that can be utilized by average farm and forest owners; • Assist the Mass Envirothon program as needed and to help expand it into neighborhood schools serving environmental justice populations and to increase the future stability of the program; • Promote healthy soil through new initiatives as outlined in the recently released Healthy Soils Action Plan like demonstration projects, educational outreach, or incentives for best management practices; • Assist urban neighborhoods in expanding tree canopy to reduce urban heat island effects, accommodate increased stormwater runoff, and conserve energy...
