Governor Tate Reeves issued the following statement.
Governor Tate Reeves today announced that the Mississippi Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund (MOSTF) has opened a new application cycle utilizing $15 million in funding appropriated during the 2023 Legislative Session. The MOSTF Board of Trustees is now accepting grant applications through October 31, 2023.MOSTF awarded almost $10 million in funding from the 2022 Legislative Session for 21 outdoor conservation and recreation projects across the state during its first round of awards in February 2023. This funding is now providing vital assistance to state agencies, municipalities, and non-government organizations to complete over $49.7 million in conservation and nature-based outdoor recreation projects over the next two years. Thanks to additional funding appropriated in the 2023 Legislative Session, there is an opportunity to fund even more projects that may not have been funded in the first round and to consider new proposals as well.
“I am excited about the progress made in short order by the MOSTF Board of Trustees,” said Governor Tate Reeves. “These investments will strengthen communities around Mississippi, enhance our state’s $8 billion outdoor recreation economy, and help support more than 79,000 jobs. I was proud to have signed legislation creating the Fund, and I’m proud of the work we’re doing to preserve Mississippi’s natural beauty and resources. Mississippians overwhelmingly support investing funds to improve Mississippi’s outdoor conservation and recreation efforts, and we’ll continue to do so.”
The MOSTF program seeks projects that can bring outside matching fund commitments to assist with overall project contributions. In the first round of awarded projects, matching sources committed $3.19 for every $1 funded by MOSTF. Ed Penny, Mississippi Outdoor Stewardship Coalition President, says “These competitive grants, as demonstrated in the first round of projects, will include a diversity of activities that meet the goals of improving state parks and outdoor recreation trails, improving access to public waters and lands, and preserving, enhancing, and restoring our native wildlife and fish resources and their critical habitats all across Mississippi.
MOSTF Executive Director, Ricky Flynt, encourages interested entities to carefully review the qualifications for application proposals and the application scoring criteria prior to submitting any application. Flynt says, “All applications will be considered, but there is a clear direction placed in the Mississippi Outdoor Stewardship Act (2022) that prioritizes nature-based recreation and education, wildlife and fisheries conservation, and access to public lands and water. We want our applicants to understand the goals and priorities of the MOSTF before they commit the time and effort required to submit an application.”
Applications may only be accepted from state agencies, municipalities, and non-government organizations. Interested applicants can go to the MOSTF Website at https://www.dfa.ms.gov/most to review the Notice to Applicants and the Application Scoring Criteria. Applications must be submitted online. Applicants are required to register to create a user account. The account will allow the applicant to save their application work, upload documents, budget sheets, project plans, photos, and other supportive information prior to submission. The deadline for application submissions is October 31, 2023. Following application reviews, the MOSTF Board will score each application and projects will be ranked prior to being considered for funding. Awarded projects will be announced prior to March 1, 2024.
For more information about the Mississippi Outdoor Stewardship Trust Program go to www.dfa.ms.gov/most .
5 comments:
Can Chowke tear down another library and use these funds to build another inclusive green space?
Follow the money "Restoration or enhancement on privately owned working agricultural lands and forests"
There are no outdoor stewards residing in Jackson, MS
As Exec. Dir. of the MS Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund, I would like to respond to one of the above comments regarding the use of MOSTF Funds on privately-owned lands. There absolutely are circumstances in which there is public benefit of using MOSTF funding on private lands. Such as, situations where public lands are trying to manage for critical wildlife species, critical wildlife habitats, managing nuisance wildlife, or non-native invasive plants or trees and those public lands. In these cases, there are adjacent private lands to public lands that are additionally affected but those landowners do not have the funding to conduct likewise management. These MOSTF funds could potentially be used to assist private landowners in the joint efforts to manage these issues, therefore providing a public benefit by expanding the footprint of management on a larger scale. MOSTF funding will never be used on private lands unless there is a clear and obvious public benefit. I hope this information is beneficial to understanding the purpose of MOSTF funding opportunities on private lands. Ricky Flynt-MOSTF Executive Director
good job, Mr. Flynt
Post a Comment