People and Land Awards $1,000,000 in Land-Use Grants

LANSING, Mich.- People and Land (PAL), a funding source for organizations advocating land-use education and decision-making in Michigan, recently awarded more than $1,000,000 in grants. Projects funded by PAL are designed to expand land-use decision-making capacity in rural and suburban communities in Michigan and strengthen statewide discussion about future land-use planning.

Grant recipients and their projects are as follows:

• United Growth for Kent County, “Building a Sustainable, Citizen-Based Coalition,” $85,000


• Michigan Farmland and Community Alliance, “The Public and Private Network for Informed Land Use Decision-Making,” $90,000 


• Michigan State University, “Citizen Planner Program,” $40,000 


• Michigan Integrated Food and Farming Systems, “Michigan Land Use Partners,” $75,000


• Petoskey-Area Open Space Task Force, $80,000


• Huron River Watershed Council, “Protecting Water and Traffic Sheds…to Better Manage Growth at the Rural/Urban Fringe,” $95,000


• Michigan Environmental Council, “Exploring Questions of Density,” $80,420


• Michigan Society of Planning, “Michigan Land-Use Initiative,” $75,000


• Michigan Land Use Institute, “Exploring the Connection Between Schools and Smart Growth,” $90,000


• Central Lake Superior Watershed Partnership, “The Upper Peninsula People and Land Project,” $85,000


• Henrietta Township, “The Future for Rural Land,” $5,000


• Michigan Public Media, “Land Use Reporting and Evaluation by the Great Lakes Radio Consortium,” $70,000


• West Michigan Strategic Alliance, “Creating a Regional Mindset,” $75,000


• Leelanau Conservancy, “Implementing Farmland Preservation in Leelanau County,” $80,000


• Land Information Access Association, “Upper Peninsula Visual Enhancement Plan,” $85,000


• Huron County Community Foundation, “Huron County Coalition for Land and Water Policy Development,” $45,000

More detailed descriptions of each program are listed at the PAL Web site, www.peopleandland.org.

People and Land received more than $4.5 million in grant requests for its third round of funding. However, only $1,000,000 was available.

PAL funded an initial $125,000 round of pilot grants in January 2001 and a second round worth $600,000 in July 2002. Recipients included American Farmland Trust, Barry Conservation District, Central Lake Superior Watershed Partnership, Ecology Center, Michigan Chamber of Commerce, Leelanau Conservancy, Michigan Integrated Food and Farming Systems and Michigan United Conservation Clubs. More information regarding these grants is available on the PAL Web site listed above.

The mission of PAL is to enable people to live in diverse, healthy communities that are environmentally sustainable, economically viable and socially equitable. People and Land is funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and administered by Public Sector Consultants (PSC), a Lansing-based public policy research firm. The PAL Advisory Group is comprised of representatives from several statewide business, environmental and community organizations. Advisory Group members are listed at the PAL Web site mention above.