FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Sheila Johnson
Public Information Officer, Nebraska Environmental Trust
Phone: (402) 471-5409
Fax: (402) 471-8233
sheila.johnson@net.ne.gov
Lincoln, NE –January 18, 2008– The Nebraska Environmental Trust will hold a public hearing at 1:45 pm in the Ferguson House (700 S. 16th Street, Lincoln, NE) on February 7, 2008, to revise the rating scale for the Public Information and Education (PIE) Grant applications. Proposed changes to the ratings scale can be viewed on the Trust’s website (www.environmentaltrust.org). The public is welcome to attend the hearing and testify or provide written testimony to the Trust Board by submitting such testimony to the Trust by February 6, 2008.
The Trust suspended the PIE grants in 2007 and will reinstitute them in September 2008. The proposed changes to the rating criteria better reflect education projects. The Trust hopes the changes will strengthen the projects and provide a better evaluation tool for selecting projects for funding. The PIE grants are limited to $2500 and are awarded quarterly. They were created as a minigrant program for public information and education projects. They support the presentation and dissemination of information and perspectives that stimulate enhanced environmental stewardship in any category eligible for Trust funding. This grant program seeks to expand dialogue on important current conservation topics and to provide information on emerging or highly useful conservation methods.
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