Santa Barbara Foundation (SBF) has announced its Conservation, Environment, and Public Trails Grants (CEPT) for 2024. The grants, totaling nearly $610,000, will support 26 nonprofit organizations across Santa Barbara County in their innovative pursuits to preserve the region’s natural resources, ensure equitable access to trail systems, and promote environmental sustainability.
Young participants in the Wilderness Youth Project have fun walking across a stream. (Courtesy photo)CEPT grants announced in December of 2024 support projects scheduled to conclude in 2025.
The CEPT grants program, made possible by the Hollis Norris fund and first introduced in 2021, aligns with the Santa Barbara Foundation’s history of supporting environmental conservation and restoration projects, beginning with one of the most impactful environmental events to the ecological movement, the blowout of Union Oil’s Platform A in the Santa Barbara Channel on Jan. 28, 1969.
Los Padres Forest Association Inc. is one of the recipients of Conservation, Environment, and Public Trails Grants for 2024. (Los Padres Forest Association Inc. photo)The 2024 grant recipients support a range of community-based restoration efforts, from preserving and expanding pollinator habitats in Carpinteria to rehabilitating fire- and storm-damaged trails in Santa Ynez Valley, Lompoc, Figueroa Mountain and surrounding areas.
Additional notable initiatives include reef restoration project in Goleta Bay, watershed and beach clean-ups throughout the Central Coast, and the reintroduction of native plant species to local parks and trails throughout Santa Barbara County.
“We are so happy to be able — in collaboration with our donors — to leverage these funds to support our nonprofit partners working to maintain and create equitable access to our wonderful natural resources for all residents across Santa Barbara County,” said Jenny Kearns, Santa Barbara Foundation senior director of grantmaking.
Grant awards are determined through a thorough and collaborative review process involving foundation staff and community-based experts, ensuring each funded project aligns with Santa Barbara Foundation’s mission to support local environmental sustainability and accessibility.
Find information about this and other Santa Barbara Foundation grant programs at https://sbfoundation.org/nonprofits/grant-opportunities/.
2024 Conservation, Environment and Public Trails Grant Recipients:
Boy Scouts of America
California Rangeland Trust
Channel Islands Restoration
Community Environmental Council
Environmental Defense Center
Explore Ecology
Fish Reef Project
Gaviota Coast Conservancy
Lompoc Valley Parks Recreation & Pool Foundation Inc.
Los Padres Forest Association Inc.
Midland School Corporation
People for Leisure and Youth Inc.
Pollinator Habitat Project
Runners for Public Lands
Sage Trail Alliance
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Inc.
Santa Barbara Channel Keeper
Santa Barbara County Trails Council
Santa Barbara Zoological Foundation
Santa Ynez Valley Botanic Garden Foundation Inc.
The Land Trust for Santa Barbara County
True Nature Society DBA Quail Springs
University of California Santa Barbara
White Buffalo Land Trust
Wilderness Youth Project Incorporated
Your Children’s Trees
To learn more about Santa Barbara Foundation, visit https://sbfoundation.org/.