The Grant Program

The Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program provides financial and technical assistance to private landowners who want to improve habitat on their land for rare or protected species. Interested landowners should contact Laura Fogo, Fish and Wildlife Biologist at US Fish and Wildlife Service Asheville Ecological Services Office, laura_fogo@fws.org.

program. This program awards grants to private landowners on a yearly cycle, prioritizing the unique properties of the site, the landowner’s commitment to the restoration, and the ecosystem value of potential improvements. Her project was awarded a substantial grant to completely daylight the stream, and to cover the landscape alongside it with restorative plantings. The permaculture plan that Sheri had worked with local designers to make for the site, including native, edible, pollinator-friendly, and soil-enhancing plant species, was a contributing factor in winning the grant.

“This site once was a mushy swamp. But now, I can walk about my property and hear water flowing everywhere,” Sheri remarked. Restoring streams on private property offers myriad ecosystem services downstream. Allowing the stream to flow freely allows greater habitat connectivity and passage for aquatic species. The newly planted riparian buffer along the stream — a critical restoration portion of any awarded grant through this program — reduces sedimentation downstream, supports pollinators, and creates prime feeding ground for rare bat species. Downstream, habitat is better preserved for a federally endangered mussel species, the Appalachian Elktoe.

The three principles of permaculture are care for earth, care for people and fair share. Everywhere along the new stream there are native elderberries, willows, and more. Rare fish were recently spotted in the once-dead stream for the first time in years. Apples, pears, nut trees, and berries now dot the hillside that was once just grass. Eventually Sheri hopes to set up a farm stand by the road to share what the land has grown.

Leigha Dickens heads up sustainability and building science at Deltec Homes. She is a former Green Built Homes program manager, HERS Rater, and alumna of the UNCA Physics department.