Micro-Grants Awarded to 23 Farms & Small Businesses
April 24, 2017
By: Jackie Bowen - Adirondack Council Conservation Fellow
Cows on Tim Rowland's Farm
Photo by Tim Rowland
The Adirondack Council has just concluded its second grant cycle for the Cool Farms/Healthy Park Micro-Grants Program, and what a successful second year it was!
Totals
With the help of a review committee, the Council selected a total of 23 micro-grant awardees for 2017, nearly doubling the number of recipients from 2016! This means that 16 farms and 7 small businesses will receive a combined amount of over $27,000.
Background
The micro-grant program was started in 2016 to proactively address climate change by funding local projects that focused on transitioning the Adirondack region to a low-carbon economy.
The goal was to support local, Adirondack farmers as they created and implemented new processes, technology, and more, to help reduce their carbon emissions. Our local farms are on the front lines of climate change, and they need all of the help they can get as they address issues and make decisions that affect us all. Last year, a dozen farms received micro-grants to support an array of projects, including a solar-powered watering system.
After last year’s success, we chose to broaden the scope of our program to include both farms in the Champlain Valley of the Adirondacks and small (non-farm) businesses within five central Adirondack towns. We did this while retaining the goal of supporting local farms and businesses that want to help the Adirondack region transition to a low-carbon economy. These local establishments and operations play integral roles in our local communities, economies, history, and environment, and the Cool Farms/Healthy Parks Micro-Grants helps them achieve these ends.
2017’s Awardees
The Cool Farms/Healthy Park Micro-Grants will help fund the following projects:
Fences at Craigarden
Photo by Craigarden
- Ben Wever Farm: $500 to purchase beekeeping space & equipment;
- Craigardan: $1,200 to build four solar electric chargers to power electric fences;
- DaCy Meadow Farm: $1,500 to purchase, site, construct, and utilize a hydraulic ram pump (an energy free watering system);
- Echo Farm: $1,500 to build solar powered irrigation for vegetables & livestock;
- Essex Farm: $2,000 to plant four types of legumes for carbon sequestration;
- Essex Farm Institute: $1,500 to host a carbon-related symposium;
- Full and By Farm: $1,000 for maintenance and upgrades to horse-drawn farming equipment;
Harvesting at Rehoboth Homestead
Photo by Rehoboth Homestead - Harris Family Farm: $1,000 to purchase horse-drawn hay wagon;
- The Hub on the Hill: $1,000 to implement phase II of a solar installation project;
- Juniper Hill Farm: $600 for the construction of steam autoclave for mushroom spawn sterilization;
- Oregano Flats Farm: $1,055.25 to purchase “phase change material” to improve thermal mass for solar gain;
- Reber Rock Farm: $1,500 to purchase composting thermometer and other tools;
- Rehoboth Homestead: $1,500 for the installation of a 10.44kw photovoltaic system;
- Tangleroot Farm: $1,000 to purchase and install a
Photo by Adirondack Hotelhigh tunnel for a passively heated growing space; - Tim Rowland: $1,000 to build solar powered fencing & watering system, and tree planting along Ausable River;
- Wildwork Farm: $500 to install a moveable greenhouse;
- Adirondac Rafting Company: $1,500 to insulate doorways;
- Adirondack Hotel: $1,500 for insulation and LED lighting;
- Cloud-Splitter Outfitters: $1,500 for the installation of solar;
- Cv-Wireless: $1,000 to expand to more local farms in order to provide them with internet access;
- Hoot Owl Lodge: $1,299 for spray foam insulation;
- Scoops Great Ice Cream & More: $500 to install two new air conditioning systems; and,
- The Inn at Santanoni:
Photo by Cloud-Splitter Outfitters$1,500 for energy efficient appliance and insulation updates.
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Thanks We want to give a big thanks to our committee of advisors to the Cool Farms/Healthy Park Micro Grants program including the American Farmland Trust, Open Space Institute, Adirondack North Country Association, Cornell Cooperative Extension and Adirondack Foundation. Want to help? In addition to grants from the Klipper Family Fund, the Lookout Fund and International Paper, the Council supports the micro-grants program through the sale of “Cool Farms/Healthy Park” Carbon Reduction Certificates. The purchase of these certificates allows donors to fund future micro-grants help efforts to meet lower carbon pollution standards. For every $25 donated, the Adirondack Council will multiply the positive impact of the micro-grants while permanently and legally retiring one carbon emission allowance from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Every allowance retired equals a ton of pollution that power plants will never be allowed to emit. The proceeds of these certificate sales will help replenish the micro-grants fund and support the continued purchase and retirement of pollution allowances while supporting local Adirondack farming and small businesses. Want to help support our micro-grants program? Purchase a Cool Farms/Healthy Park Carbon Reduction Certificate, available HERE. Would you like to comment on what you've read or viewed? We'd love to hear from you. Please click to send us a message.
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Jackie is the Council's Conservation Fellow. She has a Master’s Degree in Environmental Law and Policy, with a certificate in Land Use Law, from Vermont Law School. During her year and a half program she interned in Washington, D.C. at American Rivers where she worked with the Government Relations team to track legislation, identify federal funding sources and research tribal water rights.
