Eligible applicants for the PIC program:

1. Community-based organizations with nonprofit status; 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations.
2. Community groups without nonprofit status may apply for an EMSWCD grant with a fiscal sponsor. A fiscal sponsor is an eligible nonprofit organization that provides organizational infrastructure, insurance coverage and administrative support for managing a grant. If a group has neither federal tax exemption nor a fiscal sponsor, please contact us before applying.
3. Government agencies or educational institutions.
4. Native American tribes.

Projects must meet these criteria to receive PIC funding:

1. Must be located within EMSWCD’s service area (Multnomah County lying east of the Willamette River centerline) or demonstrate direct benefit to EMSWCD residents. Click here for more information about the district and a map showing our district boundary.
2. Grantees (and/or their fiscal sponsors) are required to carry insurance coverage and are responsible for the proper use, accounting, and reporting of grant funds. EMSWCD reports grant distributions to the IRS.
3. Must advance the mission of the EMSWCD “To Help People Care for Land and Water.”
4. Must address one or more of the Grant Program Goals (PIC 2024 Handbook p. 5).

Eligible project types:

1. On-the-ground restoration or conservation project. Examples: stream bank revegetation, fish and wildlife habitat restoration and/or enhancement, weed control.
2. Sustainable agriculture or gardening project. Examples: establishing or maintaining school or community gardens and/or orchards, native gathering gardens, composting systems, irrigation systems, and farm intern programs.
3. Water quality project. Examples: parking lot bioswale, rain garden, tree planting, stream restoration and trash clean up.
4. Hands-on learning about healthy soil and water, wildlife, and climate change for youth and/or adults. Examples: nature education, farm and garden education, workshops or classroom programs, training, and signage.
5. Expanding equitable access to nature education, conservation, and sustainable ag/garden projects and programs. Examples: development of projects or programs designed for communities of color and/or other historically marginalized people, retaining and restoring cultural and community traditions related to land and water, partnership development, staff and board equity and inclusion (DEI) training.
6. Environmental health projects in Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other underserved and/or environmentally impacted communities; low-income communities. Examples: increase access to sustainably grown and culturally relevant food and plants, toxics/pesticide reduction, tree planting and pavement removal to reduce temperatures in developed areas.
7. Design or engineering of a conservation project. Examples: engineering of a soil erosion control project, stream/fish passage restoration, and in-stream habitat improvements.
8. Monitoring project. Examples: tree canopy assessment, evaluation of weed treatment or sediment control methods, and water quality monitoring.

The PIC Grant Program does not fund the following project types:

1. Private businesses and landowners (funding and technical assistance from the EMSWCD may be available under other EMSWCD programs).
2. Rainwater harvesting systems or cisterns unless those components are incidental and subordinate to a larger project.
3. Buildings and capital projects unless these components are incidental and subordinate to a larger project.
4. Capital campaigns.
5. Political campaigns (EMSWCD is statutorily prohibited from supporting such activity).
6. Required mitigation projects.