The Fox Valley is home to an abundance of natural beauty and the Environmental Stewardship Fund within the Community Foundation continues to support organizations and efforts that increase access and inclusion in the outdoors so more people can enjoy it.

Lime Kiln Trail at High Cliff State Park

The Environmental Stewardship Fund was created in 2006 by 54 generous donors with an interest in supporting environmental projects whose funds were matched by the Community Foundation Board of Directors for a total of $126,000. The fund supports creative, economically feasible and environmentally sound solutions that benefit broad segments of the population with the priorities of access and inclusion, community education and awareness, and the well-being of current and future generations.

Courtesy of Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust: Zimmerman Marsh, Winnebago County

Many of the grants made are small but are done in collaboration with other funds at the Community Foundation and/or other  donors to provide even more impactful support for projects.

Each year, the staff-directed fund makes grants to deserving organizations in collaboration with the efforts of the Community Foundation’s Community Engagement and Donor Services teams who bring forward projects other donors are contributing to or projects that have come through the Community Vision Fund grant application cycle.

In just the last three years, the fund made nine grants totaling $25,927.66. Some of the grants went to support:

• The Heckrodt Wetland Reserve in Menasha, for its Koenig Pond and Observation Deck, which honored Tracey Koenig, one of our area’s leading environmentalists, on her retirement as the organization’s executive director.
• The Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust, which received two grants. One supported technology upgrades, including a volunteer app, and the other for general operations as the organization worked to bridge a funding gap due to the pandemic.
• The Fox Wolf Watershed Alliance, which received a grant to fund a wildlife speaker at their 2023 Fox Wolf Watershed clean-up event.
• The Lime Kiln Trail remediation work at High Cliff State Park. A grant from the fund combined with one from the David L. and Rita E. Nelson Family Fund made the trail safer, protected endangered species and preserved the ecosystem as part of a multi-phase project.

Heckrodt Wetland Reserve

“Heckrodt Wetland Reserve received several grants from the Environmental Stewardship Fund to make nature more accessible to all visitors,” said Executive Director Luke Schiller. “The Koenig Pond and Observation Deck outdoor learning space provides our visitors with the opportunity to see wildlife up close and it also provides an additional interpretive opportunity for our school youth to learn about the importance of wetlands,” he said.

Anyone can donate to the Environmental Stewardship Fund. Supporting an established fund allows new donors to learn more about how the Community Foundation works while supporting a specific interest. Click here to learn how you can become involved.

Thank you to everyone who supports the Environmental Stewardship Fund and making nature more accessible to everyone, educating the community and enhancing our community’s well-being.

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The Environmental Stewardship Fund was established in 2006 to support local projects that help people preserve, enjoy or understand nature better, by furthering the preservation or protection of nature, enhancing the enjoyment of nature and improving public knowledge and awareness of the natural world.

Here are just some of the many recent recipients of grants from the fund:

City of Neenah
College of Menominee Nation
Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region
FC Environmental Learning Campus/Bubolz Nature Preserve
Fox Cities Book Festival, Inc.
Fox Cities Greenways
Fox Wolf Watershed Alliance
Friends of Appleton Library Incorporated
Friends of Hartman Creek Cooperating Association, Inc.
Friends of High Cliff State Park
Golden Sands RC&D Council, Inc.
Heckrodt Wetland Reserve
International Association for Society and Natural Resources
Lawrence University
Navarino Nature Center
Neighborhood Partners
Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust
Northeast Wisconsin Paddlers, Inc.
Tylor’s SOUL
Trees For Tomorrow, Inc.
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh STEM Outreach
Village of Kimberly
Weyauwega-Fremont School District
Wild Ones Fox Valley Area Chapter
Wisconsin Green Schools Network
Wisconsin Ornithology Society
Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway
Town of Belle Plaine