Keep MD Beautiful Grant Deadline Dec. 1

Keep Maryland Beautiful grants include funds for land trusts to increase their capacity; many, like American Chestnut Land Trust in Calvert County, have used funds to enhance land stewardship practices and increase community programming and services. (Maryland Environmental Trust photo via Maryland DNR)

The Keep Maryland Beautiful Grants program is accepting applications until December 1, 2025. 

The program awards grants to help volunteer groups, nonprofit organizations, communities, and land trusts in Maryland support environmental education projects, community stewardship, and the protection of natural resources in urban and rural areas.

This year’s grants include:

• Community stewardship grants for volunteer groups, nonprofits, local governments, and schools.
• Assistance, leadership, and capacity building grants for Maryland’s land trusts.
• Grants for nonprofits to implement forestry projects on agricultural land.

Funding for the Keep Maryland Beautiful Grants is provided by the Maryland Environmental Trust, a unit of the Department of Natural Resources; the Maryland Department of Transportation; and the Maryland Department of Agriculture.

About $357,000 is available for this year’s grant round.

Awards will be announced in March 2026.

The following grants are available:

• Community Stewardship Grants of up to $5,000 are awarded to schools, nonprofits, and other community organizations whose missions are centered upon directly engaging community members (especially children and young adults) in environmental education and stewardship. These grants also support organizations that demonstrate active engagement as defenders of the environment by developing innovative solutions to local environmental problems. $47,000 is available for Community Stewardship Grants.
• Land Trust Assistance Grants of up to $10,000 are awarded to Maryland land trusts to increase capacity, support programming and innovation, and foster stronger, better-connected land trusts that will protect natural resources and enhance the lives of residents and generations to come. $55,000 is available for Land Trust Assistance Grants.
• Aileen Hughes Grant of up to $5,000 is awarded to an individual representing a Maryland land trust for outstanding leadership, partnership, and innovation in a conservation project or organization development. $5,000 is available for the Aileen Hughes Grant.
• Tree Planting on Agricultural Land Grants of up to $50,000 are awarded to nonprofits to implement reforestation or afforestation projects on qualifying agricultural land to support Maryland’s efforts in planting and maintaining 5 million trees by 2031. $250,000 is available for Tree Planting on Agricultural Land Grants.

Last year’s awards included 20 grants totaling $238,751 for projects in nine Maryland counties and Baltimore City. The list of the 2025 award recipients is available online.