The Wilds has been awarded a Conservation Innovation Grant for $404,000 to support a demonstration project that revitalizes degraded mine land using high diversity prairie systems, which will ultimately sequester carbon and provide feedstock for bio-energy. 

According to Dr. Nicole Cavender, Chief Program Officer at the Wilds, the overall objective of this project is to create replicable models for regenerating land while earning economic benefits, such as grazing systems for meat production or carbon sequestration for carbon credits.  

Conservation Innovation Grants are provided by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program.  Since 2004, Ohio has funded four CIG projects through the national CIG program for a total of $1,591,788.