Attention BC post-secondary students: applications are now being accepted for the John B. Holdstock scholarship. Applicants must be residents of British Columbia that will be attending university or college in Fall of 2016. Students must be enrolled in the sciences or a related outdoors field, hold a GPA of 3.5 (B) or better, and provide evidence of their participation in fish, wildlife and habitat conservation in BC. Applicants must also submit a brief essay on their interest in pursuing fish, wildlife and habitat conservation as a part of their academic studies.

About the John B Holdstock Scholarship

John Holdstock was an avid outdoorsman who was committed to conservation. John played an active role in numerous BC conservation organizations, and was well-respected as a recreationalist, conservationist, volunteer and friend. The John B. Holdstock scholarship was created following John’s passing on December 25, 2010 with contributions from the BC Conservation Foundation, The Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, The Nature Trust of BC and The Okanagan Region Wildlife Heritage Society and others who wished to see John’s passion and commitment sustained by the next generation of conservation professionals.

The deadline for submitting your completed application for HCTF acquisition funding is March 31^st. Application forms and information are available here. To read about previous HCTF acquisition grant recipients and the conservation properties secured with this funding, see our Conservation Land Acquisitions webpage.

The HCTF Board met last weekend to review and make funding decisions on over 170 enhancement proposals seeking funding for 2016-17.

HCTF has announced the winners of its 2015 Photo Contest. More… 

There’s less than one week to go until the application deadline for HCTF Education’s GO Grants. Last year, we awarded 81 GO Grants totaling over $85,000, getting 6881 students learning outdoors about BC’s fish, wildlife and habitats. Educators can apply for up to $600/class or $3500/school to pay for bus transportation, project materials, and leader/program fees for outdoor environmental learning experiences – full grant criteria and links to application forms are available here. Grants for this application cycle can be used to fund activities taking place from April 1^st to June 30^th. Questions? Contact HCTF Education at 250-940-9786 or gogrants@hctf.ca

HCTF understands that extenuating circumstances may occasionally prevent a project from being completed within its original timeline. That is why we give proponents the opportunity to apply for a contract extension if they won’t be able to complete their project by March 31^st. Today, emails went out to all HCTF proponents with active 2015-16 projects, providing detailed information about submitting a contract extension request. Here are some highlights:

· The deadline to request a contract extension is February 15^th, 2016.

· If you do not complete your project by March 31st, 2016, and you do not request a contract extension, unspent funds will be re-allocated towards other HCTF project priorities.

· Submitting a Contract Extension Request Form does not guarantee that an extension will be granted; only that it will be considered

HCTF assembles a special committee to review the requests, so it is important that they are submitted on time.