EPA Community Change Grant: Everything's Connected in Presidio
Huisache trees provide a small area of shade coverage in Presidio, Texas. “Everything’s Connected in Presidio” will plant mature, native trees to form a shaded greenbelt alongside a bike and pedestrian path in the town. Photo: Hannah Gentiles
Big Bend Conservation Alliance, in partnership with the City of Presidio, is proud to announce the award of a $12.7 million grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights to support “Everything's Connected in Presidio: Building Climate Resiliency through Green Infrastructure and Reducing Pollution through Traffic Mitigation at the International Bridge Crossing.”
This transformative project is focused on two strategies–climate resilience and pollution reduction–and seeks to use green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, and technology to make a greener and more resilient Presidio. The project will mitigate extreme heat and flooding; reduce pollution; and create a cooling center as a place of refuge during heat emergencies.
Ramon Rodriguez, Project Homeleaf (center) with Big Bend Conservation Alliance staff, Elvira Hermosillo (left) and Shelley Bernstein (right). Photo: Hannah Gentiles
This initiative is a landmark achievement for Presidio, made possible by the visionary leadership of Ramon Rodriguez–a local climate activist–who, as a student at Presidio High School, envisioned a more resilient city with greenbelts creating shade in his hometown. Rodriguez's vision and his hope for Presidio’s future was the basis for this successful grant application.
Rodriguez was supported by Shelley Bernstein, Co-Executive Director of BBCA, whose dedication to community engagement and collaboration helped secure this funding. Shelley's ability to amplify Ramon’s vision was instrumental in shaping this project to address Presidio’s unique environmental and community needs.
“Big Bend Conservation Alliance’s commitment to listening to and supporting community leaders like Ramon Rodriguez has been key to realizing this transformative project,” said Christina Hernandez, Co-Executive Director of BBCA. “This grant represents a shared vision for building climate resiliency and empowering the community of Presidio.”
The project will plant thousands of trees in Presidio and create a greenbelt to provide shade along the existing bike path running through the town. Photo: Hannah Gentiles
“Everything’s Connected in Presidio” Highlights:
Create a greenbelt to provide shade along the existing bike and walking path, selected because it runs throughout residential neighborhoods and connects to the town’s schools, services, and recreational areas.
Plant thousands of native and mature trees for Presidio residents and throughout municipal spaces.
Develop three detention ponds currently identified in the city’s master plan to capture water runoff during the seasonal monsoons helping aquifer recharge.
Create a native garden along the greenbelt for learning, cutting, and community caretaking.
Establish solar-power and a battery backup at the Presidio Activity Center, so the building can serve as a community cooling center in times of power outages during extreme heat.
Develop an emergency cooling plan to help the community’s most vulnerable residents get to the cooling center in times of power outages.
Create a bi-national air quality monitoring program run by the students at Presidio High School that uses off-the-shelf sensors on both sides of the border, understanding that both cities contribute to the quality of the air.
Utilize text messaging technology to send air quality and International Bridge traffic condition alerts with the goal to reduce crossing times and idling cars.
Collaborative partners include Project Homeleaf and Rio Grande Joint Venture–providing technical assistance–and Presidio Independent School District–coordinating student engagement. The project will employ local community members as neighborhood coordinators helping engage all of Presidio in the project, while bringing economic development.
This is one of five EPA Community Change Grants being awarded in Texas and one of four awarded at the southern border. It is the largest grant awarded to a nonprofit organization in the region’s history.
“Everything’s Connected in Presidio” underscores BBCA’s mission of fostering sustainable environmental solutions while honoring the insights and vision of local leaders. BBCA extends its deepest gratitude to the EPA for supporting this critical work, which represents a significant step toward achieving environmental justice, climate resiliency, and community empowerment for Presidio and the Big Bend region.
About Project Homeleaf:
Project Homeleaf, founded by Ramon Rodriguez as a youth-led, climate-forward organization in Presidio, Texas, has partnered with local governments and nonprofits on a variety of projects to plant trees, teach youth about the environment, revitalize downtown planters, host the town’s first climate summit, continue the city’s volunteer recycling program, and more.
About Rio Grande Joint Venture:
Administered by the American Bird Conservancy, Rio Grande Joint Venture focuses on migratory bird habitat conservation. The organization brings extensive experience in conservation planning and habitat restoration to the project and will contribute their expertise to flood mitigation assessments, detention pond planning, native planting, and development of public nature areas.
About EPA’s Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants:
The Community Change Grant program advances local, on-the-ground projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity to address environmental and climate justice challenges. These place-based investments are focused on community-driven initiatives to be responsive to community and stakeholder input. Created under the Biden-Harris administration, the program distributed $2 billion dollars in funding as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. “These selections will create jobs, improve public health, and uplift community efforts in all corners of this country, regardless of geography or background,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan.