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After lawsuit, Iowa City nonprofit obtains AmeriCorps funding
Bur Oak Land Trust may create a new funding stream that relies on private sector donations instead of federal programs
Sep. 10, 2025 5:30 am, Updated: Sep. 10, 2025 7:29 am
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After first having its funding slashed by the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency as part of a federal dismantling of the AmeriCorps program, Bur Oak Land Trust has been awarded annual funding for conservation work.
The Iowa City nonprofit obtained $250,000 worth of AmeriCorps funding, which it will use to hire 12 workers.
The funding release comes after two lawsuits were filed. One, filed in a Maryland court, was joined by the Bur Oak Land Trust earlier this summer.
Jason Taylor, executive director of Bur Oak Land Trust, said the AmeriCorps funding, which was being held by the federal government’s Office of Management and Budget, was released Aug. 28.
Taylor said the OMB didn’t explain why it was withholding the funding, which had been approved and secured.
“There was no explanation that was ever really provided to us,” said Taylor.
If Bur Oak had not been able to obtain funding through the OMB, Taylor said Volunteer Iowa was lined up to fund the program this year.
Taylor said that with Volunteer Iowa’s funding as a “backstop,” Bur Oak was able to plan for the new year of AmeriCorps workers, which started Sept. 1.
“So had we not been able to do that, we would not have been able to start recruiting, because, obviously, you don't want to recruit for a program when there's no funding available,” Taylor said. “We would have been stuck just sitting here waiting for something to happen until Aug. 28 with an assumption that we would be able to start a program literally three days later.”
Future model may rely less on federal funding
Taylor said Bur Oak Land Trust supports the AmeriCorps program and wants to stay with it as long as it is available, but the nonprofit is coming up with alternative options.
“We totally believe in (AmeriCorps) but at the same time, we have been unfortunately hit by a pretty big shock last year when they took it away from us,” he said. “So that instability is somewhat of a death knell for small nonprofits.”
Bur Oak is working to establish a structure within the organization that could provide stable funding for temporary conservation staff at the nonprofit, rather than relying on the government, which can make decisions that leave the organization without any temporary workers.
“If they continue to take funding away or not fund when they're supposed to, we definitely will be looking to try to develop a program that is not funded by the federal government,” he said.
Taylor said such a program likely would be funded privately — through sponsorships from businesses, funding from family foundations and individual donations from community members.
He said Bur Oak already uses funds like that, which go toward purchasing property, paying full-time staff, and providing programming.
“Trying to build on top of that a quarter million dollar program is not easy. That's about a fourth of our budget. And so just attempting to increase your budget by 25 percent is obviously difficult,” Taylor said. “So we are, we're hopeful. Like I said, we want to be able to continue to work with the AmeriCorps program, but if they are not able to provide the stability that we need, we're definitely going to have to look to outside sources.“
Olivia Cohen covers energy and environment for The Gazette and is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. She is also a contributing writer for the Ag and Water Desk, an independent journalism collaborative focusing on the Mississippi River Basin.
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Comments: olivia.cohen@thegazette.com
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