The Douglas County Community Foundation is accepting applications for funding from the Elizabeth Schultz Environmental Fund to support local efforts to preserve and understand nature.

The foundation will conduct an information session for anyone interested in applying at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the Gallery Room of the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vt.

Retired Kansas University English professor Elizabeth Schultz created the fund in 2005 to support local projects.

“Through increased attention to our relationship with the environment, our human community is enriched,” she said.

The fund will provide $20,000 in grants this year.

The fund awarded six grants ranging from $1,400 to $10,000 in 2008 to Friends of Hidden Valley, Kansas Land Trust, Kansas Rural Center, Lecompton Elementary School, Spencer Museum of Art and the Waldorf Association of Lawrence.

The guidelines are available at dcfoundation.org.

Applications are due Oct. 1.