The Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area is accepting applications for community grants. The application deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday, April 15.

Grant awards from $1,000 up to $7,500 are available for heritage-focused projects in MSNHA’s six counties: Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone and Morgan. To be eligible, proposed projects must focus on assessment, preservation activities, interpretation, archiving or workshops and training sessions and be connected to one of the MSNHA’s themes: music, Native American culture or the Tennessee River.

Grantees will pay their approved expenses, then be reimbursed pending approval of their documentation. Grantees also must match their grant awards 1:1 with approved volunteer hours and/or approved additional expenses not covered by federal funds.

Applicants may send an application draft for review by April 1.

“MSNHA is a partnership program of the National Park Service, and our grants initiative is one of the main ways we work with community groups to help preserve, protect and promote northwest Alabama’s cultural heritage,” said MSNHA director Carrie Crawford. “Our mission is to work with communities to tell stories about our area’s history and to offer opportunities for learning about and appreciating our area’s cultural and natural resources.”

Visit the MSNHA website at http://msnha.una.edu/ or email msnha@una.edu for details.