The Glacier National Park Fund has announced 14 new grants for projects and programs in the park for 2012.

The grants total about $250,000 for the new projects while overall funding for the year, including ongoing support for research, education and trails projects, will total roughly $700,000, said Jane Ratzlaff, the fund’s executive director.

This year’s grants are being directed to areas requested by Glacier Park officials.

The grants are going to Avalanche Lake Trail rehabilitation; promoting youth and adult citizen science; a wireless water tank monitoring system; bear-proof food storage boxes; roadway sign inventory management; Ptarmigan Trail rock wall and trail rehabilitation; a small mammal survey focused on fishers; a winter ecology school intern program; Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. Centennial Service Program; an online citizen science program; a “Half the Park Starts After Dark” astronomy program; Discovery Cabin and a teacher-ranger education program; and Going-to-the-Sun Road podcasts.

Since the fund’s establishment in 1999, it has distributed $3.2 million to the park, with most of the money coming from specialty license plate sales and support from annual donors.

Ratzlaff said nonprofit park partners such as the fund have become more important as the National Park Service implements budget cuts, leaving many programs and services underfunded.

“The park over the last couple years has gotten very little money from federal sources for research,” Ratzlaff said. “And we are being asked more and more to support those things that are important to visitors.”