In September, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced more than $12.6 million in grants to support the restoration and conservation of the Chesapeake Bay watershed in six states and the District of Columbia.
The grants will generate more than $21.2 million in matching contributions for a total conservation impact of $33.8 million.
The grants were awarded through the Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund (CBSF), a partnership between NFWF and the EPA’s Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Grants Program (INSR Program) and Small Watershed Grants Program (SWG Program).
Additional support is provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Altria Group Restoring America’s Resources partnership and CSX.
The projects supported by the 44 grants will establish methods to improve waterways, restore habitat and strengthen iconic species in Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. The funds will engage farmers and agricultural producers, homeowners, churches and businesses in on-the-ground restoration that supports quality of life in their communities, improving local waterways and ultimately the health of the Bay.
The INSR Program awarded more than $7.3 million to 13 projects, with recipients providing more than $13.7 million in match. The program provides grants to innovative and cost-effective projects that dramatically reduce or eliminate the flow of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution into local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay.
The SWG Program awarded more than $5.3 million to 31 projects, with recipients providing nearly $7.5 million in match. The program provides grants to organizations and municipal governments that are working to improve the condition of their local watershed through on-the-ground restoration, habitat conservation and community involvement. Grant recipients expect to reduce pollution through infrastructures including greener landscapes and community outreach initiatives that promote native landscaping and improved practices for managing runoff.
2017 Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund grant recipients include:
Gunpowder Valley Conservancy ($791,837) will mobilize communities to work together to enhance stormwater treatment and restore forests and streams in the Middle River, Tidal Gunpowder, Bird River and Lower Gunpowder watersheds.
Pigtown Main Street, Inc. ($173,763) will replace impervious surfaces on Washington Boulevard in Baltimore’s Pigtown neighborhood to improve stormwater management and reduce runoff from storm events affecting this Baltimore neighborhood.
Chesapeake Bay Foundation ($663,711) will assist local governments on Maryland’s rural Eastern Shore to develop increased stormwater management capacity, and facilitate a collaborative regional structure among cities and towns including Cambridge, Easton, Oxford and Salisbury, and Queen Anne’s and Talbot County, that will aid in the planning, prioritization and streamlined delivery of restoration projects.
A complete list of the Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund 2017 grant recipients is available at http://www.nfwf.org/chesapeake/Documents/2017grantslate.pdf.
Since 2006, the INSR Program has provided more than $65 million to 153 projects that reduce the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Since 1999, the SWG Program has provided more than $52 million to support 804 projects in the region and has further leveraged $143 million in local matching funds for a total conservation investment in on-the-ground restoration of nearly $200 million.
For more information about the Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund or to download the 2017 Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund Grant Slate, visit www.nfwf.org/chesapeake.
source: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.