NFWF and NOAA Announce $7.7 Million in Conservation Grants to Support Coastal Resilience Projects

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) today announced $7.7 million in new grants using funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support ongoing natural infrastructure projects in seven states. These grants will support the design and implementation of projects to enhance the resilience of coastal communities and improve habitat for fish and wildlife in Hawai‘i, Maine, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Virginia. The eight grants announced today will leverage more than $3 million in matching contributions for a total conservation impact of $11.1 million.

The grants were awarded through the National Coastal Resilience Fund (NCRF), a partnership between NFWF, NOAA, Shell, TransRe, and Occidental, with additional funding from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), the Bezos Earth Fund, and also using funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. NFWF worked to award an early slate of grants in August, ahead of its standard annual award date, so that communities experiencing increasing impacts from rising seas, more intense storms, and other coastal hazards would have funding to spend towards resilience projects. In 2022, NFWF anticipates investing approximately $140 million in grants through the NCRF once additional awards are announced in November.

“As coastal communities face growing threats including coastal flooding and hurricanes, communities need resources immediately to help them reduce threats and increase resilience,” said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO of NFWF. “The Foundation has worked extremely hard to provide this funding as quickly as possible to help these communities bolster their natural defenses to current and future storms, while also enhancing the coastal habitats that are so vital to both communities and wildlife.”

“Climate-driven floods and storms threaten all coastal communities, and these locally-driven projects are critical for developing effective natural infrastructure,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, PhD. “By investing in local communities, we invest in our nation’s resilience.”

The projects supported by the eight grants announced today will restore and enhance a diverse range of coastal habitats—including wetlands, dunes and tidal rivers—that are vital to the survival of many fish and wildlife species and provide natural buffers for communities against storms and other coastal hazards. These awards build on previously funded NCRF projects and will support efforts of the grantees to finalize project designs and implement important nature-based coastal resilience projects across the country.

The 2022 National Coastal Resilience Fund recipients:

Restoration Implementation

Coastal Wetland Restoration to Improve Community Resiliency in West Ashley, City of Charleston (SC)
Grantee: South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
Grant Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,549,200
Matching Funds :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,070,500
Total Project Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,619,700
Restore the tidal marsh adjacent to Old Town Creek at Maryville through community-based channel excavation, salt marsh restoration, and construction of oyster reef living shorelines. Project will improve community coastal resilience and enhance tidal marsh habitat in a degraded estuarine area using nature-based solutions.

Restoring Coastal Dunes to Improve Community Resilience and Enhance Wildlife Habitat (HI) Grantee: University of Hawai’i
Grant Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,435,700
Matching Funds :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $417,600
Total Project Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,853,300
Restore 12 acres of impaired coastal sand dunes at Kapukaulua to address impacts of coastal hazards and enhance habitat for native Hawaiian plants and animals including wedge-tailed shearwaters, Hawaiian green sea turtles, and endangered Hawaiian monk seals. Project will preserve and restore dunes along one mile of shoreline to reduce impacts of erosion, sea level rise, and high wave flooding.

Scheeff and Middle Bass Island East Point Preserve Shoreline Stabilization (OH)
Grantee: Put-In-Bay Township Park District
Grant Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $700,000
Matching Funds:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $950,000
Total Project Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,650,000
Construct a living shoreline at Scheeff East Point Preserve through a variety of natural shoreline restoration techniques. Project will remove foreign debris, place fallen trees and boulders to stabilize existing shoreline and deflect wave energy, and plant native vegetation and beach materials to enhance wetland and aquatic habitat for native mussels and fish.

Final Design and Permitting 

Eastern Shore Barrier Island Stabilization and Marsh Habitat Engineering Design and Permitting (VA)
Grantee: College of William and Mary, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Grant Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $310,300
Matching Funds:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $253,400
Total Project Amount: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $563,700
Develop final engineering design plans for 217-acres of marsh restoration and expansion along southern Cedar Island, Virginia to enhance backbarrier marsh and lagoon habitat to improve rural community resilience. Project will secure permitting and provide outreach to resiliency planning organizations and citizens on the Eastern Shore. 

Final Designs to Improve Coastal Resiliency at Gull Cove and Quonochontaug Pond Breachway (RI)
Grantee: Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, NBNERR
Grant Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $200,200
Matching Funds:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50,000
Total Project Amount: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $250,200
Complete final designs and permitting for two shoreline resilience projects in Portsmouth and Charlestown, Rhode Island. Project will be an implementation ready design to restore coastal habitat, improve resiliency to flooding and erosion, and increase shoreline access. 

Final Floodplain Habitat Design To Establish Green Infrastructure along Woodbridge River (NJ)
Grantee: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Grant Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $397,600
Matching Funds:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $210,500
Total Project Amount: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $608,100
Produce final floodplain restoration designs that incorporate nature-based solutions and green infrastructure to improve ecosystem function and mitigate flood risk in three communities in coastal New Jersey. Project will improve community resilience and wetland habitat for terrestrial and aquatic wildlife. 

Megunticook River Watershed Fish Passage and Flood Prevention Final Designs and Permitting (ME)
Grantee: Town of Camden, Maine
Grant Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,601,000
Matching Funds:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $260,000
Total Project Amount: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,861,000
Develop final designs and engineering plans for full or partial removal of four dams and fish passage construction at two additional sites where dam removal is not feasible. Project will, once constructed, improve flood resiliency and habitat connectivity for sea run and resident fish including brook trout, American eel, Atlantic salmon, and rainbow smelt throughout the Megunticook watershed in Camden, Maine. 

Utilizing a Traditional Framework to Minimize Flooding in Maunalua Bay Watersheds (HI)
Grantee: Malama Maunalua
Grant Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,506,700
Matching Funds: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $155,000
Total Project Amount: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,661,700
Develop final plans utilizing ahupuaʻa, a land division roughly equivalent to a watershed, to address flooding and erosion risk in several watersheds of Maunalua Bay, O‘ahu, Hawai’i. Project will utilize green infrastructure solutions to reduce runoff and adapt streams to mimic natural flow in order to reduce flooding and erosion.