Queen Anne, MD – October 16, 2023 – In a significant move towards the restoration and conservation of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) has announced grant awards totaling $9.6 million. The announcement, made today at Black Dog Farm in Queen Anne, Maryland, saw representatives from NFWF and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standing alongside Members of Congress, local leaders, and community members to unveil these critical grants.
The grants, distributed through the Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Grant Program (INSR), a core initiative of the federal-state Chesapeake Bay Program partnership, will be administered under NFWF’s Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund (CBSF). This partnership between NFWF and EPA is aimed at providing grant funding, technical assistance, and fostering information sharing to support on-the-ground conservation and restoration efforts, with the goal of reviving the Chesapeake Bay and its tributary rivers and streams.
Jeff Trandahl, the Executive Director and CEO of NFWF, emphasized the significance of these grants in continuing the success of NFWF’s Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund partnership with the EPA. He noted, “Beyond local benefits for water quality, these grants demonstrate how strategic and focused approaches can both enhance resilience for the bay’s human and wildlife communities and help restore vital living resources across the bay watershed.”
The grants announced today, totaling $9.6 million, are poised to play a pivotal role in the implementation of critical, natural, and nature-based watershed restoration practices. These practices are geared towards providing long-term water quality improvement benefits, improving aquatic and terrestrial habitat for at-risk species, and bolstering climate resilience for both human and wildlife communities.
Crucially, these projects emphasize the importance of partnerships and collaborative approaches in effective local and regional ecosystem restoration efforts. They also aim to engage local communities in planning, design, and implementation of restoration and conservation efforts, with a focus on farmers, agricultural producers, community-based organizations, homeowners, churches, businesses, and municipalities, all contributing to enhancing local water quality and the health of the Chesapeake Bay.
Several notable grant recipients were highlighted, including:
- Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. ($999,300), focuses on accelerating sustainable and resilient chicken farming practices in Maryland and Virginia’s Delmarva Peninsula while improving riparian buffers and nutrient management.
- Backyard Basecamp ($984,900), aims to implement nature-based stormwater solutions and enhance stream daylighting for flood resilience in East Baltimore.
- The Pennsylvania State University ($1,000,000), engages congregations in green infrastructure projects at places of worship and supports conservation practices on their farms.
- Upper Mattaponi Indian Tribe ($1,000,000), working on reclaiming and restoring ancestral lands through habitat enhancement and stream restoration.
This year’s grants are anticipated to build on a legacy of impactful initiatives. Since 2006, the INSR Program has provided over $133 million to 229 projects that have collectively reduced 23 million pounds of nitrogen, 4 million pounds of phosphorus, and 500,000 tons of sediment across the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
For further information about the Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund or to access the 2022 Chesapeake Bay Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction and Small Watershed Grants Slates, please visit www.nfwf.org/chesapeake. This commitment by the NFWF and its partners signifies a significant step towards the restoration and conservation of the cherished Chesapeake Bay, reaffirming the importance of collaborative efforts to benefit the environment and the communities it sustains.
