The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced February 11, 2026, more than $44.2 million in competitive grants to advance Chesapeake Bay watershed restoration, funding 72 projects that will reduce nutrient and sediment pollution, restore habitats, and engage communities across the six-state watershed and District of Columbia.
The awards, delivered through the Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction (INSR) Grants and Small Watershed Grants (SWG) programs under NFWF’s Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund, will leverage nearly $31 million in non-federal matching funds for a combined conservation impact of $75 million. The funding supports on-the-ground work aligned with the revised 2025 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement goals, including cleaner waterways, healthier fish and wildlife populations, and stronger local stewardship.
Administered by NFWF in partnership with the EPA and the multi-jurisdictional Chesapeake Bay Program since 1999, these programs have delivered nearly 2,000 grants totaling over $400 million, matched by another $400 million, for watershed-wide progress. Jeff Trandahl, NFWF executive director and CEO, stated: “These grants leverage the momentum, expertise and impact cultivated among public- and private-sector partners since the launch of the Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund in 1999 in partnership with the EPA. The projects and partners supported today with these grants will engage communities in voluntary conservation efforts across the Bay watershed and accelerate progress toward healthier waterways, wildlife population and natural habitats.”
Collective project outcomes include restoring 75 miles of riparian forest buffers, excluding livestock from 45 miles of streams, restoring 290 acres of wetlands and marshes, applying agricultural best management practices on 120,000 acres (including 83,000 acres of nutrient management, 12,000 acres of cover crops, 12,000 acres of manure injection, and 5,500 acres of improved tillage), treating stormwater from over 350 acres of developed land, supporting more than 700 restoration jobs, engaging over 3,300 volunteers, and cutting annual pollution loads by 1 million pounds of nitrogen, 67,000 pounds of phosphorus, and more than 78 million pounds of sediment.
Maryland projects figure prominently, reflecting the state’s central role in the watershed. Catoctin Land Trust received $595,269 to plant 30 acres of riparian buffers and 10 acres of upland trees while conserving 500 acres of habitat along Antietam Creek in Washington County, advancing priorities of the Heart of Maryland Collaborative. The Nature Conservancy secured $898,814 to deploy cover-crop sensor technologies for better nitrogen management on 20,000 acres across southcentral Pennsylvania, central Maryland, and the Delmarva Peninsula. Trout Unlimited obtained $812,132 to restore brook trout habitat in the North Branch Potomac watershed spanning West Virginia and Maryland, including over 2 miles of livestock exclusion fencing, 32 acres of riparian forest restoration, and conservation practices on 250 acres of farmland. Ducks Unlimited was awarded $1,163,839 to restore and enhance 200 acres of wetlands and 70 acres of buffers on the Delmarva Peninsula, spanning Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia.
Other Maryland-linked efforts include Sustainable Chesapeake’s $1,999,064 to bolster farmer-led conservation in Virginia’s portion of the watershed, with potential regional benefits, and various stormwater and community projects in the broader area. Maryland organizations and partners are among recipients spanning Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, New York, and the District of Columbia.
The grants emphasize practical, community-driven actions such as agricultural improvements, urban stormwater retrofits, and habitat reconnection to meet pollution-reduction targets and build resilience. Since the Stewardship Fund’s inception, it has fostered partnerships that deliver measurable improvements in water quality and ecosystem health across the Chesapeake region, including Southern Maryland’s tributary rivers and shorelines.
