In a recent press release, the Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced it is recommending nearly $220 million in funding, and an additional $66 million in future year funding, to support 32 transformational habitat restoration and coastal resilience projects as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. “These funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act will build on decades of habitat work in priority watersheds and support innovative projects that implement cutting-edge restoration techniques and groundbreaking efforts that restore habitat in urban ecosystems to benefit underserved communities.”
The proposed projects that will have the most impact on Floridians are:
Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas GulfCorps Resilience Collaborative (GRC): Transformative Restoration through Partnerships in the Gulf of Mexico
The Nature Conservancy, through the GulfCorps Resilience Collaborative, will support the work of young adult conservation corps crews to implement 200 science-guided and community supported conservation and nature-based restoration projects across approximately 10,000 acres of diverse Gulf of Mexico habitats. The Corps crews will be located in nine ecologically important but socially vulnerable sub-regions of the Gulf, from Florida through Texas. ($4.6 million in first year; up to $12 million total over 3 years)
Florida Cape Haze Ecosystem Restoration
The Southwest Florida Water Management District will implement a large-scale effort to create and enhance estuary and coastal habitat in Charlotte Harbor Preserve State Park on the Southwest Florida Gulf Coast. The project will benefit Florida sportfish nursery habitat by providing ecological enhancement for up to 410 acres of coastal habitat, including conversion of canals into upland, wetland, and marsh habitats; and removal of barriers to provide access to new and restored fish nursery habitat. ($3.7 million).
Photo courtesy of NOAA Fisheries