EEA SECRETARY BOWLES AWARDS $200,000 IN COASTAL WETLAND RESTORATION GRANTS

BOSTON– Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Ian Bowles today announced $200,000 in grants to help communities and nonprofit organizations restore and monitor degraded wetlands along the Massachusetts shoreline from Wellfleet to Salisbury. Grant recipients will use the funds to restore 116 acres of wetlands in four communities, and to support six regional monitoring partnerships covering numerous wetland restoration sites.

“The grants announced today will help coastal communities protect and restore the health of salt marshes and other important coastal wetlands,” Secretary Bowles said. “By leveraging significant federal funds for project construction and engaging volunteers and students in the restoration of local wetland habitats, these grants will produce a significant return on investment for people and the environment.”

The grants were awarded by EEA’s Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM), which works with a large network of partners to help restore wetlands damaged by historic development. In the last year alone, CZM’s Wetlands Restoration Program has helped coastal communities complete seven projects to restore more than 130 acres of wetlands. During the past decade, CZM and its partners have completed 57 projects encompassing more than 720 acres.

“Coastal wetlands serve the Commonwealth by reducing flooding, improving water quality, and providing critical habitat to a host of living marine resources,” said CZM Director Leslie-Ann McGee. “Restoring these great places improves our ability to maintain vital food supply, protect nature's bounty and human health, maintain biodiversity, create jobs in commercial and recreational fishing and expand our enjoyment through recreational opportunities.”

Fiscal year 2008 grants will fund restoration and monitoring activities in the following municipalities: Beverly, Brewster, Cohasset, Dartmouth, Dennis, Fairhaven, Gloucester, Hingham, Hull, Ipswich, Marshfield, Mattapoisett, Nantucket, Newbury, Plymouth, Salisbury, Sandwich, Scituate, Somerset and Wellfleet. All projects require a 25 percent non-state match.

FY 2008 Wetland Restoration Grant Awards

Salem Sound Coastwatch – $33,400

Salem Sound Coastwatch (SSCW), working with faculty and students at Endicott College and other volunteers, will monitor five restoration projects located in Newbury, Gloucester, Beverly and Ipswich. SSCW will also complete all permitting requirements for the five-acre Thissell Marsh restoration project in Beverly.

Association to Preserve Cape Cod – $18,518

The Association to Preserve Cape Cod (APCC) will conduct monitoring through its Salt Marsh Program (SMP), which engages volunteers from AmeriCorps Cape Cod, Senior Environment Corps, local schools and the public to assist restoration projects throughout the Cape. APCC will focus monitoring efforts on projects located in Sandwich, Dennis, Brewster and Wellfleet.

Lloyd Center for the Environment – $21,856

The Lloyd Center for the Environment will monitor four restoration projects located in the South Coastal region of Massachusetts, collecting data from sites in Dartmouth, Somerset, Fairhaven and Mattapoisett.

Town of Plymouth – $50,000

The town of Plymouth will support the restoration of aquatic habitats within the town-owned Eel River Headwaters Conservation Area. The project will recreate a dynamically stable river channel with coldwater habitat, and restore nearly 40 acres of former cranberry bogs back to native wetland types.

Cohasset Center for Student Coastal Research – $26,610

The Cohasset Center for Student Coastal Research (CSCR) will monitor multiple restoration sites in the South Shore region. CSCR staff will lead, coordinate and train high school students and other local volunteers in salt marsh vegetation, fish, bird and water quality monitoring at sites in Cohasset, Marshfield, Hingham, Hull and Scituate.

Mass Audubon – $7,116

The Massachusetts Audubon Society will provide monitoring services through its Great Marsh Salt Marsh Science Initiative. Mass Audubon focuses on training dedicated teachers and students from North Shore middle and high school programs in the collection of salt marsh vegetation, bird, fish and water quality data. Monitored sites are located in Gloucester, Newbury and Salisbury.

Nantucket Conservation Foundation – $9,100

The Nantucket Conservation Foundation will perform pore-water salinity and tidal hydrology monitoring at the Medouie Creek Salt Marsh Restoration Project. This project will restore approximately 19 acres of degraded and tidally restricted salt marsh along Medouie Creek on the north shore of Polpis Harbor on Nantucket Island.

Town of Marshfield – $21,400

The town of Marshfield will work to improve tidal flow to the Green Harbor River upstream of Dike Road. Under existing conditions, the marsh is degraded by sediment accumulation and poor water quality caused by lack of tidal exchange. Impounded freshwater has also increased flooding problems throughout the floodplain. The town will use the award to purchase a new adjustable tide gate designed to gradually increase tidal exchange to this degraded estuary.

Town of Cohasset – $12,000

The town of Cohasset will fund the replacement of a collapsed culvert that restricts tidal flow from Cohasset Harbor to the Gulf River Estuary. The new, larger culvert at Border Street and Parker Avenue will improve tidal flushing to the Gulf River Estuary and restore tidal flow to a salt marsh that provides a habitat corridor to Government Island.