- Governor Maura Healey and Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll
- Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Media Contact
Karissa Hand, Press Secretary
Stockbridge — The Healey-Driscoll Administration today announced $31.5 million in grants for climate resilience implementation and planning throughout Massachusetts. For the first time in the history of the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program, two Tribes are receiving funding since eligibility was expanded by the Legislature in 2022.
Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll and Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Rebecca Tepper made the announcement in Stockbridge, the original homeland of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans. In the 1800s, the Tribe was pressured to leave their home, forcing them to eventually relocate to Wisconsin. The Tribe was awarded $2.26 million MVP Action Grant to reclaim 351 acres of their indigenous homelands and establish tribally driven conservation and forest management strategies.
“As we work to address the climate crisis, we have an opportunity to right historical wrongs,” said Governor Maura Healey. “This investment to the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans demonstrates our administration’s commitment to building strong relationships with Indigenous communities and supporting their efforts in mitigating the impacts of climate change. We are proud to be a part of this significant first step of welcoming the Tribe back to their homeland.”
“The Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans’ stewardship of lands is profoundly interwoven into their culture and reclaiming it will not only restore their relationship with the natural environment but also ensure ancestral-significant areas are preserved,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “The MVP program is one of our critical tools to partner with communities and build resiliency. We’re grateful to this year’s recipients for their hard work to mitigate the impacts of climate change.”
"Our mission is to continue to foster and create relationships centered around integrated capital solutions and capacity building with our Tribal Nation, alongside partners, changemakers, community developers and partners like the state of Massachusetts," said Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans President Shannon Holsey. "We are creating a paradigm shift in how society invests in tribal nations by grounding an investment strategy in Indigenous systems thinking, recognizing the interconnectedness of all things and our responsibilities to our homelands and each other. Our approach ensures a resilient and regenerative framework from start to finish, built around the origins of our homeland."
“Equity and environmental justice are fundamental in our approach to tackling climate change. This project is just one example of how our administration is taking historic action in undoing the systems that excluded the Indigenous, Black, and brown communities and ensuring they are centered in our work,” said EEA Secretary Rebecca Tepper. “We look forward to continuing our partnerships with Tribes to develop proactive strategies protecting and restoring Massachusetts’ natural resources.”
The MVP grant program provides communities with funding and technical assistance to support the climate resilience planning process and implement priority actions to adapt to climate change. In April, Governor Healey launched MVP Planning 2.0, which serves as the next phase of our flagship program. It supports communities in updating their climate change resiliency plans in a way that centers environmental justice and other priority populations most impacted by climate change and putting these plans into action. The awards announced today include $3 million in funding for MVP 2.0 to 28 individual municipalities, one regional group, and one Tribe. The following communities will receive funding to complete MVP 2.0 in 2023-2025:
| Grantee | Total Award |
|---|---|
| Abington | $95,000 |
| Acton | $95,000 |
| Arlington | $95,000 |
| Ashland | $95,000 |
| Belchertown | $95,000 |
| Charlton | $95,000 |
| Chelmsford | $95,000 |
| Chelsea | $95,000 |
| Chesterfield | $95,000 |
| Chicopee | $95,000 |
| Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission on behalf of the Towns of Uxbridge, Sutton, Douglas, and Northbridge | $290,000 |
| Cohasset | $95,000 |
| Deerfield | $95,000 |
| Easton | $95,000 |
| Fairhaven | $95,000 |
| Goshen | $95,000 |
| Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band | $95,000 |
| Leicester | $95,000 |
| Lincoln | $95,000 |
| Maynard | $95,000 |
| Milford | $95,000 |
| Montague | $95,000 |
| Northampton | $95,000 |
| Peabody | $95,000 |
| Reading | $95,000 |
| Somerville | $95,000 |
| South Hadley | $95,000 |
| Sudbury | $95,000 |
| Westport | $95,000 |
| Windsor | $95,000 |
| Total (30) | Total: $3,045,000 |
Today’s awards also include $28.5 million in MVP Action Grant funding for 79 local implementation projects. These 79 projects are led by 56 different individual municipalities, 16 regional groups, two water districts, and one Tribe. MVP Action Grant projects are focused on proactive strategies to address climate change impacts and may include actions to invest in and protect environmental justice communities and improve public health, nature-based solutions to mitigate the impacts of extreme heat and flooding, and climate resilience-focused regulatory updates.
| Grantee | Project Title | Total Award |
|---|---|---|
| Amherst | Fort River Watershed Improvements for Flood & Water Quality Resiliency | $ 169,250 |
| Andover | Climate Ready Shawsheen - Preparing for Flood Resilience | $ 81,900 |
| Attleboro | Green Stormwater Infrastructure Feasibility Study | $ 101,250 |
| Avon | Urban Park for People: Resilient D.W. Field Park | $ 1,455,350 |
| Barnstable | Hyannis Harbor Master Plan | $ 199,000 |
| Bolton | Future Resilient Field at Derby | $ 22,300 |
| Boston (& Revere) | Regional Climate Resilience and Recreation in Boston, Revere, and Belle Isle Marsh | $ 330,500 |
| Briggsville Water District (& Town of Clarksburg) | Briggsville Water District Land Acquisition and Tank Engineering for Flood and Drought Resilience | $ 48,150 |
| Brookline | Brookline Town-Wide Drainage Model, System Evaluation & Vulnerability Assessment | $ 145,226 |
| Buckland | Design of Clesson Brook Watershed Resiliency Projects | $ 160,000 |
| Burlington (& Upper Mystic Communities) | Retrofits to Facilities that Host or Serve Priority Populations | $ 90,600 |
| Carlisle | Climate Resilience Land Use Best Practices in Carlisle | $ 93,740 |
| Chelsea | Heat Mitigation at Chelsea's Elementary Schools | $ 315,690 |
| Chelsea | Advancing the Vision for a Resilient & Community Focused Eastern Avenue | $ 339,000 |
| Chesterfield | Chesterfield MVP Planning | $ 76,000 |
| Clarksburg | Four Corners Floodplain Restoration and Flood Resiliency Project | $ 215,143 |
| Conway | Conway Center Flood Mitigation Project | $ 279,000 |
| Dartmouth | Nature-Based Solutions Retrofit of Critical Infrastructure within Coastal Flood-Prone Areas | $ 84,375 |
| Dedham | Short and Long-Term Flood Resilience Strategies for Dedham's Manor Neighborhood | $ 93,750 |
| Dedham (& Boston, Canton, Foxborough, Milton, Norwood, Sharon, Stoughton, Westwood) | Neponset River Watershed Regional Climate Resilience Collaborative and Flood Model Phase 2 | $ 608,134 |
| Deerfield | Deerfield Green Infrastructure | $ 237,823 |
| Devens (& Ayer) | Taking Root: Expanding the Ayer-Devens Pocket Forest Project | $ 109,004 |
| Easthampton | Emerald Place Resiliency Improvements | $ 304,800 |
| Egremont (& Great Barrington) | Bringing Climate Action Home to Egremont | $ 81,500 |
| Everett | The Resilient and Accessible Habitat at Rivergreen on the Malden River Project | $ 97,795 |
| Everett (& Melrose, Chelsea) | Creating Oases in our Hottest Neighborhoods: Increasing Urban Forest Health through Green-Grey Solutions in the Mystic Watershed | $ 390,725 |
| Fall River (& Swansea, Somerset, Dighton, Freetown, Westport, Dartmouth) | Regional Water Supply Firm Yield Analysis and Systems Assessment Under Climate Change | $ 111,170 |
| Fitchburg | Blue/Green Downtown Fitchburg - Climate Adaptation Action Plan | $ 365,000 |
| Fitchburg | Generating & Measuring Resiliency in Downtown Fitchburg with Nature-Based Solutions | $ 293,800 |
| Fitchburg (& Leominster, Groton, Pepperell, Ashburnham) | Nashua River Watershed Natural Solutions Action Project | $ 403,985 |
| Framingham | Walnut Street Neighborhood Flood Mitigation - Construction | $ 1,987,968 |
| Framingham (& Ashland, Sherborn) | Protection of a Climate Resilient Tri-City Open Space Cluster in MetroWest | $ 215,000 |
| Gloucester | City of Gloucester Low-Lying Roads Project | $ 58,506 |
| Great Barrington | Lake Mansfield Improvements Phase 2 | $ 709,720 |
| Groveland | Town of Groveland Continuation of Johnson Creek Watershed Flood Resiliency Project | $ 143,666 |
| Hadley | Town of Hadley Watershed-Wide Flood Resilience Improvements | $ 157,641 |
| Hampden | Town of Hampden Main Street Bridge Replacement and Green Solutions Project | $ 247,740 |
| Harvard | Harvard Littleton County Road Land Protection | $ 401,250 |
| Harvard | Harvard Climate Implementation Plan - Phase One: Protective Bylaws and Community Outreach | $ 47,390 |
| Harwich (& Brewster) | Harwich Route 124 Culvert Restoration | $ 89,913 |
| Holyoke | Green Infrastructure Design and Land Protection in the Day Brook Watershed | $ 192,900 |
| Holyoke | Recipes for a Resilient Holyoke: A Community Cookbook | $ 141,680 |
| Hull | Hampton Circle Area Adaptation Roadmap Phase 2 | $ 200,000 |
| Ipswich | Ipswich Town Wharf Pump Station Relocation and Coastal Resiliency Improvement Project | $ 235,000 |
| Ipswich (& Essex) | Upper Castle Neck Salt Marsh Restoration | $ 104,848 |
| Leyden (& Bernardston) | The Identification, Assessment, and Mitigation of Multi-Town Wildfire Hazards | $ 179,200 |
| Longmeadow | Cooley Brook Watershed Improvements Phase 2: Conceptual & Permitting Design | $ 424,375 |
| Ludlow | Resilient Stormwater and Urban Heat Island Assessment | $ 135,000 |
| Lynn | G.E.A.A. Field - Flooding Now, Floodable in the Future | $ 190,000 |
| Malden | Malden River Works for Waterfront Equity and Resilience | $ 2,998,049 |
| Martha's Vineyard Commission (& Aquinnah, Chilmark, Edgartown, Nantucket, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury, West Tisbury) | Fostering Ecosystem Resilience through Mapping, Prioritization, and Community Engagement | $ 163,540 |
| Mashpee | Town of Mashpee, Increasing Resilience to Harmful Algal Blooms in Santuit Pond - Town Landing Stormwater Design and Permitting | $ 228,000 |
| Medford | Medford Urban Forest Vulnerability Assessment | $ 106,500 |
| Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) (& Metro Mayors Coalition Communities) | Metro Mayors Cool Roof Project | $ 88,500 |
| Monson | Bunyan Road Relocation and Floodplain Restoration | $ 291,500 |
| Natick | Climate Resilient Park Network Along the Charles River in South Natick | $ 290,000 |
| New Bedford | Kempton Street Green Infrastructure | $ 350,750 |
| Newburyport | Climate Resilient Newburyport: Community Collaboration & Capacity Building Project | $ 191,377 |
| Northbridge | Flood Resilience and Water Quality Protection Through Better Causeway and Green Infrastructure Design | $ 402,627 |
| Norwood | Hennessey Field Stormwater Detention Basin Concept Design | $ 432,000 |
| Oak Bluffs | Oak Bluffs Design of the Coastal Resilience Improvements for the Dukes County Ave Pump Station | $ 146,658 |
| Pittsfield | Francis Avenue Parklet, Stormwater Designs, and Routing Study to West Street | $ 322,435 |
| Plymouth | Bartlett Road Dam Removal, Culvert Resiliency, and Stormwater Improvements | $ 1,975,959 |
| Revere | Diamond Creek Catchment Climate Resilience Improvements - Design and Permitting | $ 386,911 |
| Revere (& Saugus, Lynn, Malden, Everett) | SPRARR-Regional Prioritization and Design Project | $ 154,717 |
| Rockport | Rockport Coastal Resilience Planning Project | $ 242,067 |
| Sharon | Climate Resiliency Watershed Plan: Lake Massapoag 2025-2050 | $ 75,000 |
| Southwick | Kline Road/Shurtleff Brook Culvert Replacement Project | $ 526,800 |
| Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans | Fenn Farm- Monument Mountain Acquisition Project | $ 2,257,990 |
| Water Supply District of Acton (& Town of Acton) | 549 Main Street Water Supply & Open Space Preservation Acquisition | $ 1,501,610 |
| West Boylston | Resilient Streams of the Wachusett Reservoir | $ 105,000 |
| West Newbury | Evaluating Vulnerabilities and Options to Promote Resiliency: River Road and Environs | $ 150,000 |
| West Springfield | Establishment of a Tree Nursery and Development of Tree Planting Program | $ 59,000 |
| Westborough | Aquifer Recharge for Water Resiliency | $ 271,950 |
| Wilbraham | Wilbraham Culvert Assessment | $ 60,000 |
| Williamsburg | Williamsburg Mill River Watershed Planning | $ 682,085 |
| Winthrop (& Revere, Boston) | Belle Isle Marsh as a Nature Based Solution to Coastal Flooding: Regional Collaboration and Morton Street Neighborhood Design and Permitting | $ 291,076 |
| Woburn | Hurld Park - Heat Resilient Park CDs | $ 180,500 |
| Worcester | Resilient Community Place-Making and Miyawaki Forests | $ 409,461 |
| Total (79) | $ 28,507,819 |
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