The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation awarded a total of $8.9 million for 30 grants serving the Chesapeake Bay watershed on August 27.
The money comes from the Chesapeake Watershed Investments in Landscape Defense Program, or Chesapeake WILD. The program helps fund projects that support wildlife habitat, climate resilience, community partnerships and equitable access to nature.
This year’s grantees will conserve more than 10,000 acres of fish and wildlife habitat and increase recreational access to 2,000 acres. The projects will also restore nearly 100 miles of streamside forest habitat and reconnect more than 1,500 miles of aquatic habitat for migratory fish. Other projects help build organizational capacity to achieve related goals.
The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy received $500,000 to protect marsh migration corridors and conserve about 500 acres of wildlife habitat along the Delmarva Peninsula.
The Conservation Fund was awarded $500,000 to expand the State Game Lands in Northeast Pennsylvania by protecting the 1,800-acre Carbondale Ridge property. The addition will create a 4,000-acre wildlife corridor that will improve habitat and water quality in the Chesapeake Bay drainage area of the Susquehanna and Lackawanna rivers.
The Anacostia Watershed Society received about $270,000 to conserve wild rice and wildlife in the Anacostia River watershed. It plans on restoring two acres of rice habitat and expanding freshwater mussel and American shad populations.
The Northern Neck Land Conservancy was granted $75,000 to advance land protection on Virginia’s Northern Neck Peninsula.
Chesapeake WILD is one of four grant programs in the Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund. It’s funded by government agencies and private corporations and awards $40 million–$60 million per year.
