Swamp Stomp

Volume 15, Issue 9

In order to strengthen the ability of both states and tribes to better protect and restore wetlands, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will distribute $1 million in grants. The National Wetland Program Development Grants aim to provide interstate agencies, intertribal consortia, and non-profit organizations with funding so that they may both cultivate and refine already existing state, tribal, and local wetland programs.

Ken Kopocis, the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water at EPA, stated, “Wetlands are part of the foundation of our nation’s water resources and are vital to the health of waterways and communities that are downstream. Wetlands feed downstream waters, trap floodwaters, recharge groundwater supplies, remove pollution, and provide fish and wildlife habitats. Wetlands are also economic drivers because of their key role in fishing, hunting, agriculture, and recreation.”

The EPA announced six proposals that are being awarded. All of the proposed projects must demonstrate how they will promote healthy communities and ecosystems, and must be linked to environmental results. The selected proposals are as follows:

• Leveraging Hazard Mitigation Buyouts (acquisition of flood prone areas) to Protect and Restore Wetlands and Improve Watershed Health – This project will see the Environmental Law Institute and the University of North Carolina investigate and map hazard mitigation buyouts in three states in order to analyze any possible wetland habitat and flood mitigation benefits of acquired properties. The two institutions will then make recommendations that they think will assist wetland programs across the country enhance collaboration with hazard mitigation planners and emergency managers. They will also leverage hazard mitigation buyouts in order to restore, maintain, and connect acquired properties so that wetland and wildlife habitats are provided, and community resilience is improved.

 

• Improving In–Lieu Fee Mitigation Practice Through Training – For this program, the Environmental Law Institute will design and host a conference and a series of webinars committed to focusing on the needs of state, tribal, and local governments that are seeking approval for, administering, or overseeing In-Lieu Fee compensatory wetland mitigation programs.

 

• Creation of an Online Academy to Advance the Use of Living Shorelines – Restore America’s Estuaries and its partners will construct and operate a “Living Shoreline Academy” devoted to promoting the use of natural protection methods so that the degradation of fringing shorelines and fish habitats that surround our nation’s estuaries may be reduced.

 

• Development of a Stewardship Calculator for Wetland Mitigation Banking – The Nature Conservancy and its partners will assemble a small group of national experts in order to establish a Wetland Stewardship Calculator, accompanying handbook, and web-based application. Such resources can be used by states, tribes, local governments, and land trusts to successfully enable long-term stewardship of wetland protection sites.

 

• Creating New Access to High Quality Wetland Training for State and Tribal Wetland Program Field Professionals – The Association of State Wetland Managers and its partners will apply themselves to presenting state, tribal, and wetland professionals with training opportunities and resources. Doing such will increase the ability of these professionals to implement wetland programs. ASWM will gather a Working Group to identify both national and regional wetland training needs, as well as assisting in the development of the other products of this project.

 

• Raising the Bar on Wetland Restoration Success Nationwide – This program will see the Association of State Wetlands Managers work on several interrelated projects. These projects include developing a national strategy for improving wetland restoration success, pursing strategies to improve permit applications, and a review of voluntary restoration projects. ASWM will also attempt to create a series of written and web-based resources on the best management approaches for wetland restoration.

 

For more information on the grants or these projects, please visit: http://water.epa.gov/type/wetlands/initiative_index.cfm