The Long Island Sound Futures Fund will provide $2,444,696 in grants to state and local governments and community groups to restore the health of the Long Island Sound.
The Sound Futures Fund is financed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and FedEx. It supports innovative projects that restore and protect the Sound. The 38 grant recipients will contribute an additional $4.4 million, providing nearly $6.8 million for conservation projects in Connecticut and New York.
“A healthy Long Island Sound is critical to the lives of millions of people who live along its shores,” said EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck. “ The grants announced today will fund vital projects to improve water quality, protect people’s health, and remove pollution from the Long Island Sound watershed.”
"EPA and many other organizations have shown a long-term commitment to protecting and restoring Long Island Sound," said Curt Spalding, Regional Administrator of EPA’s New England office. "This year's funding of projects throughout communities in the Long Island Sound watershed will help accomplish important advances in our work to improve the ecological health of the Sound.”
Long Island Sound is an estuary where salt water from the sea meets fresh water from rivers and streams. It provides economic and recreational benefits to millions of people, while also providing natural habitats for more than 1,200 invertebrates, 170 species of fish, and dozens of species of migratory birds.
The Sound Futures Fund was created in 2005 by the Long Island Sound Study, a cooperative effort between EPA and the states of Connecticut and New York to protect and restore the Sound and its ecosystem. To date, the program has provided $6.9 million to 176 projects in communities surrounding the Sound.
With matching funds of $16 million from grant recipients, more than $22 million has been invested in local conservation. Through projects funded through the Sound Future’s Fund, 68 river miles are being opened up for fish passage, and more than 400 acres of critical fish and wildlife habitat have been restored and acquired. This habitat includes lakes, underwater grasses, woodlands, meadows, wetlands, beaches, dunes and parks.
For a list of grant recipients, visit this link.
For more info or questions, you can contact Sophia Kelley, 212-637-3670, kelley.jessicasophia@epa.gov.
Source:
EPA
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