Massachusetts
Bridgewater State University
Restoring a Retired Cranberry Farm into an Atlantic White Cedar Wetland Habitat Complex (MA)
Restore a 42 acre retired cranberry farm into a wetland complex dominated by Atlantic white cedar swamps and floodplains to provide habitat for native reptile and wetland plant species. Project will engage 50 local residents, 200 secondary school students and eight educators in educational outreach activities, as well as train four undergraduate students in restoration ecology.
$49,621
Buzzards Bay Coalition
Marsh Island Salt Marsh Restoration Project in Fairhaven (MA)
Remove historically placed dredged material to re-introduce tidal hydrology, and plant marsh vegetation. Project will create vital fish nursery habitat, enhance water quality, provide needed sandy material for nearby municipal coastal resilience projects, as well as build upon the significant investment over the past decade to improve water quality, expand fish passage, and permanently protect natural shorelines in Buzzards Bay.
$2,000,000
Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance
Developing a Crew Training Program for Young Fishermen in Cape Cod (MA)
Develop a crew training program focused on safety and fishing skills to build capacity for the next generation of fishermen on Cape Cod. Project will prepare 60 to 80 participants with necessary knowledge for fisheries management, connect captains to competent crew members and promote fishing as a viable career path.
$50,071
Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance
Pre-Implementation of Electronic Monitoring in New England’s Groundfish Fishery (MA, ME, NH, RI)
Advance electronic monitoring in New England’s groundfish fishery by continuing operation of a successful pilot project and working with stakeholders to clarify standards and needs related to the technology. Project will engage 35 vessels to finalize electronic monitoring standards and ensure that data is effectively stored, shared, and used by regional stock assessment scientists and other data end users.
$524,586
City of Chicopee
Planning to Reduce Nitrogen Pollution and Improve Water Quality in Long Island Sound (MA)
Prepare a study to identify low-cost improvements to reduce nitrogen pollution from a water pollution control facility in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Project will reduce effluent, a source of nitrogen pollution into Long Island Sound, by a minimum of 123,200 pounds annually.
$14,738
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County
Implementing a Bycatch Avoidance Communication Network (MA, NH, NJ, NY, RI)
Expand the Bycatch Avoidance Communication Network to identify and report real-time bycatch of nine species, helping to avoid the implementation of restrictive management measures associated with this bycatch. Project will enhance the network by improving daily reporting rates, recruiting additional vessels to the network, and conducting five at-sea observer days to facilitate proper reporting.
$57,621
East Quabbin Land Trust
Finalizing Designs to Remove a Barrier to Brook Trout at Wheelwright Pond on the Ware River (MA)
Complete final design and permitting for the removal of a significant barrier to aquatic organism passage at Wheelwright Pond on the Ware River in eastern Massachusetts. Project will set the stage for implementing the removal of the barrier and eventually reconnect 41 miles of upstream habitat, including 34 miles of high-quality eastern brook trout habitat, in a state-designated coldwater fishery resource.
$89,995
Eastern Research Group
Resilience Knowledge Capture and Transfer (MA)
Identify and capture best practices and lessons learned from resilience practitioners and use them to develop learning products to help enhance the technical capacity of practitioners and decision makers so they may effectively implement resilience projects. Project will draw upon the knowledge base acquired from the implementation of a portfolio of large-scale resilience projects funded by NFWF, NOAA, and the DOI, and by documenting and sharing effective approaches for overcoming common challenges that have hindered project implementation in the past, project will result in more successful projects delivering greater impact that will be sustainable over the long-term.
$190,933
Fishing Partnership Support Services
Developing the Next Generation of Massachusetts Fishermen Through a Registered Apprentice Program
Increase the fisheries workforce by training the next generation of professional fishermen. Project will utilize a four-week apprentice program registered with the state of Massachusetts to train the next generation of fishermen and improve safety, profitability, and conservation in the New England groundfish, scallop and lobster fisheries.
$65,000
Friends of the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge
Peer-to-Peer Conference: “Creating Stronger and More Effective Friends Groups in Massachusetts”
Host a Peer-to-Peer coaching event and convene five Friends groups at Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge. Project will focus on increasing organizational capacity, developing mechanisms for sharing resources and conservation practices, and increasing volunteerism for participating Friends organizations.
$5,364
Friends of Herring River
Permitting and Final Design for Herring River Tidal Restoration in Cape Cod (MA)
Remove or replace man-made barriers to tidal flow to install an innovative tidal control infrastructure, which will allow tidal flow to be increased incrementally. Project will restore more than 890 acres of degraded former estuarine habitat and restore salt marsh and other native estuarine habitats throughout the river and its connected sub-basins, resulting in ecological and economic benefits to the region, Cape Cod Bay and the Gulf of Maine.
$300,000
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Scaling Maximized Retention Electronic Monitoring in the Northeast Groundfish Fishery (MA, ME, NH, RI)
Expand the Maximized Retention Electronic Monitoring program by adding three to four vessels to the electronic monitoring fleet and refining in person dockside monitoring. Project will conduct outreach to vessels, assess the economic impacts of this programs previous years for fishermen, and continue review of collected electronic monitoring data.
$405,000
Housatonic Valley Association
Developing a Municipal Culvert Cooperative to Improve Fish Passage in the Housatonic River (CT, MA)
Create a municipal culvert cooperative that builds on years of road-stream crossing assessments and replacement planning work in the Housatonic River of western Massachusetts and northwest Connecticut. Project will complete 10 shovel-ready culvert designs and utilize two demonstration sites to show other municipalities best practices for stream restoration that benefit native brook trout and reduce flood hazard risks.
$151,510
Industrial Economics
Assessing the Socio-economic Impacts of Coastal and Emergency Resilience Projects (MA)
Collect data on the core socio-economic metrics to measure and model the impact of about 60 projects funded through NFWF programs. Project will estimate the extent to which these resilience projects reduce the risk of flooding to communities from coastal storms, sea level rise, and nuisance flooding, and in the event of a significant flood event, determine the extent to which these resilience projects mitigated actual damage.
$485,366
Integrated Monitoring
Implementing Wireless Electronic Monitoring and Reporting Tools in New England (MA, ME,NH, RI)
Expand broadband, wireless electronic reporting to high volume fishing vessels in New England, including ground fish vessels, limited access scallop vessels, and charter vessels. Project will demonstrate the scalability and transferability of wireless electronic monitoring technology and electronic reporting using broadband vessel monitoring system.
$229,530
Manomet
Coordinating American Oystercatcher Recovery on the Atlantic Coast (multiple states)
Provide coordination of the American oystercatcher recovery initiative and actionable change based on lessons learned from 2009-2019 and reduce the impact of predators and human disturbance on populations of breeding shorebirds along the U.S. Atlantic coast. Project will contribute substantially to the goals of the Atlantic Flyway Business Plan.
$79,999
Mystic River Watershed Association
Creating a Trash Free Mystic River (MA)
Enhance 66 acres of the Torbert Macdonald Park in the lower basin of the Mystic River by engaging 200 community volunteers, educating 10 teachers and providing stewardship opportunities to an additional 200 youths. Project will include land surveys to gather data on density of trash, removal and categorization of trash, and public events such as using canoes to keep urban waterways and riverfronts clean.
$34,583
New Bedford Port Authority
Collection of Derelict Fishing Gear in New Bedford, Massachusetts
Collect and recycle or convert to energy fishing gear from the Port of New Bedford, Massachusetts, the nation’s most valuable commercial fishing port since 2001, home to approximately 350 commercial fishing vessels and 150 out-of-state fishing vessels. Project will recycle or convert to energy 86 tons of fishing gear, including nets and lobster pots.
$9,696
New England Marine Monitoring
Integrating Artificial Intelligence Algorithms to Strengthen Electronic Monitoring (MA, ME, NH, RI)
Integrate existing artificial intelligence algorithms into electronic monitoring review, transmission, and storage workflows to reduce program costs. Project will advance the artificial intelligence used in the New England Groundfish electronic monitoring fisheries to automate catch accounting and streamline data storage thus addressing management priorities.
$241,109
Northern Middlesex Council of Governments
Habitat Restoration and Trail and Park Visioning around Merrimack River (MA)
Restore nearly 2 acres of degraded riverine habitat in a highly urbanized section of the Merrimack River. Project will engage 150 volunteers to remove invasive plants and replace with native flora of high habitat value and remove trash from 2 miles of riverfront for the benefit of riparian ecosystems and native bird species.
$38,291
Rich Earth Institute
Deploying a Nitrogen Reclamation Project in the Long Island Sound Watershed — III (VT)
Enhance the deployment of nitrogen reclamation technology in Windham County, Vermont, Franklin County, Massachusetts and Cheshire County, New Hampshire. Project will divert 150 pounds of nitrogen annually from entering the Connecticut River and downstream to Long Island Sound.
$96,734
Springfield Water and Sewer Commission
Reducing Nitrogen into Long Island Sound at the Springfield Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility (MA)
Install instruments to enhance nitrogen removal at the Springfield Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility in Springfield, Massachusetts. Project will eliminate 3,000 pounds of effluent total inorganic nitrogen annually that is currently loading from the plant into the Connecticut River and downstream to Long Island Sound.
$290,385
The Trustees of Reservations
Using Salt Marsh Habitat Restoration for Resiliency (MA)
Implement and monitor ditch remediation to restore salt marsh in Massachusetts’ Great Marsh. Project will reverse salt marsh subsidence, reestablish and maintain high marsh habitat, improve coastal resilience and demonstrate ditch remediation as a viable and cost-effective restoration strategy at the landscape level.
$217,931
Town of Chatham
Recycling Fishing Gear to Protect Fish and Wildlife and Reduce Derelict Fishing Gear in Chatham, Massachusetts
Recycle previously used fishing gear from local fisherman in the Town of Chatham, Massachusetts, one of the biggest fishing communities on Cape Cod. Project will recycle or convert to energy 35 tons of fishing gear, including fishing rope, monofilament line, nets, heavy metal traps, light metal coated traps, dredges, nets, and buoys in order to protect fish and wildlife populations and reduce pollution during the peak beach season.
$10,000
Town of Montague Planning Department
Green Infrastructure to Reduce Nitrogen Pollution at Montague Town Hall (MA)
Construct green infrastructure in a paved lot near the Connecticut River in Turners Falls, Massachusetts. Project will prevent 77,882 gallons of polluted stormwater and 27 pounds of nitrogen from entering the Connecticut River and then downstream to Long Island Sound annually.
$10,642
Town of Provincetown
Recovery and Recycling of Abandoned Fishing Gear in the Town of Provincetown (MA)
Support the responsible recovery of abandoned fishing gear and limit offshore disposal practices in the lobster, sea scallop, groundfish, squid, mackerel and menhaden fisheries in Provincetown’s MacMillian Pier, home to a fishing fleet of over 55 vessels. Project will collect approximately 70 tons of fishing gear, including lobster pots and cages, net, ropes, lines and chains.
$12,000
Town of Rockport
Collection of Gear for Scallop, Lobster and Fishing Industries in the Town of Rockport (MA)
Collect and recycle or convert to energy old, unused and broken fishing gear for the scallop, lobster and fishing industries in the Town of Rockport, Massachusetts. Project will recycle or convert to energy 4 tons of fishing gear and serve approximately 40 fishermen with the disposal of rope, monofilament line, nets, heavy metal traps, light metal plastic coated traps, dredges, nets and buoy.
$11,904
Town of Scituate
Recover and Consolidate Fishing Gear in the Town of Scituate (MA)
Work with the commercial fishing industry, volunteers, and Town of Scituate employees to recover and consolidate fishing gear in Cape Cod and Massachusetts Bays. Project will collect 54 tons of fishing gear, including plastic coated traps, heavy metal traps, heavy traps, nets, buoys, line, rope and monofilament nets.
$10,000
Town of Wellfleet
Collection of Derelict Gear from Shellfish Aquaculture and Fishing Fleets in Wellfleet (MA)
Collect derelict gear from shellfish aquaculture farmers and fishing fleets operating in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Project will recycle or convert to energy 190 tons of aquaculture and fishing gear, including plastic nets, bags, buckets, metal cages, rebar, racks, zip-ties, buoys, wood frames, and rope, supporting the large aquaculture industry that employs 15 percent of Wellfleet’s population and reducing beach and coastal pollution during the peak beach season.
$3,900
Trout Unlimited
Restoring Instream Habitat and Engaging Private Landowners to Improve Fish Passage (MA, NY, VT)
Restore instream and riparian forest habitat in priority locations based on previous outreach and training to private landowners, municipalities, and forestry professionals. Project will add large woody material to 5 miles of stream, restore 5 miles of adjacent riparian forest to create habitat for native brook and complete 90-percent designs for three aquatic barriers to be removed in the future.
$133,842
Wildlife Management Institute
Enhancing Forest Habitat for New England Cottontails, Golden-Winged Warbler and American Woodcock (multiple states)
Enhance participation in Farm Bill programs by supporting habitat biologists and outreach specialists to interface with private landowners to provide young forest habitat for more than 50 Species of Conservation Need in New England. Project will develop forest management plans that utilize existing Best Management Practices, develop healthy diverse forest age classes, and protect riparian habitat values, improving management on 200 acres.
$156,290