Georgia

Decatur Legacy Project
Legacy Park Restoration and Environmental Education (GA)
Provide erosion and sediment build-up mitigation through the installation of a boardwalk along 77-acre pond site. Project will expand recreational opportunities to create a welcoming and engaging place for a strong and diverse community, providing safer access to the pond and wetlands for students participating in environmental field trips, while also facilitating greenspace preservation, building affordable housing and artist spaces.
$50,000

Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District
Water Conservation in the Lower Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin (GA)
Expand adoption of water conservation practices within the lower Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River basin orchard industry through capacity building and outreach. Project will reach over 1,000 local producers and partners and implement irrigation efficiency practices/management plans across 400 acres, and provide flow resiliency to benefit state and federally listed species, such as the gulf sturgeon, gulf striped bass, Dougherty plain cave crayfish, and the Georgia blind salamander.
$49,839

Forest Landowners Association
Engaging Large-Scale Landowners for Longleaf Pine Restoration (Multiple States)
Establish 2,500 acres of longleaf pine and improve 5,500 acres of existing longleaf forest with prescribed fire on large-acreage private lands within the historical longleaf pine range. Project will address barriers to restoring longleaf pine on large-acreage private lands by building trust among stakeholders to achieve collaborative conservation for at-risk and listed species, and providing technical and financial assistance to support planting and management of longleaf pine.
$250,000

Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Estimating the Northbound Passage Population of Red Knot in the Georgia Bight (GA, SC)
Assess the red knot population along the coast of Georgia and South Carolina through band resighting, trapping and tagging to provide a population estimate and inform the management of Red Knot in the Georgia Bight. Project will fill critical data gaps on Red Knot to help guide habitat management and assess life-cycle threats for red knots and other high priority shorebird species.
$75,000

Georgia Forestry Commission
Restoring Longleaf Pine and Bottomland Hardwood Habitats on Private Lands in South Georgia
Engage family forest landowners in a 37-county southern Georgia priority area to improve longleaf pine and bottomland hardwood habitat for at-risk species, such as gopher tortoise and eastern indigo snake, through the promotion of prescribed fire and plantings. Project will provide outreach and assistance to approximately 300 forest owners and improve management practices on more than 11,750 acres of high-priority longleaf pine habitat and 150 acres of bottomland hardwood habitat.
$450,000

Georgia Forestry Commission
Restoring Shortleaf Pine and Oak Habitat in the Georgia Cumberlands - II
Restore and enhance shortleaf pine and shortleaf pine-oak savannah habitat on private lands in north western Georgia, benefiting northern bobwhite, prairie warbler, pine warbler, Bachman’s sparrow and other forest dependent birds. Project will establish 300 acres of shortleaf pine and enhance an additional 1,800 acres of existing shortleaf pine and shortleaf pine-oak savannah habitat with prescribed burning and mid-rotation management techniques.
$260,000

Georgia Wildlife Federation
Restoring Wildlife Habitat and Longleaf Pine on Private Lands in Georgia
Identify and engage at least 40 landowners to provide one-on-one wildlife and forestry technical assistance to establish and enhance 2,350 acres of longleaf pine habitat, and enhance 150 acres of bottomland hardwoods on private lands in Georgia. Project will focus on wildlife habitat management as an entry point to private lands management and collaborate with partners on outreach needs with a specific focus on lands between and adjacent to Longleaf Significant Geographic Areas.
$300,000

Manomet
Coordinating American Oystercatcher Recovery and Conservation along the Atlantic Coast (multiple states)
Coordinate the American Oystercatcher recovery initiative, conduct a range-wide aerial survey to count all wintering oystercatchers along the Southeast Atlantic and Gulf coasts (United States), and reduce the impact of predators and human disturbance on populations of coastal breeding shorebirds. Project will support the goals of the Atlantic Flyway Business Plan by creating a framework for long-term protection, restoration, and creation of shorebird habitat at key sites.
$205,000

Manomet
Western Atlantic Flyway Whimbrel Conservation Program (Multiple States)
Expand on efforts to coordinate conservation and monitor declining whimbrel populations using the western Atlantic Flyway. Project will increase coordination of whimbrel partners working throughout the flyway, address information gaps on whimbrel ecology and demography, and continue development of a monitoring program built around night roosts.
$120,000

National Wildlife Federation
Engaging Underserved Landowners for Longleaf Pine Restoration (Multiple States)
Expand outreach, education, and technical and financial resources for historically underserved landowners to restore and manage longleaf pine habitat across the longleaf pine range. Partners will engage 500 landowners through outreach events, workshops, demonstration sites and hands-on trainings to restore and manage more than 1,000 acres of longleaf pine habitat benefiting Bachman’s sparrow, northern bobwhite and other longleaf-dependent species.
$425,000

New Jersey Audubon Society
Surveying American Horseshoe Crab as a Critical Element of Red Knot Conservation (Multiple States)
Implement surveys and recovery metrics used in Delaware Bay to characterize and track the status of horseshoe crab populations in six Atlantic Coast states. Project will inform natural resource agencies, supporting the recovery of horseshoe crab populations outside of Delaware Bay, with a goal of rebuilding a network of shorebird stopovers, and advancing the recovery of rufa red knot and other Arctic-nesting shorebirds.
$60,000

Okefenokee Swamp Park
Okefenokee Swamp Park Invasive Species Removal and Habitat Restoration (GA)
Restore a half-acre subsection of land in the Okefenokee Swamp in Southeastern Georgia through the removal of invasive plant species and replanting of native species. Project will engage five community partners, 300 K-12 students and 20 local community volunteers in active invasive species removal, native species replanting, education and protection of the watershed.
$25,463

Paint Rock Forest Research Center
Southern Cumberlands Shortleaf Pine Seed and Seedling Initiative (AL, GA, TN)
Address the lack of genetically appropriate shortleaf pine seed and seedling resources for reforestation and restoration. Project will identify appropriate seed banks within Tennessee and Alabama; collect seeds to support three years of propagation; send seeds to processing and storage centers; select appropriate nurseries for propagation; produce over 75,000 seedlings ready for distribution to vetted projects in the second year of the grant; and develop plans for a permanent seed orchard.
$266,935

Southern Conservation Trust
The Ridge Nature Area: Ecological Restoration Plan (GA)
Restore ecological diversity of the Ridge Nature Area, located in Fayetteville, Georgia, by removing invasive plant species and installing native vegetation. Project will utilize best management practices to increase biodiversity, support existing wildlife and attract additional species.
$35,000

The Longleaf Alliance
Advancing Longleaf Restoration and Management in the Fort Stewart/Altamaha Area (GA)
Develop a conservation plan for the Fort Stewart/Altamaha Longleaf Partnership, engage private landowners through outreach and technical assistance, and support longleaf pine habitat management and reforestation benefiting the red-cockaded woodpecker, Bachman’s sparrow, gopher tortoise and associated fauna species. Project will implement 17,250 acres of prescribed fire, remove encroaching hardwoods and thin pine stands to improve habitat on 2,225 acres and plant 530 acres of longleaf pine.
$375,000

The Nature Conservancy
Expanding Longleaf Pine Restoration in the Talladega Mountains (AL, GA)
Restore and maintain the unique montane longleaf ecosystem in the foothills of the Appalachians in Alabama and Georgia through the increased use of prescribed fire and support of longleaf pine reforestation efforts. Prescribed fire crews will assist public and private landowners, including Talladega National Forest, with burning 20,000 acres of longleaf pine habitat and partners will restore 2,125 acres of longleaf through plantings, and will target 400 landowners through outreach and education.
$375,000

The Nature Conservancy
Improving Fish Passage for Aquatic Organisms in the Holly Creek Watershed of Northwest Georgia (II)
Improve connectivity in the Holly Creek watershed in Northwest Georgia by replacing an undersized plastic culvert at Yellow Creek and Piney Road, which will open 1.9 miles of fish passage. Project will address a significant barrier to aquatic species passage and greatly reduce sediment loading from active erosion around the culvert, benefiting species including the trispot darter, bridled darter, blue shiner, Coosa creekshell and Alabama rainbow.
$250,000

The Nature Conservancy
Improving Longleaf Pine Habitat in the Apalachicola Partnership Landscape (FL, GA)
Restore and manage more than 32,000 acres of longleaf pine habitat within the Florida Panhandle located between the Aucilla and Choctawhatchee rivers. Project will plant longleaf pine, implement prescribed fire, thinning and invasive species treatments in existing longleaf habitat on the Apalachicola National Forest and other public lands, and provide financial assistance to private landowners to restore longleaf pine, improving habitat for the eastern indigo snake and Bachman’s sparrow.
$450,000

Trees Atlanta
Better Forests for Cleaner Streams - Proctor Creek Greenway Forest Restoration (GA)
Improve and restore 10.6 acres of upland pine, late succession and wetland forest through invasive species removal, native replanting, on-site volunteer education and community engagement along Proctor Creek in Atlanta, Georgia. Project will plant 150 native shrubs and 150 native trees to repopulate the understory forest layer, engage 200 volunteers, work with 400 members of the community through outreach and education and reach 22,500 people with promotional material on the project’s benefits.
$41,656

University of Georgia Research Foundation
Nature-Based Restoration of Shoals in the Conasauga River (GA, TN)
Restore three shoals in the in the Upper Conasauga River mainstem through the addition of logs and the re-establishment of American water willow and riverweed. Project will improve habitat quality for imperiled fishes and mussels within the Conasauga River, a hot spot for freshwater biodiversity, and provide information essential to the management and conservation of target species.
$213,340

WaterWays
Chattanooga Creek Education, Litter Abatement and Nature-based Infrastructure (TN, GA)
Provide environmental workshops for community adults, monitor microplastics, E. coli, and chemical parameters of water quality and install nature-based infrastructure and trees in neighborhoods along the Chattanooga Creek Watershed. Project will remove over 1 ton of litter from watershed, and compile data for one year leading to long-term litter reduction plan while educating over 200 4th graders.
$50,147