New York

Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
Establishing Builders Institute to Expand Capacity for Clean Water (multiple states)
Increase regional capacity to implement watershed restoration and conservation projects more efficiently and effectively by establishing a Chesapeake Capacity Builders Institute. Project will engage 130 watershed stewardship leaders in piloting efforts to build and enhance collective watershed project management.
$399,093

Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
Jump-starting Organic Valley’s Dairy Sustainability Strategy in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed (MD, NY, PA, VA)
Partner with Organic Valley to provide cost-effective agricultural conservation practices to manage agricultural runoff, improve water quality and wildlife habitat, and address climate change on organic dairy farms in the Bay watershed. Project will restore 5 miles of riparian habitat and engage an additional 200 volunteers in implementing on-farm conservation practices.
$500,000

American Farmland Trust
Advancing Regenerative Agriculture Adoption on Women-Owned Farms through Peer-to-Peer Learning (NY)
Provide interactive, farmer-led, technical events targeting women landowners to showcase practical on-farm regenerative agriculture. Project will accelerate the implementation of comprehensive regenerative agriculture practices on over 1,200 acres on four women-owned farms in New York’s Great Lakes watershed through leveraging existing peer-to-peer networks and strong technical service provider partnerships.
$350,000

Association of State Floodplain Managers
Strengthening Coastal Communities Resilience in the Great Lakes Region (multiple states)
Engage coastal shoreline communities in the Great Lakes region in a formal scenario-based process to identify local flood vulnerabilities and to convene complementary regional capacity building workshops to help participating communities prioritize strategies and projects that address identified vulnerabilities. Project will give coastal communities a better understanding of local coastal resilience issues and how to incorporate nature-based solution into plans, and build regional collaboration.
$260,851

Bronx River Alliance
Bronx River Environmental Enrichment and Leadership for Students (EELS) (NY)
Connect students with learning and professional development opportunities and college credit through the Bronx River Environmental Enrichment and Leadership for Students (EELS) program in the Bronx, New York. Project will introduce a more diverse community of young people to conservation education and career experiences focused on the Bronx River and Long Island Sound.
$77,556

Citizens Campaign Fund for the Environment
Developing a Long Island Sound Student Action Plan-II (NY)
Deliver hands-on environmental education and stewardship activities focused on addressing challenges to restoration and protection of the health and living resources of Long Island Sound, New York. Project will develop the next generation of environmental leaders.
$100,000

Citizens Campaign Fund for the Environment
Nature-based Infrastructure to Improve Water Quality in Northport Harbor and Long Island Sound (NY)
Install 27,334 square feet of nature-based infrastructure in Northport, New York. Project will install a bioretention rain garden to capture, store, and filter contaminants and 17,040 gallons of stormwater from Northport Harbor and Long Island Sound.
$60,001

City Island Oyster Reef
Designing Oyster Reef Restoration Sites on City Island and Long Island Sound (NY)
Complete design and permitting for two oyster reefs and conduct public environmental education and stewardship activities in City Island, Bronx, New York. Project will set the stage to restore wild oysters and an important coastal habitat of Long Island Sound.
$263,750

City of Buffalo
Nature-based Infrastructure and Urban Reforestation at Ralph C. Wilson Junior Centennial Park (NY)
Install 1,650 trees and shrubs at Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park located in Buffalo, New York. Project will capture 132,000 gallons of water and 61,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per year while providing much needed services to the local residents by closing a nature gap in Buffalo.
$750,000

City of Corning
Denison Park Stormwater and Nature-based Infrastructure Plan (NY)
Complete a Stormwater and Nature-based infrastructure Plan for Denison Park, Corning’s most visited and largest park, located adjacent to the Chemung River. Project will identify nature-based infrastructure solutions to address urban stormwater and ensure that water quality of the Chemung River is protected consistent with the City’s 2020 Park Strategy.
$75,000

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County
Marshes and Mussels: New Tools to Enhance Coastal Restoration and Resilience (NY)
Deploy new methods combining ribbed mussels and cordgrass to restore degraded shoreline marshes in Centerport Harbor, New York. Project will provide an innovative tool for natural living shoreline restoration to enhance community coastal resilience around Long Island Sound.
$249,050

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County
Reducing Marine Debris by Removing Derelict Lobster Gear from Long Island Sound-II (CT, NY)
Remove derelict lobster pots from 18 square miles of marine waters in Connecticut and New York. Project will collect 43.5 metric tons of marine debris, restoring the marine environment of Long Island Sound.
$115,841

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County
Reducing Marine Debris in Long Island Sound Deploying Innovative Floating Litter Traps (NY)
Reduce marine debris and plastic pollution by deploying “Seabin” floating litter traps in Oyster Bay and Hempstead Harbor, New York. Project will remove 1,800 pounds of marine debris and pilot innovative technology to address litter and other forms of floatable pollution in marinas and ports around Long Island Sound.
$81,341

Delaware River Basin Commission
Water Resource Management Studies across the Delaware River Basin (DE, NJ, NY, PA)
Increase and enhance water security for fish, wildlife, and humans in the Delaware River Basin by advancing research in water resource management through the completion of studies comprising four critical components of water security to understand disparities in water security in overburdened communities and water resiliency. Project will generate findings that will be used for future water security planning efforts.
$866,938

Friends of the Bay
Expanding Oyster Spawning Sanctuaries in Oyster Bay and Cold Spring Harbor (NY)
Expand and monitor oyster spawning sanctuaries in the Oyster Bay-Cold Spring Harbor Complex, New York. Project will contribute to the restoration of these native shellfish and their habitat in Long Island Sound.
$86,815

Friends of the Upper Delaware River
Building Capacity in the Willowemoc with the Climate Corps to Support Recovery and Resiliency (NY)
Build the technical and community capacity in the Upper Delaware to accelerate restoration and improvement projects that will benefit eastern brook trout recovery and community resiliency. Project will form an Upper Delaware River Climate Corps, which will supply a conservation workforce needed in the region.
$463,667

Genesee RiverWatch
Stabilizing and Restoring Riparian and Stream Habitat at Rush Creek (NY)
Restore riparian and stream habitat using toe wood construction to stabilize sections of Rush Creek, placing root wad structures, and clearing the accumulated gravel while redirecting discharge of the creek. Project will stabilize the last 2,600 feet of Rush Creek to reduce sediment and phosphorus discharges to the Genesee River.
$212,469

Groundwork Hudson Valley
Exemplary Trees for Critical Habitats: Hudson Valley Restoration (NJ, NY, PA)
Conduct habitat restoration work across three areas involving riparian, swamp and upland environments in the Hudson Valley. Project will engage 30-50 youth and over 75 local volunteers in reforestation activities to restore 3 acres, improve management on 15 acres of habitat and plant 500 trees.
$49,938

Guardians of Flushing Bay
Innovative Nature-based Infrastructure and Coastal Resilience Design for Flushing Creek (NY)
Develop a nature-based infrastructure and living shoreline design in collaboration with the community for a project along Flushing Creek, Queens, New York. Project will integrate innovative nature-based techniques that can be applied along urban waterfronts to improve water quality, filter stormwater, enhance shoreline resilience, and connect communities to local waterways and Long Island Sound.
$203,934

Housatonic Valley Association
Preventing Pollution with Nature-based Infrastructure in Wells Brook and the Long Island Sound (NY)
Construct nature-based infrastructure in a paved area at two commercial locations near Wells Brook, Town of Dover, New York. Project will prevent 17.28 pounds of nitrogen annually from entering the Wells Brook, a tributary of two rivers that flow downstream to Long Island Sound.
$51,313

Long Island Community Foundation
Delivery of the Long Island Sound Community Stewardship Fund Program-IV (CT, NY)
Deliver the Long Island Sound Stewardship Fund of the Long Island Sound Funders Collaborative (LISFC) in the Long Island Sound Study boundaries of Connecticut and New York. Project will enhance the partnership between LISFC and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency around the common mission of restoring and protecting the health and living resources of the Sound
$150,000

Manhattan College
Living Shorelines, Living Classrooms, Living Communities (NY)
Living shorelines will be utilized to improve water quality for a 14 acre lake in the Bronx, which is an impoundment on a Harlem River tributary. Project will engage two local non-profits, 100 community volunteers and provide environmental education programs for 120 K-12 aged students where they will work to reduce pollutants in the lake and become stewards of their watershed.
$42,321

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

Nassau County Museum of Art
Restoring Coastal Grassland at the William Cullen Bryant Preserve (NY)
Restore coastal grassland and use the restored grassland to educate visitors about the environment at the William Cullen Bryant Preserve, Roslyn Harbor, New York. Project will restore an important coastal habitat of Long Island Sound.
$76,900

National Audubon Society
Be a Good Egg: Share the Shore with Shorebirds around Long Island Sound-V (NY)
Deliver “Be a Good Egg,” an environmental education program in the Long Island Sound watershed of New York. Project will increase support for coastal conservation and engage people in actions that help shorebirds thrive in important coastal habitats of the Sound.
$62,562

National Wildlife Federation
Building and Advancing Capacity of Chesapeake Nonprofits to Accelerate Water Quality Improvements (multiple states)
Coordinate efforts to create a more inclusive and diverse Chesapeake Bay watershed restoration movement and support regional and watershed-wide convenings to improve collaboration and impact among nearly 300 nonprofits working towards Bay restoration.
$286,543

National Wildlife Federation
Creating the Delaware River Watershed Conservation Blueprint
Create a science-based Conservation Blueprint to help guide where and when to invest resources for restoration and conservation in the Delaware River Watershed. Project will facilitate the creation of a roadmap that includes the parameters of the Blueprint, the selection of a technical provider, and the paneling of Basin partners to assist in the development of a science-based, landscape-scale strategy that builds upon the existing strategic and conservation plans of partners throughout the Basin, and a coordination mechanism that reflects and balances the preferences and views of the partners.
$213,955

Natural Areas Conservancy
Engaging Community Stewards to Manage Coastal Forest in Seton Falls Park (NY)
Train and educate local stewards to enhance 32 acres of coastal forest, Seton Falls Park, Bronx, New York. Project will enhance long-term stewardship and refine strategies for community natural resources management of this forest, an important coastal habitat of Long Island Sound.
$62,277

New Jersey Audubon Society
Building Capacity for Conservation Projects through a Mentored Small Grant Program (DE, NJ, NY PA)
Administer a small grants restoration program to provide peer mentoring opportunities to prospective grantees in the Delaware River Basin. Project will assist organizations and community groups in capacity building through on-the-ground restoration projects with an outcome of a cleaner, healthier, and more equitable and coordinated Delaware River watershed.
$439,952

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

New York City Audubon Society
Engaging Communities in Bird Conservation: Restoration, Monitoring, Education and Birding (NY)
Restore and monitor 2 acres of habitat within New York City’s Harlem River watershed to reduce stormwater runoff and increase biodiversity and conduct collision surveys of 12 building sites to address urban hazards for migratory birds. Project will engage 700 adults and students in hands-on conservation, environmental education and birding, enhance 2.5 acres of native wet meadow and upland meadow habitat for migratory and nesting birds and support local watershed and natural resource management.
$49,999

New York Restoration Project
Community Restoration, Reforestation, and Monitoring in Highbridge Park Urban Forest (NY)
Restore 1.5 acres and manage 50 acres of urban forest along the Harlem River by removing invasives, reforesting, and monitoring tree health. Project will engage 7 local partners and 380 volunteers to plant 1,020 native trees, create 1 new acre of native forest, restore a half-acre of understory, manage 50 acres to control and prevent invasive vegetation, and conduct research on experimental plantings of American chestnut.
$49,790

Open Space Institute Land Trust
Installing Green Stormwater Infrastructure for Buffalo Parks (NY)
Reduce stormwater and nutrient pollutant outflow and improve the health and resilience at two parks in Buffalo through addition of nature-based infrastructure and tree plantings. Project will add stormwater storage capacity to capture approximately 138,000 gallons of stormwater per year and enhance neighborhood greenspace for local communities.
$416,400

Riverkeeper
Site Assessment and Design for Walsh Road Dam Removal (NY)
Conduct a site assessment and produce an engineering design to remove the obsolete Walsh Road Dam in New Windsor, NY. Project will improve community resilience by reducing flooding risks and restore critical habitat for American eel, river herring, blue crab, brown trout, and both species of black bass.
$329,943

Rockaway Waterfront Alliance
Restoring the Rockaway Waterfront Dunes - Phase II (NY)
Develop a final design to enhance 4.3 miles of coastal dunes along the Atlantic shoreline through an integrated community-driven framework. Project will use innovative, nature-based practices and engage with community-based organizations in shoreline enhancement, management and monitoring while making the community and it’s dune system more resilient.
$455,848

Rocking the Boat
Engaging Local Youth Through Seaweed Farming to Improve Water Quality in the Long Island Sound (NY)
Install a seaweed farm engaging 120 young people in growing, harvesting, and producing nitrogen-rich fertilizer for community gardens and other organizations on the Bronx River, New York. Project will demonstrate a model to reduce nitrogen pollution by seaweed “bioextraction” and create an alternative to synthetic fertilizers to improve water quality in the Bronx River and Long Island Sound.
$72,163

Save the Sound
Restoring Big Rock Wetland for Marsh and Community Resilience, Phase I (NY)
Establish a natural shoreline along Memorial Field in Udalls Cove, Little Neck Bay, Queens, New York. Project will restore the shoreline to reduce erosion from storms and engage the local community, public schools, and university students in environmental stewardship.
$604,461

Sisters of St. Joseph
Forest Restoration and Farmland Habitat (NY)
Improve ecosystem function, stormwater infiltration, habitat value, resilience and connectivity in 8 acres of successional woodland using invasive removal and native plantings in Brentwood, New York. Project will improve management and utilization on 16 acres of adjoining organic farms while fostering community relationship with the land.
$32,435

Sullivan County
Callicoon Riverside Park Restoration (NY)
Purchase and clean up 38 acres of land in the town of Delaware, New York. Project will perform site remediation at a former RV campground including removal of debris build-up, invasive species removal, installation of welcome signs and development of rustic trails for public use.
$317,335

Sustainable Chesapeake
Improving Nutrient Management Programs through Collaboration (multiple states)
Improve nutrient management program delivery by facilitating collaboration among nutrient management leaders throughout the Chesapeake Bay region. Project will improve collaboration among land grant universities in the region, working across state lines with those leading the development of agricultural nutrient management recommendations across the watershed.
$65,910

The Nature Conservancy
Increasing Capacity for Improving Aquatic Passageways to Accelerate Habitat Improvement in Delaware River (DE, NJ, NY, PA)
Add capacity and expertise for aquatic passage restoration in the Delaware River Basin by leveraging an existing collaboration and offering new training opportunities throughout the basin. Project will support efficient habitat restoration, increase recreation, and reduce risk by increasing capacity and expertise among conservation practitioners, fish and wildlife agencies, local governments, and dam safety programs.
$106,965

The Nature Conservancy
Long Island Sound Coastal Watershed Network (CT, NY)
Expand opportunities for members to share resources, best practices, and innovative ideas and build capacity advance local and regional strategies that target pollution from sewage, stormwater, fertilizers, and marine debris. Project will deliver programs that foster shared learning about ways to address pollution problems and engage members of the community, promoting cleaner, healthier waters in Long Island Sound.
$215,000

Tioga County Soil and Water Conservation District of New York
Embracing and Promoting Afforestation in the Riparian Corridor and Beyond (PA, NY)
Accelerate tree planting in riparian and upland areas of the Upper Susquehanna watershed through proven programs and existing soil and water conservation district partners, while expanding community partnerships for tree planting and stewardship. Project will result in 30,000 new trees planted across more than 100 acres.
$500,000

Tioga County Soil and Water Conservation District of New York
Fueling Natural Filter Restoration in the Headwaters of the Upper Susquehanna Watershed (NY, PA)
Provide flexible funding and technical assistance opportunities for natural filter restoration and protection in the Upper Susquehanna Watershed of New York and Pennsylvania. Project will identify and implement high priority projects that provide ecosystem benefits such as improving habitat and addressing water quality and quantity.
$1,000,000

Town of Brookhaven
Oyster Planting to Improve Water Quality in Long Island Sound-II (NY)
Plant 200,000 American oysters and assess their potential to both remove or “bioextract” pollution and repopulate a historic fishery in Port Jefferson Harbor, New York. Project will remove 130 pounds of nitrogen pollution annually from a harbor of Long Island Sound.
$79,640

Trout Unlimited
Expanding Brook Trout Habitat Reconnection and Restoration Efforts in New York
Enhance and increase eastern brook trout populations in Wylie Brook and Butternut Creek through riparian forest restoration and improved planning, assessment, and design of future restoration actions. Project will expand landowner outreach, complete road stream crossing assessments, and improve collection of species biomass data to inform ongoing restoration efforts.
$359,159

Trout Unlimited
Reconnecting Coldwater Habitat for Brook Trout in Black River (NY)
Replace two priority culverts to reconnect 7.5 miles for native brook trout in the Black River watershed. Project will improve the quality and connectivity of coldwater streams in the Great Lakes and Adirondack region and complete approximately 350 culvert assessments expanding and coordinating work with local municipalities and partners to restore coldwater habitat and flood resiliency.
$319,636

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Community Infrastructure Improvement Project in the Upper Delaware River (NY)
Implement nature-based solutions to support prioritized aquatic organism passage projects in the Upper Delaware River. Project will replace three culverts, reconnecting over 4 miles of stream for brook trout while also completing a fish passage barrier removal feasibility study, setting the stage for reconnecting over 15 miles of the East Branch Delaware River.
$635,484

University of Connecticut
Developing a Conservation and Climate Adaptation Plan for Great Gull Island (NY)
Develop a climate and shoreline adaptation, monitoring, and management plan for common and roseate terns at Great Gull Island, New York. Project will establish a roadmap for conservation of rare species of Long Island Sound.
$399,997

Village of Sea Cliff
Hempstead Harbor Water Quality Monitoring Program (NY)
Conduct water quality monitoring in Hempstead Harbor, Nassau County, New York. Project will inform management of Hempstead Harbor, a waterbody that feeds Long Island Sound.
$100,000