Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund 2022 Awards

Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, Marine Environmental Sciences Consortium
Fowl River Watershed Restoration: Coastal Spits and Wetlands - Phase II
Increase ecological resilience within the lower reach of the Fowl River by enhancing marsh elevation and stabilizing shorelines of five marsh-covered spits in the watershed’s transitional zone between upstream fresh water and downstream brackish water. Project activities aim to stabilize up to 12,600 linear feet of shoreline and restore 40 acres of marsh habitat.
$19,798,000

Mobile County Commission
Lower Halls Mill Creek Protection
Acquire and permanently protect approximately 300 acres of wetland habitat in the Dog River Watershed. Acquisition of the subject tracts will permanently protect them from commercial or residential development and preserve unique tidally influenced marshes in the Dog River watershed that support many species of shellfish, finfish, birds, and other wildlife of the type directly impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
$2,687,000

Town of Dauphin Island
Dauphin Island Beach Nourishment: Engineering and Design
Complete 30 percent engineering and design activities as Phase I of a multi-phase restoration effort to restore beach and dune habitats located along the western end of Dauphin Island. This project aims to restore and maintain the ecological functions of the coastal habitat to ensure its viability against current and future threats while also restoring and protecting habitat for a variety of living resources on the island and within Mississippi Sound.
$1,143,000

Town of Dauphin Island
Graveline Bay Marsh Restoration - Phase II
Restore tidal wetland habitat, a natural first line of defense against storm surge and rising sea levels in Graveline Bay on Dauphin Island’s north shore. The project is expected to provide habitat for coastal birds and other wildlife and create needed nursery habitat for fish and shellfish. Additionally, this project will enhance the resiliency of Dauphin Island to future coastal storms and hazards.
$6,437,000

Dolphins Plus
Increased Capacity for Marine Mammal Response (Amendment)
Enhance the marine mammal stranding network along the Florida Gulf Coast by providing established stranding organizations with supplemental staff, equipment and provisions to improve stranding response and data collection efforts. Project will provide for minimal capacity requirements to allow the organization to contribute critical stranding data to a centralized database on marine mammal health. Amendment to continue project activities until 2023.
$179,556

Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Apalachicola River Ecosystem Land Acquisition
Acquire approximately 32,000 acres of wetlands and floodplains and nearly 38 miles of frontage along the Apalachicola River. Preserving Florida’s largest river and its extensive floodplain is key to ensuring the long-term sustainability of Apalachicola Bay fisheries because the floodplain supplies a critical source of nutrients and organic matter, a cornerstone of Apalachicola Bay’s food web.
$31,000,000

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Apalachicola River Ecosystem Land Management
Manage approximately 32,000 acres of wetlands and floodplains and nearly 38 miles of frontage along the Apalachicola River. Preserving Florida’s largest river and its extensive floodplain is key to ensuring the long-term sustainability of Apalachicola Bay fisheries because the floodplain supplies a critical source of nutrients and organic matter, a cornerstone of Apalachicola Bay’s food web.
$1,973,000

Sea World of Florida
Increased Capacity for Marine Mammal Response - Manatee Rehabilitation
Enhance the marine mammal stranding network along the Florida Gulf Coast by providing established stranding organizations with supplemental staff, equipment and provisions to improve stranding response and data collection efforts. The project will construct three new rehabilitation pools for manatees, enhancing critical care emergency response capacity by more than 20 animals annually.
$1,077,000

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Panhandle Dune Restoration
Restore and enhance up to 21 miles of degraded dune habitats across the Florida Panhandle. In areas where disturbance has created gaps, restoring the dunes will improve habitat functionality and resiliency.
$4,080,000

Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
Bellefontaine Nearshore Habitat Restoration - Engineering and Design
Design shoreline protection extending along up to 2 miles of Bellefontaine shoreline. The project will conduct sediment and hydrodynamic modeling to evaluate the shorelines and optimize restoration actions.
$1,040,000

Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
Mississippi Coastal Restoration Plan - Phase II (Amendment)
Expand Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Restoration Plan to include additional conservation goals for living coastal and marine resources, including Gulf Coast birds and water quality by collecting geospatial and other data to assist in improving recommendations for priority habitat restoration and protection projects. Amendment to extend project activities to 2025.
$720,900

Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
Point Cadet Nearshore Habitat Restoration - Engineering and Design
Support permitting, engineering, and design of an emergent breakwater structure and submerged reefs at Point Cadet along the Biloxi Waterfront Park providing shoreline protection as well as benthic habitat for invertebrates and fish.
$410,000

Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
Utilization of Dredge Material for Marsh Restoration in Coastal Mississippi – Phase I (Amendment)
Use dredge material in the sustainable restoration and creation of marsh habitat within St Louis Bay, Back Bay Biloxi, and the Escatawpa Watershed. The effort will enhance overall ecosystem function and the ecological integrity and sustainability of priority bays and estuaries of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Amendment to fund the construction of the Beardslee Marsh and Wolf River Containment Structures.
$2,500,000

Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
Utilization of Dredge Material for Marsh Restoration in Coastal Mississippi - Phase II (Amendment)
Use dredge material in the sustainable restoration and creation of marsh habitat. The effort will enhance overall ecosystem function and the ecological integrity and sustainability of priority bays and estuaries of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Amendment to fund construction of the Greenwood Island Containment Berm.
$11,000,000

Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
West Hancock County Nearshore Habitat Restoration - Engineering and Design
Plan, engineer, and design a series of submerged artificial reefs to create substantial sub-tidal habitat enhancements in Hancock County. The overall outcome of this project is to develop plans and acquire permits for the eventual implementation of artificial reefs which would re-establish important coastal habitats to increase productivity of fish, including red and black drum, spotted seatrout, and oysters.
$1,410,000

Mississippi Department of Marine Resources
Artificial Reef and Habitat Enhancement: Barrier Island Reefs
Create five new artificial reefs using 500-1,000 fabricated reef structures. These structures will be deployed in the four permitted reef creation zones in state waters near Mississippi’s barrier islands.
$3,125,000

Mississippi Department of Marine Resources
Artificial Reef and Habitat Enhancement: Katrina Key
Provide additional acreage of nearshore artificial reef habitat that will enhance shelter for spawning spotted seatrout and other reef species. The project will utilize prefabricated reef structures to expand the westward extent of the existing reef footprint by approximately 4 miles.
$8,500,000

Mississippi Department of Marine Resources
Inshore Artificial Reef Assessment and Petit Bois Reef Planning - Phase I
Compile structural and ecological information regarding the current condition of Mississippi Sound inshore reefs and to document species utilization. This information is then expected to inform a significant request to enhance and refurbish these reefs to ensure they optimize fish productivity across the Mississippi Sound.
$662,000

Texas Agricultural Land Trust
East Matagorda Bay Land Conservation (Amendment)
Conserve 3,547 acres of coastal working lands in the mid coast of Texas through a perpetual conservation easement. The property has frontage along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway near East Matagorda Bay and is composed of a suite of coastal marsh, prairie, and freshwater wetland habitats. Amendment to cover an increase in the cost of acquiring a conservation easement.
$1,488,000

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Dagger Island Restoration Project (Amendment)
Construct a half-mile, nearshore breakwater and beneficially use dredge material to restore an island in order to protect approximately 5,236 acres of coastal habitat, including 2,630 acres of seagrass in Redfish Bay, an area adjacent to Corpus Christi Bay. Project also will restore approximately 28
acres of coastal wetland habitat and create oyster, invertebrate and fisheries habitat. Amendment to stabilize the containment levee, which was damaged by Hurricane Hanna.
$305,000