U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell isspearheading a $100 million grant program to fundscience-based solutions to restore natural areas along the Atlanticcoast.

The Hurricane Sandy Coastal Resiliency Competitive GrantProgram signifies the latest effort to make goodon President Barack Obama's promiseto ensure that local communitiesare protected against future severe weatherevents. The president outlined this and other goals in theClimate Action Plan, which was published in June 2013.

"By stabilizing marshes and beaches, restoring wetlands, andimproving the resilience of coastal areas, we not only createopportunities for people to connect with nature and support jobsthrough increased outdoor recreation, but we can also provide aneffective buffer that protects local communities from powerfulstorm surges and devastating floods when a storm like Sandyhits," Jewell says. "In cooperation with theNational Fish and Wildlife Foundation [NFWF], this competitivegrant program will fund innovative projects by states, localcommunities, tribes, non-profit organizations and other partners torebuild, restore, and research these natural areas along theAtlantic coast."

Grant Administration

The NFWF will administer the grants, for whichproposals are already being submitted. Under theprogram, more than $100 million will beavailable throughout the region affected by HurricaneSandy, including Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia,Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio,Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and West Virginia—the statesthat officially declared a natural disaster as a result of thestorm event.

"The NFWF will use its network of partners to promote the grantopportunity, aid potential grant applicants in shaping proposalsthat meet our objectives, and identify opportunities to leveragethe $100 million with other funding sources to protectcommunities," Jewell explains. "I am certain we will see innovativeideas and projects that will help us be much better prepared thenext time a superstorm rolls up the coast."

Jewell made the announcement with U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, U.S.Representative Jim Moran, and other local officials lastweek at National Park Service's Dyke Marsh WildlifePreserve, where a $24.9 million project will reinvigorate wetlandsthat are currently receding between 6 and 8 feet each yearbecause of erosion. It is one of 45 restoration and researchprojects to restore marshes, wetlands and beaches, rebuildingshorelines, and researching the impacts and modeling mitigation ofstorm surge impacts. 

"Dyke Marsh is the largest remaining freshwater tidal marsh inthe Washington metropolitan area, providing rich wildlife habitatoutdoor recreational opportunities, and critical flood protectionfor the neighboring community," Jewell says. "With each major storm, we see more and more destabilization anderosion, which threatens both the local community it helps protectand the outdoor recreation it supports. This funding will allow theNational Park Service and its partners to reconstruct the marsh andmake it more resilient when big storms roll in."

The $25 million allocated to the marsh will be used to design apeninsula and to construct 13 containment cells that will be filledwith donated dredge spoil material, allowing vegetation to beplanted that will re-establish more than 150 acres of marshwetland.

The project will protect and restore one of the mostpopular areas on the George Washington Memorial Parkway, whichattracted 7.4 million recreational visits in 2011. These visitorspumped $34 million into the local economy and supported a total of50 jobs. 

The Larger Plan

The funding is part of $162 million Jewell announced lastThursday for restoration and resiliency projects under theHurricane Sandy Supplemental Appropriations Act. This includes $113million for 25 on-the-ground projects to restore coastal marshesand shoreline, create habitat connectivity, improve floodresilience, and undertake other efforts to protect nearby areasfrom future storms.

Another $45 million will fund assessments, modeling, coastalbarrier mapping, and other research to improve the ability tomitigate and reduce the impacts of powerful storms.

The investments are consistent with President Obama's HurricaneSandy Rebuilding Task Force Strategy Report , as well as the Climate Action Plan(as stated above). The Department of the Interior hasalready invested $480 million in Hurricane Sandy response andrecovery efforts since the storm hit in October 2012.

Implementation of the Hurricane Sandy Coastal ResiliencyCompetitive Grant Program is being closely coordinated with severalDepartment of the Interior bureaus, including the U.S. Fish andWildlife Service, National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey,Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of IndianAffairs.