On April 14, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation announced requests for grant proposals for the 2014 Long Island Sound Futures Fund. The Sound Futures Fund supports projects in local communities that aim to restore and protect Long Island Sound. The Sound Futures Fund partners anticipate awarding approximately $1 million in grants through this solicitation, although the final total amount available for award is dependent upon the availability of federal and non-federal funds. Funding priorities include:
The program, which was created by the Long Island Sound Study through its federal and state partners, is managed by NFWF. Further information, including the request for proposals, is available on NFWF’s Sound Futures Fund grant page. The deadline to apply is May 22.
Since 2005, NFWF’s Long Island Sound Futures Fund has invested $10.5 million in 262 projects in communities surrounding the Sound. The projects will open up 128 river miles for fish passage, and restore or acquire more than 959 acres of critical fish and wildlife habitat. This habitat includes lakes, underwater grasses, woodlands, meadows, wetlands, beaches, dunes and river and park frontage. With grantee matches of almost $24 million, the Long Island Sound Futures Fund has generated a total of almost $35 million for locally-based conservation. More information about the projects is available in the [intlink id=”lis-futures-fund” type=”page”]grants section[/intlink] of LISS’s website.