New York
Grantee: New York City Department of Parks and Recreation Long Island Sound Futures Funds: $150,000 Matching Funds: $152,000 Total Project Costs: $302,000 Project Area: Queens, NY
The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation will restore 23.5 acres at the headwaters of Alley Creek in Alley Creek Pond Park by removing exotic plants and replacing it with native riparian forest involving 50 volunteers from Green Apple Corps. Alley Creek is one of the largest, unfragmented watersheds in urban New York City with a rich mosaic of streams, ponds, creeks, forest, and marshes.
Grantee: Friends of the Bay Long Island Sound Futures Funds: $55,000 Matching Funds: $81,000 Total Project Costs: $136,000 Project Area: Towns of Oyster Bay and Huntington, NY
The Friends of the Bay will develop a watershed management plan for the Oyster Bay/Cold Spring Harbor complex which addresses historic trends, environmental and land use conditions; and establishes priority actions to protect and improve the ecological integrity of the estuary. The Oyster Bay – Cold Spring Harbor Estuary is recognized by New York State as a Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitat and as an Outstanding Natural Coastal Area. The US Fish and Wildlife Services recognizes the area as habitat or regional significance for restoration of anadromous fish passage. The watershed hosts the Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge and the Shu Swamp Nature Preserve — both anchor sites for the Long Island Sound Stewardship Initiative.
Grantee: New York City Department of Parks and Recreation Long Island Sound Futures Funds: $150,000 Matching Funds: $494,630 Total Project Costs: $644,630 Project Area: Bronx
The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation will open .8 miles of upstream passage for river herring by installing a fishway on the Bronx River. This is the first fish passage of three planned to provide access to eight miles of open river for native fisheries. Project partners include the Bronx River Alliance, Lehman College, Sustainable South Bronx and Rocking the Boat.
Grantee: Friends of Flax Pond Long Island Sound Futures Funds: $35,000 Matching Funds: $70,940 Total Project Costs: $105,940 Project Area: Setauket, NY
The Friends of Flax Pond will provide education about the salt marshes of Flax Pond in a series of 4 lectures that attract 200 community members annually; and conduct a summer institute involving 60 students and residents focused on monitoring the Pond species such as diamondback terrapin and horseshoe crab. Flax Pond is a 135 acre mosaic of intertidal wetland, mudflat, tidal pond and estuarine embayment that is a rich nursery and nesting ground for many unique plant and animal species.
Grantee: Village of Sea Cliff Long Island Sound Futures Funds: $30,000 Matching Funds: $37,500 Total Project Costs: $67,500 Project Area: Glen Cove, Sea Cliff, Glenwood Landing, Roslyn Harbor, Roslyn, Flower Hill, Port Washington and Sands Point, NY
The Village of Sea Cliff will implement the annual water quality monitoring program for Hempstead Harbor in concert with municipal and nongovernmental partners of the Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor (CSHH). The CSHH is comprised of Town of North Hempstead, Town of Oyster Bay, Nassau County Department of Health, Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee, University of Connecticut, Marine Sciences Department, and the Nassau County Marine Police.
Grantee: Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County Long Island Sound Futures Funds: $35,000 Matching Funds: $16,600 Total Project Costs: $51,600 Project Area: Oyster Bay, NY
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County will educate 650 students ages 4-8 from schools in underserved low income communities through hands-on field projects focused on water quality, living resources, and the interrelationship between the health of the Sound and its watersheds. Partners include The Waterfront Center of Oyster Bay. Target communities include: Brentwood, Central Islip, North Amityville, North Bayshore, Wyandanch, Hempstead, Inwood, New Castle, Roosevelt, Uniondale, and South Floral Park among others.
Connecticut
Grantee: Connecticut River Watershed Council Long Island Sound Futures Funds: $43,500 Matching Funds: $400 Total Project Costs: $43,900 Project Area: East Berlin, CT
The Connecticut River Watershed Council will design a fishway to open 16.5 miles of the Mattabesset River for shad, river herring, sea lamprey American eel, herring, alewife, and striped bass. The Mattabesset is one of eleven streams in Connecticut able to support shad. Partners include StanChem, Inc. owner of the dam, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Grantee: Town of Stratford Long Island Sound Futures Funds: $75,000 Matching Funds: $250,000 Total Project Costs: $325,000 Project Area: Stratford, CT
The Town of Stratford will remove exotic plants and restore 6.37 acres of tidal wetland located at the confluence of the Housatonic River and Long Island Sound. The restoration site will contribute habitat for shorebirds because it is within the Great Meadows Marsh complex one of the most important areas for birds in Connecticut and part of the State’s remaining undeveloped coastline. Multiple community commissions in the Town of Stratford are partners in this project which is a locally driven initiative to protect natural resources and provide educational and public access to the community.
Grantee: Avalonia Land Conservancy Long Island Sound Futures Funds: $27,000 Matching Funds: $24,400 Total Project Costs: $51,400 Project Area: Ledyard and Preston, CT
The Avalonia Land Conservancy will survey plants and animals, remove exotics and monitor and develop a water quality management plan for Poquetanuck Cove a two-mile long tidal embayment of the Long Island Sound. The Cove is known for its wintering and migrating waterfowl and its diversity of native fisheries including: blue-back herring, Atlantic sturgeon, sea trout, bluefish and alewife. Project partners include: Thames River Basin Partnership, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Quinebaug-Shetucket Heritage Corridor Water Quality Monitor, CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, The Nature Conservancy, Ledyard Conservation Commission, and Preston Conservation Advisory Committee.
Grantee: Audubon Connecticut Long Island Sound Futures Funds: $35,000 Matching Funds: $22,000 Total Project Costs: $57,000 Project Area: Bridgeport and Stratford, CT
Audubon Connecticut will develop a toolkit of conservation strategies to support landowners and resource managers including those at the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, Long Beach and Pleasure Beach to steward the Great Meadows area one of the most important areas for birds in Connecticut hosting 270 plus species and 25% of the State’s remaining undeveloped coastline.
Grantee: Friends of the Hockanum River Linear Park of Vernon Long Island Sound Futures Funds: $47,000 Matching Funds: $33,000 Total Project Costs: $80,000 Project Area: Vernon, CT
The Friends of the Hockanum River Linear Park of Vernon will develop a watershed management plan for the Tankerhoosen Watershed which inventories environmental and land use conditions; and establishes priority actions to protect and improve the ecological integrity of the watershed.
Grantee: The Nature Conservancy Long Island Sound Futures Funds: $40,000 Matching Funds: $60,500 Total Project Costs: $100,500 Project Area: Saugatuck River Watershed – eleven towns around Weston, CT
The Nature Conservancy will design fishways for two dams with a goal of opening up 1.5 miles of habitat for diadromous fish on the Aspetuck and Saugatuck Rivers. Partners include: Aquarion Water Company, Saugatuck Valley Audubon, Trout Unlimited, Southwest Conservation District, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Yale School of Forestry, American Rivers among others.
Grantee: Eastern Connecticut Resource Conservation and Development Area Long Island Sound Futures Funds: $35,000 Matching Funds: $70,000 Total Project Costs: $105,000 Project Area: New Haven and Fairfield Counties, CT
The Eastern Connecticut Resource Conservation & Development District will implement community-based land use leadership workshops in 19 municipalities to train 35 public officials about land use law and natural resources protection in Eastern Connecticut Coastal Long Island Sound Watershed towns.
The project implements community-based land use leadership training workshops in the Connecticut River Valley, reaching up to public officials from 13 towns. The program provides information, training, and technical assistance about land use law and natural resources protection to strengthen community planning. The goal is to promote an informed and educated constituency to be involved in community decisions affecting the ecological health of the Long Island Sound and its living marine resources and build partnerships at multiple levels.
Project partners will include: Connecticut Environmental Review Team, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, The Wildlife Conservation Society, Tidewater Institute, Pace University Land Use Law Center, and the USDA- Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Grantee: Project Oceanology Long Island Sound Futures Funds: $35,000 Matching Funds: $44,100 Total Project Costs: $79,100 Project Area: Groton, CT
Project Oceanology will introduce 400 students grade-5 and above to hands-on, scientific inquiry through on-the-water cruises focused on collecting environmental data about the at-risk species the American Lobster and human impacts on the creature. Partners include the University of Connecticut, Avery Point.
Grantee: Sea Research Foundation, Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration Long Island Sound Futures Funds: $29,000 Matching Funds: $8,500 Total Project Costs: $37,500 Project Area: Mystic and New Haven, CT
The Sea Research Foundation will provide a conservation science and environmental education program focused on oceans and watersheds to 1,000 elementary and middle school low income inner-city children from New Haven schools by creating a living, learning laboratory to forge a lifelong connection to the Long Island Sound.
Grantee: Town of Westport Long Island Sound Futures Funds: $28,400 Matching Funds: $38,220 Total Project Costs: $66,620 Project Area: Westport, CT
The Town of Westport will engage in phase 2 of a project to monitor and define water quality problems in the Sherwood Island Mill Pond an 80-acre estuarine embayment with a goal of reducing pollution; and to raise awareness among 3,000 community members about water quality improvement of the Pond and its tributary streams. Over 180 species of birds are found in the area as well as large shellfish beds. Partners include volunteers from HarborWatch/RiverWatch and the Sherwood Pond Mill Advisory Committee.
Both States CT and New York
Grantee: Audubon New York Long Island Sound Futures Funds: $35,000 Matching Funds: $29,500 Total Project Costs: $64,500 Project Area: Rye and Southhold, NY and New Haven and Waterford, CT
Audubon New York starts phase 2 of a project working with local stakeholders to identify priority actions that further conservation at 4 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) (Lighthouse Point Park, Mamacoke Island and coves, Orient Point/Plum Island and Edith Reade Sanctuary); and to develop a transferable model for educating and engaging the public in the Long Island Sound Study Stewardship Initiative. These 4 IBAs are oasis for over 300 species of birds including: raptors, landbirds, Greater Scaup ducks, Double-crested Cormorants, Ospreys, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Little Blue Herons, Black-crowned night Herons, Roseate and Common terns, Piping Plovers, American Oystercatchers and for residents of local areas who enjoy the beaches, bays and forests.