2008 Small Grants Projects

New York

Long Island Sound Component 2008 NYS Beach Cleanup

Recipient: American Littoral Society-Northeast Chapter
Long Island Sound Futures Fund: $6,000
Matching Funds: $150,000
Total Project Costs: $156,000
Project Area: Beaches Suffolk, Nassau and Westchester Counties, New York

The American Littoral Society will coordinate the 2008 International Coastal Cleanup at 231 miles of beaches on the Long Island Sound involving 2,500 volunteers with data compiled for 75 sites to develop strategies for combating marine pollution and to educate the public about floatable pollution and prevention.

Harbor Day Children’s Theater: The Ghost Net

Recipient: Three Village Community Trust
Long Island Sound Futures Fund: $6,000
Matching Funds: $8,900
Total Project Costs: $14,900
Project Area: West Meadow Beach, Town of Brookhaven, New York

The Three Village Community Trust will produce an interactive theatrical event for 200 people involving 20-50 children illustrating the effects of floatable debris such as litter on marine life as part of a community Harbor Day.

Festival of Little Neck Bay and Long Island Sound

Recipient: Alley Pond Environmental Center
Long Island Sound Futures Fund:$5,000
Matching Funds: $8,059
Total Project Costs: $13,059
Project Area: Douglaston, New York

The Alley Pond Environmental Center will present a National Estuaries Day event focused on the Long Island Sound involving 31 community organizations and attracting 550 participants, prepare a booklet about the Little Neck Bay and provide classroom estuary lessons for 4th grade students at 9 schools.

Fourth Annual Family Day Celebrating National Estuaries Day

Recipient: Long Island Seaport and Eco Center
Long Island Sound Futures Fund: $5,000
Matching Funds: $5,050
Total Project Costs: $10,050
Project Area: Port Jefferson, New York

The Long Island Seaport and Eco Center will hold its 4th Annual Family Day involving 25 organizations attracting 800 celebrants to National Estuaries Day and implement 10 programs for schools, libraries and community groups about the ecology and water quality of the Sound.

2008 Water Quality Monitoring Program

Recipient: Friends of the Bay, Inc.
Long Island Sound Futures Fund: $6,000
Matching Funds: $88,000
Total Project Costs: $94,000
Project Area: Town of Oyster Bay, New York

Friends of the Bay will conduct a full season of water quality monitoring with 20 volunteers to pinpoint hotspots and then provide information to government to inform management of shellfish harvesting, swimming and other water-based activities.

Mt. Misery Beach Cleanup

Recipient: Coastal Steward
Long Island Sound Futures Fund: $6,000
Matching Funds: $14,800
Total Project Costs: $20,800
Project Area: Port Jefferson, New York

The Coastal Steward will coordinate cleanup of 2.86 miles of beach aiming to remove 50 tons of debris involving 200 volunteers and then educating the public about the types and impact of floatable pollution on the Long Island Sound.

Connecticut

Video Monitoring of Diadromous Fish Migration

Recipient: Mianus River Watershed Council
Long Island Sound Futures Fund: $6,000
Matching Funds: $5,720
Total Project Costs: $11,720
Project Area: Greenwich, Connecticut

The Mianus River Watershed Council will install an underwater video system in the Mainus Pond Fishway to track the river herring run and other 4 other fish species using the fishway and to increase public appreciation of this special resource.

Snorkeling for Eels Below Dams on the Byram River

Recipient: Town of Greenwich
Long Island Sound Futures Fund: $2,000
Matching Funds: $1,500
Total Project Costs: $3,500
Project Area: Greenwich, Connecticut

The Town of Greenwich will conduct snorkeling surveys at the base of 4 dams to verify the presence of juvenile eels. Once eel concentration points are identified these will be sites to create areas for passage of the species.

Thames River Partnership’s Floating Workshop

Recipient: Eastern Connecticut Resource Conservation District (for the Thames River Basin Partnership)
Long Island Sound Futures Fund: $6,000
Matching Funds: $18,600
Total Project Costs: $24,600
Project Area: Thames River at Groton, Connecticut

The Thames River Basin Partnership will host a Floating Workshop for municipal officials from 48 communities to educate them about polluted runoff from inland sources along the Thames River on the Long Island Sound and to engage them in water quality projects in their communities.

Mitchell Beach Restoration Project

Recipient: Mitchell College
Long Island Sound Futures Fund: $5,000
Matching Funds: $5,000
Total Project Costs: $10,000
Project Area: New London, Connecticut

Mitchell College will remove invasive plants, reduce erosion from foot traffic and restore 600 feet of dune with American Beachgrass using this restoration to educate the public about Long Island Sound habitats.

Duplication Costs for Caring for the LIS: A Video Series

Recipient: Document Video Services, LLC
Long Island Sound Futures Fund: $3,000
Matching Funds: $0
Total Project Costs: $3,000
Project Area: Branford, Guilford, Easton, Meriden, Connecticut

Document Video Services will duplicate 3 videos created to teach Connecticut residents to protect the Long Island Sound.

Wintergreen Brook Warriors

Recipient: Solar Youth, Inc.
Long Island Sound Futures Fund: $6,000
Matching Funds: $2,000
Total Project Costs: $8,000
Project Area: New Haven, Connecticut

Solar Youth will involve 10 low income youth in hands-on learning and projects about the natural resources of the Long Island Sound with the aim of creating conservation ambassadors in communities.

National Estuary Day at Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration

Recipient: Sea Research Foundation, Inc.
Long Island Sound Futures Fund: $6,000
Matching Funds: $3,765
Total Project Costs: $9,765
Project Area: Mystic, Connecticut

The Sea Research Foundation will host a National Estuary Day celebration attracting 2,700 visitors focusing on increasing public awareness about the threats facing Long Island Sound and the abundance of its natural resources with a goal of increasing community connections with the Sound.

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