new York
Recipient: Friends of the Bay LISFF Award: $6,440 (EPA) Matching Funds: $79,965 Total Project Costs: $86,395 Project Area: Oyster Bay/Cold Spring Harbor Estuary
Friends of the Bay will organize program results from water quality monitoring at Oyster Bay/Cold Spring Harbor into a report to be made available on the organization’s website . The report also will be distributed to public agencies, including the Nassau County Department of Health and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to inform management about water quality and public health, recreational and natural resources that are affected by water quality. Friends of the Bay also will use social media sites to make the public aware of the report.
Recipient: Alley Pond Environmental Center LISFF Award: $4,999.71 (EPA) Matching Funds: $5,000 Total Project Costs: $9,999.71 Project Area: Douglaston, Queens
The Alley Pond Environmental Center will conduct a National Estuaries Day and Little Neck Bay/Long Island Sound Festival, engaging 1,500 participants and featuring boat tours highlighting Long Island Sound natural resources, exhibitions, and conservation activities designed to raise awareness about the value of estuaries in communities.
Recipient: City Parks Foundation LISFF Award: $10,000 (EPA) Matching Funds: $10,000 Total Project Costs: $20,000 Project Area: Long Island City and Astoria Waterfronts, Queens
The City Parks Foundation will offer approximately 100 instructional activities to schools and local residents along the Queens waterfront, introducing teaching concepts of river ecology, water quality, and waterfront restoration and preservation, in addition to hosting a National Estuaries Day events. Partners include the New York City Department of Parks and Restoration.
Recipient: The Scuba Sports Club LISFF Award: $5,000 (EPA) Total Project Costs: $5,000 Project Area: Waters and beaches off City Island, Orchard and Davenport Beaches, the Bronx and New Rochelle
The Scuba Sports Club will coordinate three separate cleanup efforts two on the beaches. Two cleanups will be on beach areas of the Long Island Sound and one cleanup will involve the use of SCUBA to remove lobster pots in the Sound itself. The amount of trash for each cleanup will be weighed and quantified by type to help educate the public about the problem of pollution in aquatic environments.
One beach cleanup is to be held at Orchard Beach. A second beach cleanup is to be held at Davenport Beach. The cleanups will include cleaning debris and trash from the beach areas as well as the water area immediately adjacent to the beach area. The lobster pot cleanup will start from City Island and motor out to remove lobster pots from the Long Island Sound using SCUBA. The pots which will be removed are no longer in use and have been abandoned by their owners. One of the three cleanups will be performed in conjunction with International Beach Cleanup Day. The amount of trash for each cleanup will be weighed and quantified by type, which will help educate the public about the problem of pollution in aquatic environments.
Connecticut
Recipient: Connecticut Fund for the Environment LISFF Award: $10,000 (EPA) Matching Funds: $10,000 Total Project Costs: $20,000 Project Area: Connecticut Shoreline
Connecticut Fund for the Environment will coordinate cleanups year-round on Connecticut’s inland and coastal shores by actively engaging and educating a diverse group of volunteers. Results will be 70 cleanup events, cleaning 70 miles of shoreline, using up to 2,700 volunteers. The project will recruit 70 volunteer cleanup captains for cleanups and recruit businesses and corporations to form partnerships and sponsorships for the cleanup events. The efforts will include holding 50 events on or around International Coastal and National Estuaries Day in September. Project partners include the Student Conservation Association, The Nature Conservancy and Mitchell College.
Recipient: Greenwich LISFF Award: $3,498.02 (EPA) Matching Funds: $1,500 Total Project Costs: $4,998.02 Project Area: Below the first dam on the Byram River in Greenwich
The Town of Greenwich will install an eel pass below the first dam on the Byram River, and volunteers will collect eels and reintroduce the eels to their native habitat upstream of multiple dams on the Byram River. Eels will be reintroduced to 10 miles of historic habitat. As part of the project, 200 Greenwich High School students will be educated on the importance of eels. Project partners include: the Greenwich Audubon Society, and Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Recipient: Darien Land Trust LISFF Award $3,000 (EPA) Matching Funds: $2,620 Total Project Costs: $5,620 Project Area: Darien Land Trust Preserve, Dunlap Woods and Sellecks Woods
The Darien Land Trust will hold an educational celebration attracting 500 participants at their 50-acre preserve with a focus on raising awareness of non-point source pollution in Long Island Sound and how residents can solve the problem. The event will emphasize role of reducing water pollution by creating a three-mile trail system with seven different habitats represented, a watershed exhibit, habitat story boards, activities for all ages, and a field guide. Project partners include the Friends of Sellecks Woods.
Recipient: Sea Research Foundation LISFF Award: $7,165.70 (EPA) Matching Funds: $6,678 Total Project Costs: $13,843.70 Project Area: Mystic Aquarium and Bluff Point State Park
The Sea Research Foundation will host the National Estuaries Day and Long Island Sound Day celebration weekends. Beach cleanups and horseshoe crab walks will be held to increase volunteerism and to increase public awareness about threats facing Long Island Sound. A projected 500 participants will join the two celebrations at the Aquarium; 150 participants will join in the coastal cleanup; 50 volunteers will engage in crab monitoring; and 300 educators will attend the educator open house. About 3,000 visiting students also will use self-guided materials of the Aquarium focused on understanding the importance of estuaries and specifically the Long Island Sound.
Recipient: Connecticut Zoological Society LISFF Award: $7,000 (EPA) Matching Funds: $14,000 Total Project Costs: $21,000 Project Area: Beardsley Zoo and the lower Pequonnock River in Bridgeport
The Connecticut Zoological Society. will engage students and the public to learn about the interrelationship between Long Island Sound and the lower Pequonnock River through the raising and release of brook and brown trout. The project will include signage at the Zoo, descriptions of the project in e-newsletters and partner Websites, and a telecast through public access cable. Project partners include Trout Unlimited.
Recipient: City of Norwalk Harbor Management Commission LISFF Award: $9,480 (EPA) Total Project Costs: $9,480 Project Area: City Marina, Veterans’ Park Walkway, and the Dunavan Boating Center in Norwalk
The City of Norwalk Harbor Management Commission will prepare and install three wayside signs in prominent locations in Norwalk Harbor providing information on the natural environment of Norwalk and the Long Island Sound. The 2×3 signs will educate residents on the ecological relationships between Norwalk Harbor and the greater Norwalk River watershed. Project partners include the Norwalk Recreation and Parks Department and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.