09/13/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/13/2024 15:10
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen and Congressmen Steny H. Hoyer, Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, Kweisi Mfume, Jamie Raskin, David Trone, and Glenn Ivey (all D-Md.) today announced $2,798,281.01 in federal funding through the Chesapeake Watershed Investments in Landscape Defense (Chesapeake WILD) Program for eight habitat and wetland restoration projects throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed in Maryland.
The Chesapeake WILD Program, administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), was created by bipartisan legislation authored by Senator Cardin and co-sponsored by Senator Van Hollen and Reps. Hoyer, Ruppersberger, Sarbanes, Raskin, and Trone. The legislation was enacted as part of the America's Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Act in 2020, creating a new program at FWS to engage regional stakeholders in the preservation of the Chesapeake Bay.
"Protecting and preserving the Chesapeake Bay is vital to both our environment and to the many Marylanders whose livelihoods depend on it. The Chesapeake WILD program is central to our efforts to restore wildlife habitat and improve the overall health of the Bay - and these federal funds will go to critical projects across the state to help achieve these important goals," said the lawmakers.
The following Maryland projects received awards:
This year, the Chesapeake WILD program is awarding 30 new conservation and restoration grants totaling $8.9 million in federal support and leveraging $13.7 million in matching funds from the grantees, with an estimated total conservation impact of $22.6 million. These projects will support efforts to sustain natural resources and local communities, build capacity to address shared restoration and conservation priorities, and implement projects to conserve, steward, and enhance fish and wildlife habitats throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
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