In partnership with the NOAA Community-based Restoration Program, the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment provides grants to support a strategic approach to marine, coastal, and riverine habitat restoration in Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.

The NOAA-Gulf of Maine Council Habitat Restoration Grants Program is interested in funding projects that will result in on-the-ground restoration of habitat to benefit living marine resources, including anadromous fish species. Habitat restoration is defined here as activities that contribute to the return of degraded or altered marine, estuarine, coastal, and freshwater habitats to a close approximation of their condition prior to disturbance. This grant program will consider funding projects that address project design, planning, and project implementation, including pre- and post-restoration monitoring.

Non-governmental organizations (e.g., community associations, cooperatives, civic groups), municipalities, schools, and tribal and state governments are eligible to compete for funding made available through this grants program. The proposed project must be located within the United States portion of the Gulf of Maine watershed. The Gulf of Maine watershed extends from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to Cape Sable, Nova Scotia, and includes all lands that are part of coastal watersheds. Projects beyond this geographic range may be considered if it is shown that the proposed project will provide direct benefits to the Gulf of Maine ecosystem.

Summary of grants 2002-2006: Word (87 KB) or PDF (97 KB)

The Habitat Restoration Grants Program is coordinated by the Gulf of Maine Council's Habitat Restoration Subcommittee.

The Gulf of Maine Habitat Restoration Strategy (PDF, 928 KB), produced by the Gulf of Maine Council, provides a framework for habitat restoration in the region.

The proposal deadline for the 2007-2008 funding cycle was October 26, 2007.

For reference purposes, the RFP is archived and available for downloading: Word file (155 KB) or PDF file (277 KB).

The following are two examples of successful proposals submitted in previous years, posted here with permission from the organizations that submitted them.

• Feasibility Analysis for Willowdale Dam Fish Passage Improvement, Ipswich River
  Ipswich, Massachusetts
  Submitted by Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries
  Download: Word (789 KB) or PDF (5.81 MB)
  
  
• Bass Creek Salt Marsh Restoration Project
  Yarmouth, Massachusetts
  Submitted by Town of Yarmouth
  Download: PDF (940 KB)
  
  

Progress Reports
Recipients of grant awards must submit progress reports to the partnership every 6 months. Please use the Progress Report Template (Word, 42 KB).

Data Forms
Recipients of grant awards must complete data forms (Word, 44 KB) as part of the final progress report for each grant project. The data form allows NOAA to compile Gulf of Maine restoration information for the National Estuarine Restoration Inventory (NERI) database.

The following links provide information for planning and implementing habitat restoration projects.

• The Gulf of Maine Habitat Restoration Web Portal is a regional information clearinghouse for habitat restoration practitioners, resource managers, scientists, funding agencies, and other people involved in habitat restoration. The Portal provides information about habitat restoration priorities, projects, funding opportunities, restoration techniques, and project planning. The Portal has a searchable database and interactive map of projects funded by the GOMC-NOAA Habitat Restoration Grants Program. Funding for the Gulf of Maine Habitat Restoration Portal was provided by NOAA.
• The Gulf of Maine Habitat Restoration Strategy (PDF, 928 KB), produced by the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment, provides a framework for habitat restoration in the region.
• The NOAA Community-Based Restoration Program, through partnerships, provides funding and expertise to numerous coastal community projects that promote coastal stewardship and a conservation ethic. For information, contact Eric Hutchins, National Marine Fisheries Service, (978) 281-9251.
• The Global Programme of Action Coalition for the Guf of Maine produced Regional Standards to Identify and Evaluate Tidal Wetland Restoration in the Gulf of Maine (PDF, 1765 KB). For more information, contact Hillary Neckles, USGS, (207) 622-8205, or Michele Dionne, Wells NERR, (207) 646-1555.
• The EcoAction Community Funding Program, an Environment Canada program, provides financial support to community groups for projects that have measurable, positive impacts on the environment including habitat restoration. Annual submission deadlines are February 1 and October 1.
• The North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation, an international organization established by Canada, Mexico and the United States under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation to address regional environmental concerns, finances community-based restoration projects.
  
  

For information about the Gulf of Maine Council-NOAA Habitat Restoration Grants Program, contact one of the following people.

Jon Kachmar
Maine State Planning Office

Ted Diers
New Hampshire Coastal Program

Jan Smith
Massachusetts Bays Program