2012 Habitat Restoration Grants Program RFP October 27, 2011
The Regional Partnership between the NOAA Restoration Center and the Association of U.S. Delegates to the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment today announced a request for proposals for their Habitat Restoration Grants Partnership. The Partnership provides funding and technical expertise aimed at restoring native diadromous fish and other marine, estuarine and riverine species of regional significance. The projects, which are selected to offer long-term ecological benefits and promote effective community restoration, have focused on restoring degraded riverine habitats, salt marshes, eelgrass meadows and shellfish beds. Since its establishment, the GOMC-NOAA Habitat Restoration Partnership has awarded $3.5 million for 103 projects extending across all jurisdictions of the Gulf, including Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Completed projects have re-opened access to 78 miles of rivers and streams for river herring, Atlantic salmon and American eel, re-established access to 2,600 acres of alewife spawning habitat, and rehabilitated over 600 salt marsh acres.

The deadline for uploading Optional Letters of Intent is 5:00 PM EST on November 30, 2011. Online Applications are submitted to (http://www.gulfofmaine.org/grantapp/) February 1 – 29 2012. Successful applicants will be notified in April 2012.

Contracts with successful applicants will be issued during the summer of 2012, contingent upon continued funding of this GOMC-NOAA Partnership. For technical questions related to a proposed project, use the contact information below to access a regional representative of this grant program. For general questions about this program, contact the Maine Coastal Program Habitat Restoration Coordinator, Slade Moore at slade.moore@maine.gov. Use the link below to access the full RFP, which includes format guidelines for Letters of Intent and the Application Template:

Habitat Restoration Grants Program - 2012 - Request for Proposals (MS Word format, 287 kb)

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

Slade Moore
Maine State Planning Office

Kevin Lucey
New Hampshire Coastal Program

Hunt Durey
Massachusetts Department of Fish & Game

Jason Naug
Fisheries and Oceans Canada

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 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.