Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration Program and Trust Fund RIGL §46-23.1 Caitlin Chaffee Rhode Island Coastal Res

1. Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration Program and Trust FundRIGL §46-23.1 Caitlin Chaffee Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council

2. Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration Trust Fund • $225,000 annually from Oil Spill Prevention, Administration and Response Fund (OSPAR) • Funding for coastal and estuarine habitat restoration projects • Funds administered by CRMC • Projects chosen by Technical Advisory Committee

3. Application Process • Submit pre-proposal to CRMC (November) • Pre-proposals reviewed by Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) • Full proposals requested from approved applicants • Full proposals submitted and reviewed by TAC (January) • Awards approved by Council and announced in February / March

4. Technical Advisory Committee • CRMC • RIDEM Fish and Wildlife • Save the Bay • Narragansett Bay Estuary Program • NOAA Restoration Center • Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve • EPA Region 1 • NRCS • The Nature Conservancy

5. What types of projects are funded? • Planning • Design • Construction • Monitoring

6. Other Types of Projects Funded • Restoration Publications • Habitat Inventory • Equipment Purchase • New in 2010: Small Project Proposal

7. What types of habitats are targeted? Coastal and estuarine habitat restoration • coastal wetlands • coastal rivers (herring and shad runs) • eelgrass beds • coastal dunes Salt Marsh

8. Seagrass

9. Fish Passage (River Systems)

10. Shellfish Beds

11. Common restoration goals • Restoration of impacted hydrology • Control of invasive species • Improved habitat structure / revegetation • Improved fish passage / river system continuity

12. To Date: • $959,199 awarded for fish passage restoration • $579,972 awarded for salt marsh restoration • $134,096 awarded for seagrass restoration • $81,031 awarded for shellfish restoration Total Funds awarded to date = $1,875,000 (total of 67 projects) Total Funds leveraged to date = over $18.2M

13. Additional funding sources • NRCS Farm Bill Programs (WHIP, WRP, EQIP) • NOAA Restoration Center Programs • US Fish and Wildlife Service • US Army Corps of Engineers • Local match (including real estate, in-kind services) • Project management services by local non-profits, municipalities

14. Project Progress • Of 67 funded projects (including this year’s awards), 56 have been completed with another 10 in progress or expected to go to construction this year.

15. 2009 NOAA Stimulus Funding • CRMC received $3.5 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds for 6 fish passage projects on the Ten Mile and Pawcatuck Rivers

16. Projects Funded in FY11 • Gilbert Stuart Fish Ladder (South Kingstown) • Hog Island Salt Marsh Restoration (Portsmouth) • Shady Lea Fish Passage (North Kingstown) • Palisades Fishway (South Kingstown) • Factory Pond Bypass Fishway (South Kingstown) • Goosewing Beach Salt Marsh Restoration (Little Compton) • Statewide Eelgrass Mapping • Main Street Fishway (South Kingstown) • Substrate Enhancement for Oyster Restoration in Ninigret Pond (Charlestown)

17. Goosewing Beach and Salt Marsh Little Compton, RI (photo: Nat Rea)

18. FY 2012 • Habitat Fund Technical Advisory Committee will provide recommendations for funding based on numerical scoring and committee discussions • Full Funding • Partial Funding • ContingencyList

19. Questions? • Caitlin Chaffee cchaffee@crmc.ri.gov 401-783-3370