NOAA Fisheries is announcing two funding opportunities for habitat restoration and coastal resilience, including one focused on underserved communities. Funding has been made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.  

Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience Grants

Up to $85 million in funding is available for habitat restoration and coastal resilience through the FY2022 NOAA’s Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience Grants Notice of Funding Opportunity.

This funding will support transformational projects that restore habitat for our nation’s fisheries and protected resources, while also strengthening the resilience of coastal communities and ecosystems. It will invest in projects that have the greatest potential to provide holistic benefits, through habitat-based approaches that strengthen both ecosystem and community resilience.

Projects selected through this opportunity will help:

• Restore marine, estuarine, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems
• Rebuild sustainable fisheries and contribute to the recovery of threatened and endangered species 
• Protect the safety and well-being of coastal communities by using natural infrastructure to reduce damage from flooding and storms
• Support the many benefits that healthy habitats provide, such as clean drinking water and industries like boating, fishing, and tourism

NOAA will accept proposals between $1 million and $15 million total over the award period. The application deadline is September 6, 2022.

Coastal Habitat Restoration and Resilience Grants for Underserved Communities

Up to $10 million in funding is available for habitat restoration and resilience awards for underserved communities though NOAA’s FY2022 Coastal Habitat Restoration and Resilience Grants for Underserved Communities Notice of Funding Opportunity. 

Through this funding, NOAA will engage underserved communities in habitat restoration activities that promote resilient ecosystems and communities. This funding will provide capacity for these communities to more fully participate in developing future transformational habitat projects.  This capacity is intended to ensure that communities are integral to the visioning and decision-making for coastal habitat restoration projects that affect them, and that they directly benefit from these projects.  

Projects selected through this opportunity may include: 

• Capacity building activities, including participation in municipal or regional-scale resilience planning, project planning and feasibility studies, stakeholder engagement, and proposal development for future funding.
• Restoration activities, including demonstration projects, engineering and design, permitting, and on-the-ground implementation.

NOAA will accept proposals between $250,000 to $500,000 total over the award period. The application deadline is September 30, 2022.

Habitat Restoration and NOAA

NOAA invests in habitat restoration across the country to support our nation’s fisheries and protected resources, while also strengthening the resilience of coastal communities and ecosystems. Efforts like restoring coastal wetlands and removing outdated dams can improve coastal resilience—helping communities recover from and adapt to the impacts of extreme weather and climate change. 

NOAA’s Office of Habitat Conservation has a long history conducting habitat restoration efforts with large-scale competitive funding opportunities and expert technical assistance through its Community-based Restoration Program. Since 1996, the program has partnered with more than 2,600 organizations to take on more than 2,200 projects. These efforts have restored more than 93,000 acres of habitat and opened up more than 4,400 miles of streams and rivers to fish migration. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law presents an once-in-a-generation opportunity for NOAA to continue making an impact for fisheries, protected resources, and coastal communities.

The 2022 Eastern Shore Master Naturalist Training Course begins September 8th, and runs thru November 10th. The course meets Thursdays from 9:00-3:00 at the Historic Onancock School.

Explore the secrets of the Shore, learning about our ecology, botany, forestry, ornithology, and many other topics.

Graduates take part in service projects benefitting the natural resources of the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
$125 fee covers materials & field trips.

Spaces are limited. Register Online by August 20, 2022

More information & a Sample Application are available at: www.masternaturalistesva.com/training or contact the Registrar Ann Quigley at annq.esmn@gmail.com or 703-582-4525

“Your companies need to work with my Administration to bring forward concrete, near-term solutions that address the crisis,” Joe Biden in an open letter to oil companies. The letter went on to accuse refineries of capitalizing on the war between Russia and Ukraine, gleaning record-high profits while Americans suffer record-high pain at the pump.

President Joe Biden isn’t trying to bring down gas prices. In fact, he’s doing just the opposite. This is pretty rich coming from the guy that vowed to put them out of business.

As a candidate, Biden said, “No more drilling on federal lands. No more drilling including offshore. No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period.”

What’s really happening.

But while access to crude has not evaporated as the US intended, refinery capacity continues to lag. This has driven up gasoline prices to higher peaks than crude.

Nor is increasing capacity an easy affair. As Business Insider reported this week:

At the heart of the crisis is the fallout from the pandemic. As COVID rocked the world economy, energy consumption plunged, and many refineries shuttered operations.

Analysts at Wood Mackenzie, an energy consultancy, estimate that 3 million barrels a day of refinery capacity shut down in 2020 and 2021.

And once you shutter a refinery, it can be hard to get it running again.

“You introduce a lot of operational issues that come back to haunt you a few months later,” Claudio G

Shutting down the global economy over a little germ has consequences. We were told it was no big deal. When the US forcibly closed businesses and issued stay-at-home orders, many refineries became unprofitable and closed. Shutting down US oil production, killing the Keystone Pipeline, and then stopping Russian oil imports has created much pain for ordinary citizens.

The usual Democrat response has been to place the blame on imagined “price gouging” or “greedflation.” Of course, the administration has been committed to crippling fossil fuel production for the duration, and now we are all paying the price for that policy.

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA — Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA), participated in the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s annual “Clean the Bay Day” to remove litter and debris in the rivers, streams, and beaches of the Bay’s watershed. Rep. Luria will join volunteers and community leaders across Coastal Virginia in efforts to protect and preserve the Bay.

Protecting Coastal Virginia’s natural treasure, the Chesapeake Bay, is one of Rep. Luria’s top priorities in Congress. In 2020, then President Donald Trump signed Rep. Luria’s bipartisan Chesapeake Bay Program Reauthorization Act into law as part of the America’s Conservation Enhancement Act.

Rep. Luria recently championed a $40 million investment by the EPA to restore the Chesapeake Bay through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, or Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The Chesapeake Bay will receive $238 million in BIL funding for restoration and improvement projects over the next five years.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) joined Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and fellow Chesapeake Bay State-sens. Tom Carper (D-DE), Bob Casey (D-PA), Kirstin Gillibrand (D-NY), and Chris Coons (D-DE) today announced that they urged Senate leaders to support across-the-board funding sufficient to answer the many threats facing the health of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

“Our states are heavily invested in implementing a Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint designed to restore this national treasure. Continued federal partnership to support this complex, regional effort is key to their success,” the senators wrote. “To maintain the trust and collaboration of state and local partners, we have identified essential programs across the federal agency partners in Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23).”

Notably, the senators advocate funding levels of $15 million for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Chesapeake WILD program; $10.7 million for the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office; $5.6 million for National Park Service Chesapeake Bay Office programs; and more than $17 million for scientific and monitoring services of the U.S. Geological Survey.

“As a testament to the value of this federal-state partnership, all watershed states signed the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. Under the Agreement, the jurisdictions and federal agencies have voluntarily committed to work together to restore water quality in the Chesapeake Bay by 2025,” wrote the senators. “We must maintain federal investment in the programs below to support state-led efforts and ensure their continued success.” 

Full text of the letter is available here.   

STAUNTON, Va. — The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation will offer a two-part agriculture nutrient management training program in June and July. 

As the cost of soil nutrients continues to rise, nutrient management is an increasingly important issue for Virginia’s farmers. 

Nutrient management plans determine rates for applying manure, fertilizers, biosolids and other soil amendments to maximize crop yields and minimize nutrient loss. Nutrient loss negatively affects the producer’s bottom line and can contaminate ground and surface waters. Reducing nutrient loss is a win-win for farmers and Virginia’s water quality.

This training program is for those interested in developing agricultural nutrient management plans or seeking to become certified plan writers.

The first session, June 29-30, is a lecture series on soil science, soil fertility and crop production by Virginia Tech professors. The second session, July 12-14, will cover nutrient management plan writing using a case study.

Both sessions will be held in the Dairy Lecture Hall at the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton. Each session runs 9 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. Early registration is $130 for each session. After June 20, the fee is $150 per session. 

More information about nutrient management training and certification is available at www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil-and-water/nmtrain.

Contact Stephanie Dawley at 804-382-3911 or Stephanie.Dawley@dcr.virginia.gov for details. 

Hiking, biking, birdwatching and water activities available 

(Editors: Follow this link to download an image. Photo caption: Trail leading to the beach at Kiptopeke State Park.)

RICHMOND – National Trails Day takes place on the first Saturday in June and recognizes all the incredible benefits federal, state and local trails provide for recreation and exposure to nature. 
“Getting families together for an opportunity to bond and build stronger outdoor skills is really important and National Trails Day focuses on that connection while educating park visitors about the wide variety of services the trail systems offer,” Virginia State Parks Director Dr. Melissa Baker said.

Trails provide access to waterways for canoeing and paddle trips, unique opportunities for birdwatching and learning land navigation as well as using the trails for hiking and biking. 
Events are held at all 41 Virginia State Parks in order to promote awareness and to encourage people to discover their local trails. 

“Virginia State Parks offer a range of programs to educate and connect with the local community that showcase the state’s scenic trails,” Sailor’s Creek Battlefield State Park Manager David Gunnells said. “We are offering guests an opportunity to give back to the park and help clean up the trails with a Park Ranger on June 4. National Trails Day is a perfect way to combine enjoying the outdoors while cleaning up the trails you love.”

National Trails Day is also an opportunity to thank the many volunteers, land agencies, trail developers, park employees and rangers for their help in developing and maintaining the trails.

Here are some events to consider:

•    Trails clean up at Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield
•    Hike to the falls at Clinch River State Park in Saint Paul
•    Forestry trail hike at Chippokes State Park in Surry County
•    “Hike” a water trail at Widewater State Park in Stafford
•    Volunteer for litter patrol at Bear Creek Lake State Park in Cumberland
•    Tunnel and cave tours at Natural Tunnel State Park in Duffield
•    Hoover Mountain Bike Trail Maintenance at New River Trail State Park in Allisonia
•    Trail debris clean up at Staunton River State Park in Scottsburg

Check out an event at your local park.

American Hiking Society has more ways you can get involved.

For more information about Virginia State Parks’ activities and amenities or to make reservations in one of the more than 1,800 campsites or 300 climate-controlled cabins, call the Virginia State Parks Reservation Center at 800-933-PARK or visit www.virginiastateparks.gov.