News Update
EPA, Endowment award $156,000 to the Myakka Island Conservation Corridor
Staff report
Enviro-Net
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities are providing $156,000 to the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast to protect and sustain healthy watersheds in the Myakka Island Conservation Corridor.
The foundation is one of nine projects that received a portion of the $1.4 million in grants to improve land management of hundreds of thousands of acres of watersheds in seven states.
“The Healthy Watershed Consortium Grant Program is a unique public-private partnership that brings together businesses, local governments, universities, and not-for-profit organizations to work collaboratively on watershed protection--which is key to long-lasting environmental protection,” said Joel Beauvais, deputy assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Water. “Today’s grants will protect waterways from pollution while maintaining healthy habitats and ensuring clean and safe drinking water that will safeguard local economies that depend on watersheds.”
Grants were awarded to organizations in California, Colorado, Florida, Maine, Oregon, Washington, and West Virginia to provide short-term funding to leverage larger financing for targeted watershed protection; to provide funds that help build the capacity of local organizations for sustainable, long-term watershed protection; or to support new techniques or approaches that advance the state of practice for watershed protection and that can be replicated across the country.
EPA launched its Healthy Watershed Consortium Grant Program in 2015 to accelerate and expand the protection of healthy, freshwater ecosystems and their watersheds. EPA co-funds the program with the Endowment, which manages the partnership.