DEP Grant Opportunity: Looking for Projects to Protect Connecticut’s Natural Environment

In an effort to preserve and protect Connecticut’s ecosystem, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is making available $4 million in grants for eco-projects across the state, including the coast of the Long Island Sound. The grant proposals must be for big, highly visible projects, ranging between $100,000 and $500,000. The projects must have long-term benefits, public benefit, and a broad impact state-wide or throughout communities. The main areas of focus for these grants include the Long Island Sound, the Connecticut River, the Hockanum, the Norwalk, and the Quinnipiac.

The grants will be awarded through the DEP Ecosystem Management and Habitat Restoration, as well as the Long Island Sound License Plate Program. As DEP Commissioner Amey Marrella stated, “It made good sense to combine our settlement funds with the resources of the Long Island Sound Fund. This combined funding offers us the chance to build on the work of the Long Island Sound Fund to support more projects, larger projects, and a much wider variety of ecosystem and habitat restoration projects.”

This grant program seeks to provide support for ecosystem management, restore land and water habitats throughout Connecticut and along the Long Island Sound, and to involve the public directly with efforts to improve and protect Connecticut’s natural environment and resources.  According to Governor Rell, “These dollars can be used by cities and towns and other organizations to help fund projects to restore or protect unique and critical lands, ranging from forest habitats to tidal wetlands.”

The DEP is now requesting grant proposals from non-profit, municipal, and other organizations through July 29, 2010.

For further information about the grant program and application process:

http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2705&q=461150&depNav_GID=1622

Additional funding opportunities for Long Island Sound projects are available through the Long Island Sound Study and its partners. For further information: http://longislandsoundstudy.net/about/grants/.

For information about broader environmental funding opportunities within Connecticut, please visit the Connecticut DEP website at www.ct.gov/dep and search for “Grants and Financial Assistance”.