NFWF awards $5.49M for restoration projects in Louisiana

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) has announced that a Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) project was one of three impacting Louisiana that were awarded over $5.49 million in funding through the America the Beautiful Challenge (ATBC) grant program.

NFWF awarded nearly $950,000 in grant funding to CPRA for the engineering and design phase of the Central Wetlands Restoration Project that could benefit a 16,000 acres area.

The goal of this project is to alleviate impoundment and increase freshwater and sediment input, create a small scale marsh and ridge restoration project, and plant native vegetation in collaboration with local partners.

CPRA funds bring the total project amount to $1,089,400.

“This award is the first competitive coastal ecosystem restoration grant from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for Louisiana’s coastal program, which allows us to draw down federal resources to advance coastal preservation by designing and completing the innovative projects in our Coastal Master Plan,” said CPRA Chairman Chip Kline.

The Louisiana and Mississippi Departments of Wildlife and Fisheries will receive funding to partner on a project to improve resilience of 90,000 acres of fire-dependent habitats.

The project, which aims to restore ecosystems and manage existing habitats in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, was awarded over $4.3 million in ATBC funds.

Additional matching funds will bring the project total to over $5.5 million, said NFWF.