New York Sea Grant & DEC announce $400,000 available in grants for Great Lakes basin projects

Eligible projects will ‘enhance health and resilience of New York state's Great Lakes lands & waters’

New York Sea Grant, in partnership with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, announced $400,000 in grant funding now available for Great Lakes ecosystem-based management projects in support of New York's Great Lakes Action Agenda (https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/91881.html). Awards of up to $50,000 per project will be available from the New York Great Lakes Basin Small Grants Program at https://nyseagrant.org/glsmallgrants.

"These grants provide key opportunities to bolster environmental progress and economic development by enhancing ecosystem restoration and advancing resiliency at a critical time for the Great Lakes," DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said. "DEC looks forward to our continued partnership with New York Sea Grant to implement solutions for protecting the Great Lakes today and for future generations of New Yorkers."

"The Great Lakes region encompasses a unique ecosystem and represents a major economic engine for New York state," said New York Sea Grant Associate Director and Cornell University Cooperative Extension Assistant Director Katherine Bunting-Howarth, Ph.D., J.D. "New York Sea Grant is excited to coordinate this funding to help diverse stakeholders implement plans to protect their coastal environments and strengthen the resiliency, sustainability, and economic standing of their waterfront communities."

Proposed projects must address key water quality, natural resource, and resiliency priorities in New York's Great Lakes Action Agenda, and should advance local priorities identified in existing community plans. Eligible projects may include planning, design, implementation, information management tool development, demonstration projects, and targeted educational outreach.

Not-for-profit organizations, county and local government or public agencies, municipalities, regional planning and environmental commissions, and educational institutions including, but not limited to, public and private K-12 schools, colleges and universities, are eligible to apply.

Application instructions are available online at https://nyseagrant.org/glsmallgrants, including details to register for the "how to apply" webinar at 10 a.m. May 19. Proposals must be submitted by 4:30 p.m. EST July 1. For more information, contact New York Sea Grant at 315-312-3042.

The New York Great Lakes Basin Small Grants Program is administered by New York Sea Grant in partnership with DEC, and is funded by the New York State Environmental Protection Fund.

Examples of past New York Great Lakes Basin Small Grants projects can be found online at https://nyseagrant.org/glsmallgrants. Eight currently funded projects are focused on engaging New York youth in environmental education and activities in their local watershed areas of the Great Lakes.

New York Sea Grant is a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Sea Grant College Program. Since 1971, New York Sea Grant has promoted coastal vitality, environmental sustainability, and citizen awareness about the state's marine and Great Lakes resources. New York Sea Grant maintains Great Lakes offices in Buffalo, Newark and Oswego.