WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin announced $575,000 in federal funding through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for two wildlife habitat restoration projects along the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay.
These grants come from the Chesapeake WILD Program, a first of its kind program at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service specific to habitat restoration in the bay watershed. Cardin, a co-sponsor of the Chesapeake WILD Program, says, “This investment by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and local partners focused on enhancing habitat, as well as recreational opportunities for residents and visitors, will complement the bay restoration effort and further enhance resiliency in the watershed.”
A total of $500,000 will be granted to the The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy to assist with wildlife habitat migration between the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge and the Nanticoke River. They plan to protect between 350‐400 acres of strategic wildlife habitat in Dorchester County.
The other $75,000 will be granted to the Alliance to Restore Northwest Creek to design a restoration project for the deteriorating water quality in Northwest Creek on Kent Island. The restoration project will create new habitat for shallow water fish species and protected breeding grounds for other wildlife via the creation of 15 acres of spartina islands, eight acres of living shorelines and four acres of marsh habitat.
