Coastal conservation management grants now available

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control's Delaware Coastal Management Program has announced the availability of grant funding to support projects and activities that improve local and regional capacity to conserve, manage, and promote the incorporation of coastal management issues into local planning and implementation activities throughout Delaware.

Grants will focus on those activities and planning efforts that assist sea level rise adaptation planning, including recommendations provided in Preparing for Tomorrow’s High: Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment for the State of Delaware, the planning document released last week by DNREC and the state’s Sea Level Rise Advisory Committee. Grants also will focus on the reduction of coastal hazard-related impacts, increasing local or regional coastal resiliency and/or natural resource management issues as they pertain to adaptation measures.

“Delaware Coastal Programs is happy to provide this grant-funding opportunity in a time of limited resources for governments to better prepare for impacts from coastal storms and sea level rise,” said Sarah Cooksey, DCP administrator.

Competitive grants will be available from the DCMP, which will provide financial and technical assistance to local and state governments and nonprofit organizations to increase Delaware’s coastal resiliency through sea level rise adaptation planning.

Proposals should address one or more of the following:

Planning Grants

Projects that seek to improve Delaware’s resiliency to sea level rise and coastal storms, including:

• Assessments of local land-use ordinances, zoning codes and building codes for the purpose of identifying barriers and opportunities and recommending improvements

• Local sea level rise vulnerability assessments and/or adaptation plans

• Planning and design of on-the-ground adaptation projects.

Research Grants

Projects that seek to improve knowledge and understanding of:

• Wetland migration and barriers to inland migration

• Social, environmental and economic costs of sea level rise adaptation strategies

• Secondary and cumulative impacts of adaptation strategies

• Development of tools and technology for the reduction of coastal hazard-related impacts.

Applicants may be any Delaware government entity (state, county and/or municipal) or not-for-profit organization working at the local level in the State of Delaware.

A workshop will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 11, at the St. Jones Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve. The workshop will review grant requirements and how to prepare a competitive grant application for submission. Also, staff members will be available to answer questions and help participants develop project ideas. The workshop is free and is not mandatory, but attendees must preregister by Tuesday, Jan. 7. Proposals are due to the DCMP office no later than 3 p.m., Feb. 7.

Grant awards will be announced and recipients notified on or before Feb. 21. The project completion deadline is March 20, 2015.

To view the request for proposals and to register for the upcoming workshop, go to de.gov/coastalgrants.

For more information, contact Delaware Coastal Programs at 302-739-9283.