Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is awarding $25.7 million to support 28 projects in 11 coastal states to protect, restore or enhance over 10,000 acres of coastal wetlands and adjacent upland habitats and more than eight miles of streams and shoreline under the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program. Coastal wetlands are vitally important in protecting us from floods, filtering our water, supporting recreation and local economies, and providing habitat for fish and wildlife. Despite their importance, there has been a steady loss of coastal wetlands.
State, local and Tribal governments, private landowners, conservation groups and other partners will contribute $16.8 million in additional funds to support these projects. These grants will have wide-reaching benefits for local economies, people and wildlife – using nature-based solutions to boost coastal resilience, reduce flood risk, stabilize shorelines and protect natural ecosystems.
“Conserving coastal wetlands is essential for supporting ecosystems that protect wildlife and our communities from climate change climate change
Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic change, since the mid-20th century humans have had an unprecedented impact on Earth's climate system and caused change on a global scale.
Learn more about climate change impacts,” said Service Director Martha Williams. “Wetlands provide critical habitat for countless species of wildlife and birds while also increasing our resilience to floods and storms. Through these grants, we prioritize the conservation of these important areas and help create a healthier environment for future generations, ensuring that nature and local communities can thrive together.”
The Service annually awards grants of up to $1 million to states based on a national competition, which enables states to identify and address their highest conservation priorities in coastal areas. Since 1992, the Service has awarded more than $530 million in grants contributing to the long-term protection and restoration of 600,000 acres under this program.
The 2025 grants will help support recovery of threatened and endangered species, enhance flood protection and water quality, provide economic benefits to coastal communities and increase outdoor recreational opportunities.
States receiving funds this year are California, Hawai’i, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. Examples of the projects funded by the 2025 grant program, include:
Topsail Beach Partnership
The North Carolina Division of Coastal Management, in partnership with the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust and others, is awarded $1 million to acquire 147.5 acres of maritime forest and coastal wetland on the south end of Topsail Island, a coastal barrier island in Pender County, North Carolina. The tract includes pristine beach, dune, salt flats, maritime shrub and estuarine wetlands that provide habitat for several federally listed species including seabeach amaranth, red knots, piping plovers, green sea turtles and loggerhead sea turtles.
Eastern Shore Saltmarsh Conservation Initiative
The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited and Wildlife Foundation of Virginia, is awarded $1 million to acquire and improve 621.4 acres of coastal wetlands and buffering uplands in Accomack County, Virginia, on the Delmarva Peninsula. This project will expand a wildlife management area wildlife management area
For practical purposes, a wildlife management area is synonymous with a national wildlife refuge or a game preserve. There are nine wildlife management areas and one game preserve in the National Wildlife Refuge System.
Learn more about wildlife management area for coastal fish and wildlife, facilitate inland marsh migration, enhance coastal resiliency, expand wildlife-related recreation opportunities and improve habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife. This project will also benefit Virginia’s recreational and commercial fishing and shellfishing industries.
Little Hoko River Floodplain Restoration
Washington State Parks, in partnership with the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, and Makah Tribes is awarded $1 million to restore critical coastal wetlands in the Hoko River watershed in Clallam County, Washington. The project will also restore 175 acres of coastal wetlands and 20 acres of buffers along the Little Hoko River and floodplain on Washington State Park land. The Hoko watershed supports numerous species of birds and fish. The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe will install 62 large, engineered logjams in the stream to re-establish the river process and contribute large woody debris to improve the in-stream habitat, benefitting Chinook salmon and steelhead during their annual migration.
Point au Sable Nature Preserve/Wequiock Creek Acquisition
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, in partnership with Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust, is awarded $90,000 to acquire a 22-acre parcel of land on Point au Sable, which is the largest coastal wetland complex along the east shore of Green Bay on Lake Michigan. The shallow, nutrient-rich waters of lower Green Bay support one of the most productive ecosystems in the Great Lakes with more than 60 species listed as endangered, threatened or species of concern by state and federal agencies. The lower Bay hosts diverse concentrations of songbirds, and is a destination for fishing and waterfowl hunting.
Wetlands in coastal watersheds, including on national wildlife refuges, are part of a diverse and complex set of ecosystems that are vital to the nation’s economy and an important part of our natural heritage.
Coastal wetlands in the United States include both salt marshes in estuaries and freshwater wetlands that extend inland within the coastal watersheds. They provide crucial habitat for fish, birds and other wildlife at various life stages.
More information is available online at: https://www.fws.gov/service/national-coastal-wetlands-conservation-grants.
The National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program is administered by the Service and funded in part by taxes or import duties collected from the sale of recreational fishing equipment, boats, electric motors and motorboat and small engine fuels under the authority of the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act. The billions of dollars generated through recreational angling, boating, waterfowl hunting and birdwatching benefit communities in the vicinity of wetlands restoration projects.
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