DEC And NY Sea Grant Announce Nearly $200,000 In Great Lakes Basin Small Grants Project Awards
Funding Will Support Ecosystem-based Management Implementation Throughout New York’s Great Lakes Basin
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and New York Sea Grant (NYSG) announced $191,960 in grants for five Great Lakes basin projects. The initiatives support local community plans to restore water quality, protect ecosystems, and strengthen community resilience and steward ship. These selected projects support measurable progress toward the priority goals of the Great Lakes Action Agenda for New York’s Great Lakes water shed.
DEC Commissioner Aman da Lefton said, “Through our partnership with New York Sea Grant, New York is helping communities across the State take meaningful action to pro tect our Great Lakes and their watersheds. This funding sup ports innovative, community led initiatives that will advance the goals of the Great Lakes Action Agenda and DEC’s ongoing efforts to safeguard water quality, improve fish and wildlife habitat, and enhance sustainability and resiliency in the region.”
New York Sea Grant Associate Director and Cornell Cooperative Extension Assistant Director Katherine Bunting Howarth said, “Through this small grant partnership, com munities in New York’s Great Lakes watershed are addressing critical, locally-identified needs by applying science, building partnerships, and engaging residents to improve the health of ecological systems.”
New York’s Great Lakes Basin Small Grants program has awarded more than $2 million in small grants to date for a combined total of 66 projects since the program’s inception in 2015. The projects selected for this round of New York’s Great Lakes Basin Small Grants funding include:
Erie County
University at Buffalo, Hydrology Academy Work force Training: $32,017. This project will address critical hydrologic data gaps identified in the Great Lakes Action Agenda (GLAA) by expanding regional capacity for collecting hydrologic data. The Academy will provide targeted work force training for environmental scientists, local municipal planners, watershed groups, and university students through a four-day workshop and a series of instructional videos. Curriculum will pro vide hands-on experience and train regional practitioners to support watershed management plans.
New York Sea Grant, a cooperative program of Cor nell University and the State University of New York, administers the New York’s Great Lakes Basin Small Grants program in partnership with DEC’s Great Lakes Pro gram. The program is funded through the New York State Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) under the author ity of the New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Act. The EPF is a critical resource for environmental programs such as environmental justice, land acquisition, farmland protection, invasive species prevention and eradication, recreation access, and water quality improvement projects. Govrnor Hochul’s FY27 Budget reaffirms New York’s commitment to environmental leadership by appropriating $425 million to the EPF, using $25 million from the Sustainable Future Program to provide a record $450 million for important environmental programs.
More information on the New York’s Great Lakes Basin Small Grants program with past project profiles is online at nyseagrant.org/glsmall grants. Learn more about the New York’s Great Lakes Action Agenda that applies ecosystem-based management to conserve, protect, and enhance New York State’s Great Lakes natural resources at https:// dec.ny.gov/nature/waterbodies/watersheds/management/great-lakes.