Request for Partnership Proposals/Letters of Interest for the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program FY 2024

NOTE:

This is a call-for preproposals for projects who would like to partner with the California State Coastal Conservancy to apply for US Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant (NCWCG) Program funding.

1. a) This is NOT the official NCWC call for applications.
2. b) Projects hoping to receive NCWCG funding are NOT required to apply through the Coastal Conservancy. As stated below, there are six other state agencies who are also designated to apply for these funds for the projects in California. However, should a project wish to work with the Coastal Conservancy to manage and administer a potential future grant, please read the following announcement, and if you feel your project fits the NCWCG criteria, please submit a brief (~2-4 page) letter of interest via email to gerwein@scc.ca.gov by 5 PM PST on Friday, April 14^th, 2023 (see further details below).

The California State Coastal Conservancy (Conservancy) seeks partners for joint applications to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 round of the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant (NCWCG) Program for coastal wetlands acquisition and/or restoration projects on the California coast or along the San Francisco Bay shoreline. Only seven designated state agencies, including the Conservancy, are eligible to apply for NCWC grants in California. However, the Conservancy can work in partnership with state and local agencies, tribes, and certain non-profits to develop and submit NCWC proposals.  The Conservancy can pass through NCWCG funds to its partners, as subrecipients, to implement projects.  While federal agencies can’t receive NCWCG funds, NCWCG-funded projects can be implemented on federal lands by a subrecipient. A full description of the NCWCG program can be found here:  https://www.fws.gov/coastal/CoastalGrants/.

NCWC provides grants of up to $1,000,000 for the protection and/or restoration of coastal wetlands.  Grants are for project implementation, although it is permissible to utilize no more than 30%, combined, for biological surveys or monitoring, planning, and permitting if those activities are closely tied to implementation. Projects should be ready for implementation in Summer 2024 or 2025.  Projects will be more competitive if the project area is primarily made up of jurisdictional wetlands. The NCWC grant program requires a non-federal match of at least 25% of the total project cost, consisting of either cash or in-kind contributions, and additional points are awarded for match of up to 33% of the total project cost.  The Conservancy may be able to provide some or all the required match, but project partners providing their own match will increase the Conservancy’s capacity to carry out additional projects.  The NCWCG program also prioritizes projects that involve multiple partners providing a cash or in-kind contribution. All projects must ensure long-term (at least 20 years) conservation of coastal resources.

Eligible Activities include:

1. Acquisition of a real property interest (e.g., conservation easement or fee title) in coastal lands or waters (coastal wetlands ecosystems) from willing sellers or partners for long-term conservation;
2. Restoration, enhancement, or management of coastal wetlands ecosystems; or
3. A combination of acquisition, restoration, and management.

Ineligible Activities include, but are not limited to:

1. Projects that primarily benefit navigation, irrigation, flood control, or mariculture;
2. Acquisition, restoration, enhancement or management of lands required as the result of a regulatory or decision-making process to mitigate habitat losses;
3. Creation of wetlands where wetlands did not previously exist;
4. Enforcement of fish and wildlife laws and regulations, except when necessary for the accomplishment of approved project purposes;
5. Research;
6. Planning as a primary project focus;
7. Operations and maintenance, including long-term invasive species management;
8. Acquisition and/or restoration of upper portions of watersheds where benefits to the coastal wetlands ecosystem are not significant and direct; and
9. Projects providing less than 20 years of conservation benefits.

This year’s FY 2024 Notice of Funding Announcement (NOAO), is available here as reference:  https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/search-grants.html, funding opportunity Number: F24AS00005.

If your project is selected by the Conservancy during this initial proposal phase, the Conservancy will work with you to prepare a NCWCG proposal, which may or may not be awarded funding by the USFWS. The Conservancy will not award state funding grants directly through this solicitation.  The USFWS selects proposals for award through a merit-based, national competitive review and ranking process. The deadline to submit NCWC proposals to the USFWS for FY 2024 will be June 23, 2023.  Selected projects are generally awarded 6-8 months after the application is submitted. If projects are awarded a NCWCG, funding should be available for implementation in late Spring of 2024. 

USFWS will need to review and meet all project-related environmental compliance requirements before making funding available. A full description of the NCWCG program can be found here:  https://www.fws.gov/coastal/CoastalGrants/.

Letter of Interest Submittal:

To indicate your interest in partnering with the Conservancy on a NCWC proposal, please submit a brief (~2-4 page) letter of interest via email to joel.gerwein@scc.ca.gov. The letter should include the following information:

1) 1-2 sentence summary of proposed project,

2) location of the project and its relevance to NCWCG’s coastal wetland restoration goals,

3) description of the need for the project,

4) description of the proposed project and how it addresses the need,

5) estimated project cost and description of potential match,

6) approximate timeline for project implementation (include information of the status of project design and environmental review for restoration projects),

7) indicate whether you have a willing seller for acquisition projects, and

8) list of potential project partners and their roles in the project.  Include a map showing the project area and providing the approximate acreage of the project area and acreage of coastal wetlands within the project area.

Letters of Interest must be received by 5 PM PST on Friday, April 14^th 2023.

Eligible Applicants: Non-federal public agencies, tribes, and certain nonprofit organizations are eligible for funding. To be eligible, a nonprofit organization must qualify under the provisions of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Questions? Questions about the application process and potential projects may be directed to Joel Gerwein, External Grants Manager, 510-286-4170, joel.gerwein@scc.ca.gov

SCC Grant Availability Webinar Nov 9

The State of California has made an unprecedented investment in the resilience and accessibility of the coast.  As a result, the Coastal Conservancy has significant funding available to non-profit organizations, public agencies, and federally-recognized tribes for projects that benefit public access, natural resources, working lands, and climate resiliency at the coast, coastal watersheds, and the San Francisco Bay. 

A webinar was held on November 9 on Conservancy funding and how to apply for our grants. A recording of the webinar can be found on our Grants page here. 

We anticipate that the majority of our funding will be allocated through our ongoing pre-proposal solicitation.  To learn more about this process, please visit the Grants page of our website. 

The Conservancy also holds periodic grant rounds related to specific programs or fund sources.  Information on those grant rounds and their deadlines are posted on this page when they are open.  You can also sign up to be notified of scheduled grant rounds by registering for our mailing list at this link.

The Conservancy will fund most stages of a project including pre-project feasibility studies, property acquisition, project planning including community involvement, design, environmental review, permitting, construction, and project-related monitoring. We do not fund operation and maintenance activities.

We look forward to working with many partner organizations to make a difference for the health and accessibility of the coast.

Coastal Stories Grant Program Launched to Support Inclusive Storytelling about the California Coast

The Coastal Conservancy has launched a new grant program that intends to make the outdoors more inclusive and welcoming for all Californians by fostering representation of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) and other historically excluded groups in outdoor spaces – through storytelling.

Our Coastal Stories Grant Program seeks to fund projects that plan, develop, and implement storytelling installations or materials (such as murals, signage, monuments, or guides) that represent communities and voices that have been historically excluded in the storytelling of California’s coast and publicly accessible lands. These communities may include but are not limited to BIPOC people, people with disabilities, immigrant communities, low-income communities, and other historically excluded communities.

All projects must present a story connected to publicly-accessible outdoors spaces within our jurisdiction,  in a way that will reach the public. We encourage proposals for projects that are community-led, that show strong community and landowner partnerships, and that use creative forms of historical, ecological, and cultural storytelling.

Learn more here.

$500 million to be Appropriated to Coastal Conservancy for Coastal Resilience over two years

On September 23, 2021, Governor Newsom signed a budget bill that includes a total of $500 million for coastal resilience to be appropriated to the State Coastal Conservancy in Fiscal Years 2022-23 and 2023-24. This coastal resilience funding is part of the larger climate resilience budget package that demonstrates the State of California’s commitment to preparing for climate change impacts, including wildfire, extreme heat, drought, and sea level rise.

The State Coastal Conservancy will undertake a strategic planning process starting in late 2021 to identify priority projects and programs, desired measurable outcomes, and the process we will use for soliciting, evaluating, and recommending projects to the Conservancy Board for funding. This strategic planning process will include multiple meetings with public agencies, tribes, nonprofits, community groups, and the public to seek ideas, input, and feedback. If you want to stay informed of opportunities to weigh in, please sign up for our email list by clicking here.

This funding provides an unprecedented opportunity to move the needle on coastal resilience. The State Coastal Conservancy recognizes the urgency and importance of preparing the coast, and the people and wildlife that depend on the coast, for sea level rise and other climate change impacts. We look forward to working with many partner organizations to make a difference for the health of the coast.

Press Release: State Coastal Conservancy Awards $10.8 Million for Wildfire Resilience in this Fire Season

(Oakland, CA) – Today, the Board of the State Coastal Conservancy authorized funding totaling over $10.8 for 33 projects throughout the coast of California to increase the resilience of coastal forests and open space to wildfires.

“These projects will help prepare coastal habitats for catastrophic wildfires by creating fire breaks, clearing debris, removing hazardous trees along fire roads, and other measures intended to slow the spread of wildfire, protect communities, and help forests recover from fire more quickly.” Said Sam Schuchat, Executive Officer of the State Coastal Conservancy. “California has suffered a string of devastating fire seasons; we are one of many state and local agencies working to help us better anticipate, mitigate, and recover from wildfire in the future. Thanks to early action funding appropriated by the Legislature and Governor in April, we’re going to get these projects underway before the worst of this year’s fire season.”

Today’s grants are part of the Conservancy’s Wildfire Resilience Program, which supports local partners to develop and implement projects that improve forest health and reduce the risk of catastrophic fire in areas where people are living near wildlands. The Wildfire Resilience Program also aims to build organizational capacity at the local and regional level to implement forest health and fire risk reduction projects that help prevent isolated fires from becoming wildfires.

More on the Conservancy’s Wildfire Resilience Program can be found here: https://scc.ca.gov/wildfire-resilience-program/

The projects approved at today’s meeting were:

1. A grant of $7,650 to the National Audubon Society to create and maintain defensible space around buildings within Audubon Starr Ranch Sanctuary, located in unincorporated Orange County.

2. A grant of $23,588 to the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County to implement prescribed herbivory to reduce fuel loads and create a buffer to prevent wildfire spread in the southern portion of Arroyo Hondo Preservein Santa Barbara County.
3. A grant of $35,000 to the Hoopa Valley Tribe to implement shaded fuel brakes or defensible space projects to protect the homes of approximately 75 vulnerable residents on the Hoopa Valley Tribal Reservation, Humboldt County.
4. A grant of $45,000 to the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea to remove hazardous fire fuels in City’s Mission Trail Nature Preserve, Monterey County.
5. A grant of $47,721 to the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency for eucalyptus removal and weed abatement in a high fire hazard severity zone at Davidson Ranch Reserve, in Santa Clara County.
6. A grant of $75,000 to the Trinity County Resource Conservation District to implement fuel reduction projects on Bureau of Land Management property in the community of Lewiston, Trinity County.
7. A grant of $100,000 to the City of Santa Cruz to undertake vegetation management to reduce fire risk at two open space areas at Arroyo Seco Canyon and DeLaveaga Park.
8. A grant of $115,000 to the Cazadero Community Services District to acquire a Brush Chipper, skid steer bucket loader and supplies for use in vegetation management activities, and to undertake such activities, to decrease the risk of wildfire in the vicinity of Cazadero, Sonoma County.
9. A grant of $120,000 to the Carpinteria-SummerlandFire Protection District for a multi-pronged wildfire hazard fuels reduction project in the Carpinteria-Summerland area of Santa Barbara County.
10. A grant of $130,000 to the City of Pacifica and $67,500 to the City of Brisbane for the North County Fire Authority to implement two wildfire fuel reduction projects in the wildland urban interface in northern San Mateo County, including vegetation management along public roadways in City of Brisbane and a community chipper program in the City of Pacifica.
11. A grant of $144,000 to the City of Mill Valley to reduce fuels build up, create defensible space along the Blithedale Ridge Fire Road and perform fire-related public outreach in the vicinity of the Blithedale Summit Open Space Preserve,Mill Valley, Marin County.
12. A grant of $150,000 to Sonoma Land Trust to conduct wildfire risk reduction activities on the Little Black Mountain Preserve, Laufenberg Ranch, Pole Mountain Preserve, and Live Oaks Ranchproperties in Sonoma County.
13. A grant of $150,000 to LandPaths to conduct approximately 60 acres of fuels reduction and burn area restoration on the Bohemia Ecological Preserve, Riddell Preserve, Rancho Mark West Preserve, and Ocean Song Preserve properties in Sonoma County.
14. A grant of $194,400 to Woodside Fire Protection Districtfor fuel reduction management practices and invasive plant removal in San Mateo County, and adoption of findings under the California Environmental Quality Act.
15. A grant of $197,621 to Mendocino County to implement the Mendocino County Fuels Reduction Capacity Building Projectin Mendocino County.
16. A grant of $200,000 to San Lorenzo Valley Water Districtfor vegetation management to reduce fire risk to critical infrastructure on land owned and operated by the District in Santa Cruz County.
17. A grant of $209,800 to The Wildlands Conservancy to undertake fuels reduction and vegetation management on the Jenner Headlands Preserve, Sonoma County.
18. A grant of $250,000 to the Pala Band of Mission Indians to implement a hazardous fuels reduction project within a wildland urban interface on the Pala Band of Mission Indians’ Reservationin San Diego County.
19. A grant of $290,600 to the East Bay Regional Park District to expand on-going fuel treatments and fuel breaks and conduct biological surveys on East Bay Regional Park lands, specifically in two recommended treatment areas: Tilden Regional Park – TI002a and Wildcat Canyon Regional Park – WC005.

20. A grant of $277,166 to the Sonoma County Water Agency to conduct wildfire resilience activities at Spring Lake Regional Park, Sonoma County.

21. A grant of $345,650 to Sonoma County Regional Parks to conduct wildfire resilience activities consisting of shaded fuel breaks at Shiloh Ranch Regional Park and prescribed grazing at Taylor Mountain Regional Parkand Open Space Preserve, Sonoma County.

22. A grant of $575,000 to the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District to conduct wildfire resilience activities at Saddle Mountain Open Space Preserve, Sonoma County, and adoption of findings under the California Environmental Quality Act.
23. A grant of $1,078,684 to the Napa County Resource Conservation District for wildfire resilience activities at Linda Falls Preserve, Pacific Union College Demonstration and Experimental Forest, Suscol Intertribal Council’s Suskol House Land, and Moore Creek Park, Napa County, and adoption of findings under the California Environmental Quality Act.
24. A grant of $299,253 to the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indiansto reduce fire-fuels created by the 2019 Kincade Fire and restore approximately 57 acres of the Rancheria in Sonoma County, and adoption of findings pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act.
25. A grant of $414,000 to the City of Healdsburg for its Fire Department to conduct wildfire fuel management and control line treatments on three open space preserves (Healdsburg Ridge, Callahan and Fitch Mountain) adjacent to the City of Healdsburg in Sonoma County, and adoption of findings under the California Environmental Quality Act.
26. A grant of $1,000,000 to Save the Redwoods League to conduct forest restoration treatments to improve forest health and wildfire resiliency in the Greater Prairie Creek Watershed within Redwood National and State Parks, and adoption of findings under the California Environmental Quality Act.

27. A grant of $1,000,000 to the Marin Municipal Water District to implement vegetation management projects identified in the Biodiversity, Fire, and Fuels Integrated Plan (BFFIP) in the Mount Tamalpais Watershed, and to reduce ladder fuels in the Marin County Parks Blithedale Summit Preserve, and adoption of findings under the California Environmental Quality Act.
28. A grant of $396,000 to Santa Barbara County for a community defensible space project in the San Antonio Creekarea of Santa Barbara County.
29. A grant of $400,000 to Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District to reduce wildland vegetation fuels, remove fire prone invasive species, and expand shaded fuel break areas through their Wildland Fire Resiliency Program in up to 11 preserves in San Mateo County, and adoption of findings under the California Environmental Quality Act.
30. A grant of $1,000,000 to San Mateo Resource Conservation District to establish a shaded fuel break and remove hazardous trees along fire roads within Quarry Parkin El Granada, San Mateo County, and adoption of findings under the California Environmental Quality Act.

31. A grant of $317,071 to the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabelto reduce fire fuels in undeveloped woodlands and open spaces and create defensible space around buildings, water systems, and roadways on Iipay Nation trust lands.
32. A grant of $661,367 to the Urban Corps of San Diego to conduct fuel modification for wildfire resilience in open space in the City of Chula Vista and in seven San Diego County preserves; and adoption of findings under the California Environmental Quality Act.
33. A grant of $581,500 to North East Trees for the Flat Top Park Fire Resilienceproject in the City of Los Angeles.

Public Input Period: Updating the Project Selection Criteria

The Coastal Conservancy is updating its project selection criteria and we are asking for public comments on the proposed new criteria. The draft proposed criteria are here.

There will be a webinar to discuss the proposed criteria on April 16 at 10:00, to register, click here.

If you would like to send in comments, you can send them by email to: JEDI@scc.ca.gov or fill-in this anonymous comment form.

Comments are due by July 1, 2021.

The Conservancy has used project selection criteria for the past twenty years to communicate priorities to potential applicants and project partners, to evaluate grant applications, and to prioritize projects for funding. The current criteria can be found here.

This updating process is in response to the JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) Guidelines adopted by the Conservancy Board in September of last year. The new project selection criteria will reflect the JEDI Guidelines that address funding programs, meaningful engagement and working with California’s tribes. The update is also an opportunity to align the criteria related to climate change with current state policy and guidance.

FY ’22 Request for Partnership Proposals/Letters of Interest for the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program

NOTE:

This is a call-for preproposals for projects who would like to partner with the California State Coastal Conservancy in order to apply for US Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Coastal Wetlands Conservation (NCWC) Program funding.

1. a) This is NOT the official NCWC call for applications.
2. b) Projects hoping to receive NCWC funding are NOT required to apply through the Coastal Conservancy. As stated below, there are six other state agencies who are also designated to apply for these funds for the projects in California. However, should a project wish to work with the Coastal Conservancy to manage and administer a potential future grant, please read the following announcement, and if you feel your project fits the NCWC criteria, please submit a brief (~2-4 page) letter of interest via email to  avra.heller@scc.ca.gov by 5 PM PST on March 11^th, 2021 (see further details below).

The California State Coastal Conservancy (Conservancy) seeks partners for joint applications to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 round of the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) National Coastal Wetlands Conservation (NCWC) Grant Program for coastal wetlands acquisition and/or restoration projects on the California coast or along the San Francisco Bay shoreline.  Only seven designated state agencies, including the Conservancy, are eligible to apply for NCWC grants in California. However, the Conservancy can work in partnership with state and local agencies, tribes, and certain non-profits to develop and submit NCWC proposals.  The Conservancy can pass through NCWC grant funds to its partners to implement projects.  While federal agencies can’t receive NCWC grant funds, NCWC-funded projects can be implemented on federal lands.

If your project is selected by the Conservancy during this initial proposal phase, the Conservancy will work with you to prepare a NCWC grant proposal, which may or may not be awarded funding by the USFWS. The Conservancy will not award state funding grants directly through this solicitation.  The USFWS selects proposals for award through a merit-based, national competitive review process. The deadline to submit NCWC proposals to the USFWS for FY 2022 will be June 25, 2021.  If projects are awarded a NCWC grant, funding should be available for implementation by late Spring / early Summer of 2022. USFWS will need to review and approve all project-related environmental compliance requirements before making funding available. A full description of the NCWC program can be found here:  https://www.fws.gov/coastal/CoastalGrants/

NCWC provides grants of up to $1,000,000 for the protection and/or restoration of coastal wetlands.  Grants are for project implementation, although it is permissible to utilize a small amount (~15%) of the grant for biological surveys or monitoring, planning and permitting if those activities are closely tied to implementation. Projects should be ready for implementation in Summer 2022 or 2023.  Projects will be more competitive if the project area is primarily made up of jurisdictional wetlands. The NCWC grant program requires a non-federal match of at least 25% of the total project cost, consisting of either cash or in-kind contributions, and additional points are awarded for match of up to 33% of the total project cost.  The Conservancy may be able to provide some or all of the required match, but project partners providing their own match will increase the Conservancy’s capacity to carry out more projects.  The NCWC program also prioritizes projects that involve multiple partners providing a cash or in-kind contribution. All projects must ensure long-term (at least 20 years) conservation of coastal resources.

Eligible Applicants: Non-federal public agencies, tribes, and certain nonprofit organizations are eligible to receive Costal Conservancy pass-through funding. To be eligible, a nonprofit organization must qualify under the provisions of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Eligible Activities include:

1. Acquisition of a real property interest (e.g., conservation easement or fee title) in coastal lands or waters (coastal wetlands ecosystems) from willing sellers or partners for long-term conservation;
2. Restoration, enhancement, or management of coastal wetlands ecosystems; or
3. A combination of acquisition, restoration, and management.

Ineligible Activities include, but are not limited to:

1. Projects that primarily benefit navigation, irrigation, flood control, or mariculture;
2. Acquisition, restoration, enhancement or management of lands required as the result of a regulatory or decision-making process to mitigate habitat losses;
3. Creation of wetlands where wetlands did not previously exist;
4. Enforcement of fish and wildlife laws and regulations, except when necessary for the accomplishment of approved project purposes;
5. Research;
6. Planning as a primary project focus;
7. Operations and maintenance, including long-term invasive species management;
8. Acquisition and/or restoration of upper portions of watersheds where benefits to the coastal wetlands ecosystem are not significant and direct; and
9. Projects providing less than 20 years of conservation benefits.

This year’s FY 2022 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), is not yet posted, but last year’s NOFO (which will have very similar terms) is available here as a reference: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=324653.

Letter of Interest Submittal:

To indicate your interest in partnering with the Conservancy on a NCWC proposal, please submit a brief (~2-4 page) letter of interest via email to avra.heller@scc.ca.gov. The letter should include the following information:

1) 1-2 sentence summary of the proposed project,

2) location of the project and its relevance to NCWC’s coastal wetland restoration goals,

3) description of the need for the project,

4) description of the proposed project and how it addresses the need,

5) estimated project cost and description of the potential match funding (the most competitive applications provide at least 33% of the total project costs as match),

6) approximate timeline for project implementation (include information of the status of project design and environmental review for restoration projects),

7) indicate whether you have a willing seller for acquisition projects, and

8) list of potential project partners and their roles in the project.  Include a map showing the project area and providing the approximate acreage of the project area and acreage of coastal wetlands within the project area.

Letters of Interest must be received by 5 PM PST on March 11^th 2021.

Questions? Questions about the application process and potential projects may be directed to Avra Heller, External Grants Manager, 510-286-1212, avra.heller@scc.ca.gov

Coastal Conservancy awards $2.4 million for Coastal Access, Restoration, and Protection

On January 21, 2021, the Board of the State Coastal Conservancy awarded nearly $2.4 million in grants to protects and restore the California coast and coastal watersheds, and increase public access to these resources.

Klamath River, Photo: Kristi Kirschner

The grants included $130,000 to fill data gaps in the Conservation Lands Network through citizen science data collection events in severely disadvantaged communities, $30,000 to the Inland Empire Resource Conservation District to provide low-income youth and their family members with environmental education and recreational access to sites in the Santa Ana River watershed, and $273,337 to the Resighini Rancheria to create a conceptual restoration plan for the Resighini Rancheria property and preliminary designs for several sites within the property to restore fisheries and wetlands on the lower Klamath River in Del Norte County.

A full list of grants awarded is below.

NORTH COAST

1. A grant of up to $400,000 to California Trout, Inc. to conduct planning activities for anadromous fish habitat enhancement and flood reduction in the lower Elk River Watershed, Humboldt County.
2. A grant of up to $279,491 to the Scott River Watershed Council to prepare environmental studies, designs and draft permit applications for restoration of a 2.27 mile reach of the Scott Rivernear Callahan, Siskiyou County.
3. A grant of up to $341,607 to the Mid Klamath Watershed Council to conduct studies, prepare designs and permit applications, and conduct environmental review to reconnect floodplain to the Klamath River at Horse Trough Springsto benefit salmonids in Siskiyou County.
4. A grant of up to $273,337 to the Resighini Rancheria to create a conceptual restoration plan for the Resighini Rancheria property and preliminary designs for several sites within the property to restore fisheries and wetlands on the lower Klamath River in Del Norte County.
5. A grant of up to $170,575 to the Mattole Salmon Group to develop design documents for approximately 165 instream habitat enhancement projects in 9 tributaries to the mid Mattole River in Humboldt County and to prepare environmental compliance documents for selected high-priority reaches.
6. A grant of up to $245,000 to the Salmonid Restoration Federation to prepare design and environmental compliance documents for an off-stream water storage pond and associated infrastructure on Marshall Ranchto enhance summer flows to benefit salmonids in the Redwood Creek watershed, a tributary to the South Fork Eel River in Humboldt County.
7. A grant of up to $199,525 to the Northwest California Resource Conservation and Development Council to construct the McKinney Creek Fish Passage Improvement Projecton McKinney Creek, Siskiyou County, CA.

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA

8. A grant of up to $130,000 to Bay Area Open Space Council to fill data gaps in the Conservation Lands Networkthrough citizen science data collection events in severely disadvantaged communities.
9. A grant of up to $140,000 to the City of San José for habitat restoration and re-construction of the Coyote Creek Trail Singleton Road Crossingin Santa Clara County.

CENTRAL COAST

10. A grant of up to $55,000 to the Peninsula Open Space Trust to repair and restore two bridges along the Cowell-Purisima Coastal Trail, south of Half Moon Bay, in coastal San Mateo County.

SOUTH COAST

11. A grant of up to $131,000 to the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority to operate and maintain open public accessways and assist with planning for the removal of encroachments on access easements to Escondido Beachin Malibu, Los Angeles County.
12. A grant of up to $30,000 to Inland Empire Resource Conservation District to provide low-income youth and their family members with environmental education and recreational access to sites in the Santa Ana River watershed in the vicinity of Redlands, CA.

Coastal Conservancy Awards $7 Million for SF Bay and Coastal Restoration, Preservation, and Public Access

21 Explore the Coast Grants Awarded to Fund Coastal Programming for Communities Facing Barriers to Access

Oakland, CA – Today, the Board of the California State Coastal Conservancy awarded over $7 million to 15 projects to protect and restore the California coast and San Francisco Bay, and increase public access to these natural resources.

Included in the awards were 21 Explore the Coast grants to nonprofit organizations and public agencies.  Now in its seventh round, the Conservancy’s Explore the Coast grant program funds programs that give unique coastal experiences to communities that face barriers to access.

City Surf Project. Photo: Avra Heller

Staff estimates that the 21 projects funded in the 2020-2021 Explore the Coast grant program will engage over 8,000 people through fieldtrip projects. Of these 8,000, project partners estimate that the program will serve over 7,500 low-income Californians, 6,800 people of color, approximately 3,000 people for whom English is not their first language, and at least 400 people with disabilities.  All programs will follow COVID-19 safety precautions.

The Board also approved $3 million in funding for the Terminal Four Wharf Project in Richmond, which consists of demolition of derelict pilings, decking, and two buildings, construction of enhanced rock slope protection, and monitoring.  The City of Richmond has been planning the removal of the creosote-treated piles and deteriorated decking at the Terminal Four site for a number of years in order to increase the ecological health of San Francisco Bay, improve spawning and development success of Pacific herring, maintain the existing degree of shoreline protection, and to protect and enhance the existing eelgrass beds and other biological resources. In addition, the project will help to increase climate resiliency by cleaning up this area of the shoreline and strengthening the natural eelgrass and oyster habitats, which act as green infrastructure that provides nature-based adaptation to climate change impacts such as sea level rise and shoreline erosion.

The projects approved at the November Board meeting were:

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA

1. A grant of up to $3,000,000 to the City of Richmond for final design and implementation of the Terminal Four Wharf Removal Project near Point San Pablo, Contra Costa County; and adoption of a Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act.
2. A grant of up to $271,357 to the City of Albany for preparation of plans, designs and environmental review documents for Phase V of the Codornices Creek Restoration Project.
3. A grant of up to $125,000 to the Napa Valley Transportation Authority for the design and construction of 2.9 miles of Bay Area Ridge Trail/Napa Valley Vine Trail in Napa County, and adoption of findings under the California Environmental Quality Act.
4. Recommendation to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission that five resource protection and public access projects be included in the Priority Conservation Area (PCA) Grant Program.
5. A grant of up to $1,000,000 to California Wildlife Foundation for final ecotone and revegetation construction documents to support implementation of the South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Projectin Santa Clara County.

CENTRAL COAST

6. A grant of up to $250,000 to the County of San Luis Obispo to construct public access improvements to an existing informal coastal park at Cave Landing, San Luis Obispo County.
7. A grant of up to $250,000 to the Port San Luis Harbor District to renovate the Avila pierin San Luis Obispo County.
8. A grant of up to $79,750 to Monterey Bay Aquarium to implement a project to aid in recovery of the southern sea otter, consisting of raising and releasing up to three stranded pups using captive female otters as surrogates, and analyzing and circulating best practices for sea otter surrogacy.
9. A grant of up to $100,000 to the County of Santa Barbara to prepare feasibility and technical studies, design plans, and a County permit pre-application package for a new coastal trail, coastal access parking, and beach accessway at Jalama BeachCounty Park.

SOUTH COAST

10. A grant of up to $250,000 to the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority to prepare plans, environmental documents, and permit applications for wetland restoration and public access facilities in the southern area of the Los Cerritos Wetlands in Seal Beach.

11. A grant of up to $445,990 to California Trout, Inc. to plan and prepare designs, technical analysis, and reports for a riparian habitat restoration project at Rose Valley Creekin Los Padres National Forest in unincorporated Ventura County.
12. A grant of up to $550,000 to the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority to construct public beach access improvements at Big Rock Beachin the City of Malibu.
13. A grant of up to $24,000 to Orange County Coastkeeper for management and maintenance of the public access easement at Portofino Cove in Huntington Harborin the City of Huntington Beach, Orange County
14. A grant of up to $48,210 of funds received from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to U.S. Geological Survey and Southern California Coastal Water Research Project to augment the previously authorized grant for marsh migration and estuary dynamics studiesas recommended by the Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project.

STATEWIDE

15. A grant of up to $695,000 to nonprofit organizations and public agencies for 21 projects that facilitate and enhance the public’s opportunities to explore the California coast.  Participants are drawn from throughout the State and will visit coastal locations from Del Norte County south to San Diego County.

The next Conservancy meeting is scheduled for January 21, 2021 and will be held via teleconference

Notes to Editors:

The Coastal Conservancy is a state agency, established in 1976, to protect and improve natural lands and waterways, to help people get to and enjoy the outdoors, and to sustain local economies along California’s coast. The Conservancy is a non-regulatory agency that supports projects to protect coastal resources and increase opportunities for the public to enjoy the coast.

Since its founding, the Conservancy has:

• Funded 2,400 projects along the California coastline and in the San Francisco Bay.
• Protected 390,000 acres of coastal lands through acquisition of fee title and conservation easements.
• Restored 33,000 acres of habitat.
• Built 200 new coastal accessway and 210 miles of new trails.
• Put $1.3 billion to work for conservation projects, and leveraged far more from federal, local government, and private sources.

Request for Proposals – Proposition 68 San Francisco Bay Area Conservancy Program Climate Adaptation Funds

The Coastal Conservancy announces its Request for Proposals for projects that plan, develop, and implement climate adaption and resiliency projects in the nine counties of the San Francisco Bay Area.  Pre-applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, beginning January 1, 2021 until further notice via the Grants Page of the Conservancy’s website.

The State Coastal Conservancy (Conservancy) is a State agency established in 1976 to protect and improve natural lands and waterways, help people access and enjoy the outdoors, and sustain local economies and agriculture. Under its authority to work in the nine bay area counties and to address climate change, the Conservancy seeks to support planning, implementation, and technical assistance for projects that carry out the Conservancy’s Strategic Plan while also helping improve a community’s ability to adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change, including very hot weather, drought, flood, wildfire, and sea level rise.

In June 2018, California voters approved Proposition 68, a bond funding measure that allocated funds to the Conservancy’s San Francisco Bay Area Program for climate change adaptation. (Prop 68 added Division 45 to the Public Resources Code; the specific section is 80133(b)). This grant round will award competitive grants for projects that plan, develop, and implement climate adaption and resiliency projects.

Eligible projects will be consistent with the Conservancy’s Strategic Plan and will plan, develop, or implement actions to help natural resources or human communities adapt to the impacts of climate change. Eligible projects shall improve a community’s ability to adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change; improve and protect coastal and rural economies, agricultural viability, wildlife corridors, or habitat; develop future recreational opportunities; or enhance drought tolerance, landscape resilience, and water retention. Projects could include, for example, land conservation for wildlife corridors, enhancement of bay area agriculture to increase carbon sequestration or protect farmworkers from extreme heat, or urban greening. Projects that use natural infrastructure and provide multiple benefits will be prioritized.

Further information can be found below:

• REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS – Proposition 68 San Francisco Bay Area Conservancy Program Climate Adaptation Funds
• Proposition 68 Grant Guidelines for the San Francisco Bay Area Conservancy Program Climate Adaptation Funds (“Prop 68 SF Bay Climate Funds”)
• Prop 68 Bay Climate Ready Application (only submit a full application upon invitation)