Restore America's Estuaries

Southeast new england program watershed grants: rae partners with the u.s. environmental protection agency to manage a regional grants program that funds projects to Restore clean water and healthy coastal ecosystems from cape cod, ma to westerly, ri. Through this program rae has awarded more than $10.3 million to state agencies, non-profit organizations, municipalities, universities, and regional planning commissions. This funding has supported a diverse range of projects throughout the region, including a significant number in traditionally underserved areas. Rae entered into an additional cooperative agreement with the u.s. environmental protection agency in 2021 to extend the work in the same geographical region for 5 more years.

Community-based coastal habitat restoration:restore America's Estuaries (rae) and its alliance members have worked since 1996 to Restore our nation's critical coastal areas and bring them back to life. Through our community based restoration program, rae partners with government agencies, corporations, civic organizations, scientists, and local volunteers on restoration projects with tangible impacts. Among our goals are the return of abundant fisheries, strong local economies, and shorelines that are resilient to storms and flooding. Through these efforts raehas supported hundreds of local restoration projects throughout the united states, achieving meaningful environmental results, and engaging members of local communities in the protection of their natural resources.

The national coastal & estuarine summit: the summit is a binennial international gathering encompassing all disciplines within the coastal and estuarine restoration and management communities. Rae worked with 200 partnering and supporting organizations to develop and host the 2022 summit in new orleans. Over 1,300 participants from the restoration and management communities non-profit and community organizations, indigenous peoples, academic and research institutions, corporations, and agencies from all levels of government attended. The summit includes field sessions, an expo hall, plenaries, 400+ presentations, a poster hall, multiple networking events, and more. The summit provides timely and much-needed attention to the challenges and opportunities for coastal and estuarine restoration and management. It brings together a unique blend of people who are involved in policy, science, strategy, business, and on-the-ground restoration and management. The summit program addresses all aspects of coastal and estuarine restoration and management, in all ecosystems, at all scales, and in all regions. These topics are crucial as coastal communities pursue new, more robust strategies to effectively manage, protect, and Restore their resources in a changing climate. Ensuring these resources, and the communities that rely on them, are resilient now and into the future. The next summit is scheduled for october 2024.

National estuary program grant program:restore America's Estuaries, under a cooperative agreement with the u.s. environmental protection agency, administers two grant programs to protect and Restore the natural resources within designated national estuary program areas. These grant programs address the following congressionally-set priorities: - loss of key habitats resulting in significant impacts on fisheries and water quality such as seagrass, mangroves, tidal and freshwater wetlands, forested wetlands, kelp beds, shellfish beds, and coral reefs; recurring harmful algae blooms; unusual or unexplained marine mammal mortalities; - proliferation or invasion of species that limit recreational uses, threaten wastewater systems, or cause other ecosystem damage; flooding and coastal erosion

Coastal blue carbon initiative: coastal wetland ecosystems, such as sea grass beds, mangroves, salt marsh, and other tidal wetlands, remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store carbon in wetland soils. Rae's blue carbon initiative seeks to increase public and private investment in and prioritization of estuary habitat restoration through the recognition of the climate mitigation values of these habitats.

Toolkit: rae developed the coastal restoration toolkit to provide high-level, introductory educational information for community members on how to develop a coastal restoration project from concept to proposal. Divided into five topic areas (flooding, coastal erosion, water quality, invasive species, and wildlife habitats), the toolkit includes project examples, tools and resources, contacts, funding sources, and permitting information. The toolkit is a launching point for developing solutions to coastal restoration opportunities that community members see in their local communities.

Nature-based solutions: coastal communities around the country face increasingly difficult and costly challenges due to sea-level rise, increased severity of storms, and similar problems. Historically, the response has been "hard" solutions, such as sea walls and bulkheads, which actually worsen storm hazard risks, erosion, and loss of habitat. Living shorelines and nature-based solutions are a suite of techniques using "softer" approaches uniquely tailored to each site, which help stabilize shorelines while increasing habitat value. Rae raises awareness of these softer approaches and increases the frequency and effectiveness of their implementation via efforts such as our biennial tech transfer workshop, federal policy and legislative work.

Inclusive coasts initiative: this initiative is designed to improve access to grant funding, create a broader reach of grant programs, and promote inclusivity in project implementation with the ultimate goal to advance a just distribution of resources and access that benefits all members of coastal communities.