Chesapeake Bay Trust (Large-Scale Earth Disturbance)

Chesapeake Bay Trust (Large-Scale Earth Disturbance) is sponsored by Chesapeake Bay Trust (County Grant). This program provides grants for large-scale projects with a disturbance footprint over 5,000 sq ft or more than 100 cubic yards of earth.

Goal Implementation Team Funding Program - Chesapeake Bay Trust Chesapeake Bay Program Goal Implementation Team (GIT) Funding Program Apply for or Manage a GIT Award Number of Projects Awarded in FFY24 Number of Projects and Funding Awarded per Federal Fiscal Year Total Contract Value of all Funded Projects per GIT Percentage of Projects Funded per GIT The Chesapeake Bay Trust has been designated to receive federal funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as part of the Chesapeake Bay Program Goal Implementation Team Funding Program.

The work funded by this initiative advances outcomes identified in the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement . Each year, certain outcomes are chosen by the Chesapeake Bay Program as top priorities to address, and these stretch across all Goal Implementation Teams (GIT) and workgroups.

The Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement contains five themes consisting of 10 goals that will advance the restoration and protection of the Bay watershed. These goals are interrelated: improvements in water quality can mean healthier fish and shellfish; the conservation of land can mean more habitat for wildlife; and a boost in environmental literacy can mean a rise in stewards of the Bay’s resources.

Our environment is a system, and these goals will support the health of the public and of the watershed as a whole. Each goal is linked to a set of outcomes, or time-bound and measurable targets that will directly contribute to its achievement.

Each outcome has a Management Strategy and Logic & Action Plan which offer insight on how the partnership will achieve each outcome, as well as how we will monitor, assess and report progress toward abundant life, clean water, engaged communities, and conserved lands.

Learn more about previously Awarded Projects on our Interactive Map Goal Implementation Teams (GIT) Sustainable Fisheries (GIT 1) Goal: Protect, restore and enhance finfish, shellfish and other living resources, their habitats and ecological relationships to sustain all fisheries and provide for a balanced ecosystem in the watershed and Bay.

Learn More about the Sustainable Fisheries GIT Goal: Restore, enhance and protect a network of land and water habitats to support fish and wildlife and to afford other public benefits, including water quality, recreational uses and scenic value across the watershed.

Learn More about the Vital Habitats GIT Goal: Reduce pollutants to achieve the water quality necessary to support the aquatic living resources of the Bay and its tributaries and protect human health. Learn More about the Water Quality GIT Healthy Watersheds (GIT 4) Goal: Sustain state-identified healthy waters and watersheds, recognized for their high quality and/or high ecological value.

Learn More about the Healthy Watersheds GIT Goal: Increase the number and diversity of local stewards and local governments that actively support and carry out the conservation and restoration activities that achieve healthy local streams, rivers and a vibrant Chesapeake Bay.

Learn More about the Stewardship GIT Enhance Partnering, Leadership, and Management (GIT 6) Goal: Improve the leadership and management of the CBP and assist watershed partners and stakeholders in building their capacity to become environmental leaders in their community.

Learn More about the Enhancing Partnering, Leadership, and Management GIT Scientific, Technical Assessment, and Reporting (STAR) Goal: Coordinates the monitoring, modeling and analysis needed to explain and communicate the health of and changes in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.

Learn More about the Scientific, Technical Assessment, and Reporting Team Strategic Engagement Team Learn More about the Strategic Engagement Team The Chesapeake Bay Trust has been designated to receive federal funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as part of the Chesapeake Bay Program Goal Implementation Team Funding Program.

The work funded by this initiative advances outcomes identified in the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement . Each year, certain outcomes are chosen by the Chesapeake Bay Program as top priorities to address, and these stretch across all Goal Implementation Teams (GIT) and workgroups. What this funds : This program funds consultant services to provide technical assistance to support Chesapeake Bay Program goals and outcomes.

Specific outcomes from several management goals are identified as top priorities and are listed in the Request for Proposals (RFP). This funding is from the CFDA # 66. 466.

Offerors may bid on one or more of the following Scopes of Work: Scope of Work FFY24 Scope Title Maximum Bid Amount Scope #1 Data Review and Development of Multi-Metric Stream Health Indicators (Phase 3B: Physiochemical Metric Analysis) $75,000 Scope #2 Development of a Chesapeake Bay Shallow Water Habitat Sentinel Site Program $85,000 Scope #3 Increasing Effectiveness of Landowner Engagement to Accelerate Wetland Restoration Across the Chesapeake Bay Watershed $95,000 Scope #4 Beyond Bean Counting: Assessment of Best Management Practices (BMP) Tracking and Accounting Procedures for More Holistic Restoration Goals $100,000 Scope #5 Local Government Technical Assistance Inventory and Gap Analysis $45,000 Scope #6 Training and Technical Assistance on Network Science $90,000 Scope #7 Hypoxia Collaborative: Sampling Strategy and Design for Chesapeake Bay Habitat Assessment $100,000 How much can be awarded: A maximum bid amount is listed above for each Scope of Work included in the RFP.

Is match required: Match is encouraged but is not required. Who can apply: Both not-for profit organizations (academic institutions and non-profits) AND for-profit entities may apply. Application Process: The Chesapeake Bay Trust’s applications are all submitted though an online system.

If you have questions regarding the application process, please contact the Trust Program Manager, Kayleigh Katzenberger at 410-974-2941, ext. 127 or at kkatzenberger@cbtrust. org .

Deadline is Monday , October 21, 2024 at 4 pm EDT EXTENDED Deadline was November 4, 2024 at 4 pm EDT Manage an existing award or continue an application Questions & Technical Support kkatzenberger@cbtrust. org Frequently Asked Questions Are current U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) rates acceptable to use? Yes, GSA rates are acceptable to use.

Keep in mind that cost-effectiveness of the project is an “evaluation consideration” as detailed in 4. 4 of the RFP. Additionally, if you plan to request indirect expenses and your proposed indirect rate is higher than 10% of the direct costs, then a federally Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) should be included with your proposal.

What is the timeline for these projects to begin? What is the earliest they could start? Assume that projects could begin in January at the earliest.

This accounts for the time needed to review applications, determine winners, write, and send proposal decision letters. We’ll try our best to keep on this timeline, but there is always the possibility that the sending of proposal letters could be slightly delayed. Is there a written solicitation guidance that officially limits the facility and administration cost (i.e. the indirect) rate to 10%?

The Trust’s Indirect and Fringe Benefits Guidance and Policy document explains that the Trust’s general policy is to allow organizations to request up to 10% of the sum of the direct costs as an indirect cost: https://cbtrust. org/wp-content/uploads/Indirect-Rate-Policy-updated-012324. pdf .

Indirect over 10% is allowed through this program if you’re able to provide a federally Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) with your proposal. All scopes of work have a technical lead assigned the project. If you are concerned about listing a reference that might be in conflict with the technical lead of the scope of work you’re interested in applying for, reach out to the Trust to confirm.

Does the deliverables table count towards the 5 page limit? Based on Section 6. 1 a (1 through 8) it looks like the deliverables table counts toward the 5 page limit on the narrative.

If it does not, are there any other of the 1 through 8 that do not count towards the 5 page limit? The deliverables table counts towards the 5-page limit. The other items on Section 6.

1. a one through seven also count towards the 5-page limit. We highly recommend 5-pages; however, if you need to take a couple extra pages, that is allowable, but I wouldn’t recommend exceeding 7 pages.

Item 8, “Additional information,” is optional and wouldn’t count within the 5-page limit because it can include photos/graphs, resumes, letter(s) of commitments, and other materials to support your project proposal. We are going to propose using an indirect rate of 10%, per the RFP requirements.

Do we need to have the “direct rate, benefit rate, indirect rate, profit, and direct expenses“ for specific named people, or can we use an average for a staff category/title to leave it open on who exactly will help perform this project? You can leave it open; however, it can be beneficial to specifically name who will helping perform this project and how many proposed hours they plan to contribute to the project.

Keep in mind that the technical review committee will be evaluating proposals based on a variety of factors, including “proposed team (specific individual(s) responsible for performance of contact)” (see Section 4. 4. b).

Guidance for submitting a proposal under this program: • Page 8 of the RFP describes what we expect in a proposal and applicants usually organize their submission in those sections/questions. • The deliverables table showcases the timeline in which you plan to complete the deliverables to satisfy the scope of work.

Each report is a step of the project, and you’ll detail how long you’ll need to complete said deliverables to complete that step, and about how much would it cost you at each step to complete the deliverables. • Example deliverables table and budget: https://cbtrust. org/wp-content/uploads/Example-GIT-Deliverables-Table-Budget.

pdf Scope #2: Development of a Chesapeake Bay Shallow Water Habitat Sentinel Site Program Is the workshop envisioned as a multi-day event? Is there a location in mind for the scoping workshop? If there are fees associated with the workshop (venue, catering, etc.), is it expected that those funds will come from the award?

The scoping workshop is anticipated to be two separate two-day events; so, a total of four days. The envisioned workshop location is at the Chesapeake Bay Program office and Habitat GIT staffers would assist with technology and provide support for a hybrid meeting option. It is anticipated that funds requested through this project are for the contractor’s time to prepare and run the workshops.

On page 10 under Section 6. 1. b.

2, the RFP specifies that “under this program, food and beverage costs will not be supported. ” Scope #7: Hypoxia Collaborative: Sampling Strategy and Design for Chesapeake Bay Habitat Assessment Questions: The RFP appears to call for an automated tool that could ultimately perform site evaluation for all 92 segments based on development of the approach in 10 segments of the Bay.

Building a tool that flexibly and automatically navigates the practical decisions for site selection in all 92 segments seems challenging; is that the purpose of the proposal? The goal of the project is aiming to see development of a time and cost efficient, effective strategy to aid in guidance on where to distribute limited resources while best characterizing water quality, specific in this case to dissolved oxygen resources.

Experience to date with the community has been effective for producing a plan on 3 segments and that work took nearly 3 years. We are looking to have an approach that could offer guidance ultimately in all segments while not taking 89 more years (if we continue on a basic rate of sampling of 1 segment per year). Consideration would be given here to diverse or hybrid solutions as “a tool”.

Assessment of approaches proposed by applicants will be respectful of the creativity, experience and wisdom outlining the plan to achieve the outcome of having efficient guidance for making strategic decisions with applying nearshore and offshore monitoring infrastructure and programs into the future that support effective habitat assessments.

Number of Projects Awarded in FFY24 Explore awarded projects made in the GIT Funding Program throughout the years in the table below! The project information provided includes the scope title, organization name, project description, and links to final reports and products. These tables are updated annually and as projects are closed.

If you’d like more information about a project or have any questions, please reach out to program manager Kayleigh Katzenberger( kkatzenberger@cbtrust. org ). GIT Scope Title Organization Name Award Amount Project Status Project Description GIT Lead Sustainable Fisheries (GIT1) Striped Bass Health Indicator Development EcoAnalytics LLC $39,200 Completed 9/30/2015 View Final Report here .

This project hypothesizes that current rules on design of Best Management Practices (BMPs) and stream restoration may be inadequate to address changes environmental conditions. The project will implement a comprehensive analysis across the state of MD on the range of event intensity and duration and implications for BMP and restoration design.

Howard Townsend Sustainable Fisheries (GIT1) Forage Fish Indicator/Metric Development University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) $49,000 Completed 1/29/2016 View Final Report here . Forage species play an integral role in the Chesapeake Bay food web by supporting higher trophic level production.

Except for menhaden, many forage species are not directly managed by the ASMFC or Chesapeake Bay jurisdictions, but these species are critical to sustaining economically valuable commercial and recreational fish species in the Bay.

Better understanding of the forage base, habitat areas critical for forage production, and predator-prey interactions involving these valuable species would be an important step toward ecosystem-based fisheries management in the Chesapeake Bay. The overarching purpose of this work is to directly address short-term research needs identified in the STAC Forage Workshop.

Research needs must relate to one or both of two groups of priority forage species as identified in the workshop: forage species of known concern: (Bay anchovy, mysids, weakfish, spot, mantis shrimp, polychaetes, amphipods and isopods, sand shrimp, Atlantic croaker, razor clams, and macoma spp.)

or forage species of probable historical concern, or of likely importance in undersampled environments (menhaden, shad and herring, blue crab, Menidia spp. , Fundulus spp.) Tom Ihde Sustainable Fisheries (GIT1) Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee (CBSAC) Research Needs University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) $81,282.

41 Completed View Final Report here . Each year, the Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee (CBSAC) identifies critical research and data needs in their Blue Crab Advisory Report. This project will support multiple CBSAC research needs and improve our understanding of blue crab population dynamics.

Research priorities of CBSAC include improved estimates of overwintering mortality, application of other surveys to complement the Winter Dredge Survey and evaluation of gear efficiency estimates. The project should also contribute to Blue Crab Outcomes under the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement and the associate management strategy being developed by the Sustainable Fisheries Goal Implementation Team.

Andrew Turner Sustainable Fisheries (GIT1) Drivers of Forage Population Trends and Consumption Patterns University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) $60,000 Completed 6/27/2018 View Publication Evaluating impacts of road salts on stormwater BMPs and mobilization of associated salts, nutrients, and metals remains a challenge.

We propose new experiments in the Baltimore-Washington, DC metro area to quantify the effects of different road salts on water quality across stormwater BMPs. We hypothesize that potential for contaminant retention and mobilization is based on the different types of road salts, threshold concentration levels, and stormwater BMP characteristics.

We will evaluate effects of different road salts on mobilizing contaminants across stormwater BMPs and monitor salts, nutrients, and metals in nearby stream outfalls in response to deicing events.

Tom Ihde Sustainable Fisheries (GIT1) Shell/Habitat Dynamics in Oyster Restoration and Fishery Management Virginia Institute of Marine Science, School of Marine Science, College of William & Mary $59,999 Completed 7/30/2019 Oyster Mortality Playbook The proposed effort examines dynamics of shell habitat dynamics in the Chesapeake Bay and its application to proactive oyster restoration and fishery management.

Analysis will be based on long term monitoring data from both MD and VA waters and provide location specific estimates of shell required to support management efforts. Stephanie Westby Sustainable Fisheries (GIT1) Evaluation of Environmental Factors Influencing Blue Crab Populations University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) $49,589.

41 Completed 7/24/2019 View Publication Evaluation of environmental factors influencing blue crab populations - The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science proposes to develop and apply probability network models to test hypothesis and quantify the importance of ecosystem effects on the abundance of age-0 blue crab in Chesapeake Bay.

This work will help managers rank the importance of a suite of factors that could influence the blue crab population. Bruce Vogt and Emilie Franke Sustainable Fisheries (GIT1) Establishing a Shoreline Condition Metric or Threshold Virginia Institute of Marine Science, School of Marine Science, College of William & Mary $80,000 Completed 11/20/2019 View Final Report here .

Iron occurrence is likely a result of dissolved iron in groundwater infiltration, disturbed soils at lower depths and the combination of the RSC conditions. Using a mesocosm will allow for a controlled experimental environment to directly address the question: Are there direct or indirect effects of iron to the stream macro-invertebrate community?

A field study and experiment will complement the mesocosm study by identifying temporal shifts in stream chemistry/hydrology and iron presence at RSC locations (TBD) while monitoring and conducting caged field experiments on representative benthic macroinvertebrate species. Bruce Vogt Sustainable Fisheries (GIT1) Development of a Long-Term Oyster Monitoring Plan Oyster Recovery Partnership, Inc. $75,000 Completed here .

Analyze high-frequency nitrate and streamflow data from nested watersheds in suburban Baltimore to test how well the treatment train works, how much connectivity between the stream and riparian area will reduce nitrogen, and how impervious area and infiltration practices impact the results.

Stephanie Westby Sustainable Fisheries (GIT1) An Ecosystem Approach to Living Shorelines Project Design Virginia Institute of Marine Science, School of Marine Science, College of William & Mary $49,994 Completed View Final Report here .

Our project prepared a shovel-ready plan for an ecosystem-based hybrid living shoreline (HLS) design for an eroding shoreline of one partner (Naval Weapons Station Yorktown) in the York River (Penniman Spit), which is applicable to eroding shorelines in the York River and Chesapeake Bay. Using an already made HLS design, we revised it to include ecosystem-based considerations.

The HLS is an oyster reef sill and adjacent alternative oyster reefs that will (i) be resilient to climate change, (ii) stimulate recovery of a salt marsh community, (iii) augment oyster restoration efforts in the York River, (iv) create shallow-water habitat through a lagoon for juvenile crabs and fish, (v) protect a vulnerable ecosystem behind the spit, and (vi) serve as a demonstration project easily visible to the public along the Colonial Parkway of the National Park Service, a second partner.

Andrew Larkin Sustainable Fisheries (GIT1) Support for Inventory & Evaluation of Environmental and Biological Response Data for Fish Habitat Assessment Tetra Tech, Inc. $89,957 Completed View Final Report here . The Chesapeake Bay Program and its partners are working to develop a comprehensive regional assessment that will inform efforts to conserve and restore fish habitat throughout the Bay watershed.

In April 2018, the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee convened a workshop of experts to review the proposed approach and data identified to assess the condition of and primary stressors to fish habitat throughout the Bay’s tidal and non-tidal waters.

Under the proposed project, Tetra Tech would assist CBP by identifying additional sources of biological data for the Bay’s tidal habitats, obtaining and evaluating biological and environmental stressor data for tidal areas, and providing metadata and an analysis of data gaps.

Results will serve as an important step towards development of a regional Fish Habitat Assessment that will support multiple management needs of the Sustainable Fisheries and Vital Habitats Goal Implementation Teams and Chesapeake Bay partners. A. K.

Leight Sustainable Fisheries (GIT1) Chesapeake Bay Striped Bass Nursery Habitat Assessment Virginia Institute of Marine Science, School of Marine Science, College of William & Mary $84,989 Completed View Final Report here Our objectives are to understand conditions in estuarine habitats used by juvenile (ages 0-4) striped bass, and to quantify how changes in availability and condition of these habitats impact the long-term sustainability of the stock.

Our methodology comprises 6 tasks: (1) identify key environmental conditions in habitats used by young striped bass; (2) develop habitat suitability models (HSIs) using the key indicators identified in task 1; (3) establish thresholds of suitability based on HSIs, namely 'unsuitable' 'suitable' and 'optimal'; (4) quantify persistence of suitable and optimal habitats; (5) map habitats that support average and higher than average abundance of juvenile striped bass; and (6) assess the relationship between extent of suitable habitats and abundance of juvenile striped bass.

Bruce Vogt Sustainable Fisheries (GIT1) Developing Communications and Guidance on Shoreline Protection Options for Coastal Landowners (Living Shoreline Outreach) Action Research $49,987 Completed For the creation of materials for the Bay Protector program implementation (commitment card, flyer, lawn sign, designed case study, guidance for neighbor to neighbor interaction) along with a detailed communication plan on how to implement them, to be used as a toolkit for interested organizations.

Gina Hunt Sustainable Fisheries (GIT1) Cost Effective Denitrification Measurement in Oyster Reefs University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) $80,000 Completed Capability, Expertise, and Skill Sets Required for Deployment and Field Estimation Lander-Based Denitrification Step-by-Step Field Methods This project will develop a cost-efficient means of assessing rates of denitrification in on-bottom oyster restoration projects.

This will aid in crediting these projects with nitrogen removal as part of the upcoming oyster BMP. The approach to measurement will compensate for the leakage at the bottom of bottom chambers by directly assessing leakage rates and mathematically compensating for them.

Suzanne Bricker Sustainable Fisheries (GIT1) Forage Indicator Development Using Environmental Drivers to Assess Forage Status University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) $60,000 Completed View Final Report here Bay anchovy and polychaete data from biological surveys in Chesapeake Bay were used to develop potential indicators of forage status.

Further, the relationship between annual indices of abundance of these forage taxa (bay anchovy and polychaetes) and two climate indices, a spring-time warming degree-day index and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, were analyzed and used to develop potential climate-based indicators.

Bruce Vogt Sustainable Fisheries (GIT1) A Population Simulation Model for Blue Crab Stock Assessment Performance Evaluation University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) $79,999 Completed To support Scope #9, we propose to develop a Blue Crab Simulation Model (BCSM) that will allow fishery scientists and managers to assess the performance of the current blue crab stock assessment to key uncertainties in both fishery-dependent and fishery-independent sources.

The BCSM will be size- and sex-based to track the Chesapeake Bay blue crab population from shortly after megalopae settle in the Bay through spawning. The model will operate on a monthly time step and will have a spatial structure to allow for representation of fishery and population dynamics as well as data collection efforts.

We will undertake simulation testing to assess the expected performance of the current assessment model using the BCSM. We will coordinate with with CBSAC and an advisory panel of fishery managers and blue crab experts. Bruce Vogt Habitat (GIT2) Accelerate Wetland Restoration in Support of WIPs / GIT Integration OpinionWorks LLC $48,982.

50 Completed View Final Report here . Wetland restoration is an outcome in the Chesapeake Bay Agreement, as measured by an indicator tracked by the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP), and is a practice called for in the Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) prepared by the states of the Chesapeake watershed. The current 2025 WIP goal for wetland restoration in agricultural landscapes within the watershed is 106,121 acres.

The rate of project funding and implementation needs to be accelerated in order to meet both the WIP targets as well as the goals set in the new Chesapeake Bay Agreement as measured by the CBP indicator. One of the factors most often cited to be a barrier to accomplishing wetland implementation is landowner willingness. The main purpose of the project is to create a plan to better market wetland restoration to landowners.

The first task is to identify, among agricultural landowners of > 40 acres who have agreed to allow or pursue wetland restoration on their properties, key interests and benefits driving their decision (perceived barriers and benefits) to allow/pursue these projects; and among landowners who have not agreed to wetland restoration, perceived barriers and benefits to refusing or not pursuing such projects on their lands.

The second component of this project will be to create a social marketing plan based on identification of perceived benefits and barriers and pilot-tested messaging methodology within any identified audience segments. Denise Clearwater Habitat (GIT2) Culvert Assessments for Fish Passage in Priority Watersheds Virginia Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office $44,997. 28 Completed View Final Report here .

The fish passage work group (FPWG) was successful in prioritizing nearly 5000 dams in the Chesapeake watershed for their potential to benefit anadromous fish. However, the FPWG has little to no information on potential fish blockages due to road crossings. Using the Chesapeake Fish Passage Prioritization Tool, the FPWG has identified priority areas for dam removal projects.

Hence, culvert assessments would be focused in these priority areas as a cost savings measure and to conduct targeted restoration. Assessments will be conducted using regional assessment protocol developed by the North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC). Once assessments are complete, the FPWG will pursue funding for design and implementation of retrofits for each of the priority blockages.

Mary Andrews and Serena McClain Habitat (GIT2) Development of a Decision Support Tool to Inform Black Duck Wintering Habitat Delivery Goals Taking Current and Future Landscape Conditions in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed into Consideration U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service $49,990 Completed View Final Report here . Development of a decision support tool to inform black duck wintering habitat.

Development of a decision support tool that will allow conservation managers to estimate habitat needs and prioritize conservation actions on the ground, to ensure habitat (i.e., food resources) of sufficient quality and quantity to support the wintering black duck population goal.

Information is to be provided at multiple spatial scales within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, allowing acreage goals that all partners in the watershed can use to measure and report progress on the watershed-wide black duck goal, in 2-5 year increments. Gary Costanzo Habitat (GIT2) Watershed Group and Citizen Monitoring of Fish Habitat/SAV Waterkeepers Chesapeake $51,217. 70 Completed View Final Report here .

Waterkeepers Chesapeake will serve as the umbrella or coordinator organization on this project for (1) Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy, (2) Havre de Grace Maritime Museum, (3) Severn River Association, (4) James River Association, and (5) Chesapeake Commons.

This project will foster the development of four SAV monitoring programs that will collect SAV diversity, abundance, and distribution data, as well as data on forage associated with this and other tributary habitats, while also helping the four watershed organizations meet their own water quality goals.

Brooke Landry and Tom Idhe Habitat (GIT2) Updates to the Chesapeake Fish Passage Tool The Nature Conservancy $69,269 Completed View Final Report here . This project will update the Chesapeake Fish Passage Prioritization website from its current implementation in Flash to JavaScript, leveraging the modular mapping platform deployed for the new Northeast Aquatic Connectivity web map.

Existing data layers including dams and brook trout habitat will be updated and relevant new layers such as stream temperature data will be incorporated. Mary Andrews Habitat (GIT2) Increasing Landowner Participation in Wetland Restoration Programs - Website Content and Marketing Strategy Development Chesapeake Environmental Communications $46,005 Completed View Final Report here .

Wetlands provide a large range of ecosystem services and are vital components of the overall Chesapeake restoration and protection effort. The Chesapeake Bay Program's (CBP) goal of creating or reestablishing 85,000 acres of wetlands by 2025, with 83,000 of those acres targeted for agricultural lands, cannot be met without significant and timely action by private landowners.

Landowners often are unaware of, or intimidated by, the large number of state/federal/nonprofit programs available to support wetland restoration. Chesapeake Environmental Communications proposes a targeted plan to strategically connect landowners with funding and technical support to further CBP goal attainment.

Amy Jacobs Habitat (GIT2) Assessing Multifunctional Riparian Forest Buffer Benefits Penns Valley Conservation Association $63,000 Completed The Penns Valley Multifunctional Riparian Forest Buffer Initiative assesses the benefits of two unique multifunctional riparian forest buffers (MFRFB) in one subbasin in Eastern Centre County, Pennsylvania, the Upper Penns Creek Watershed.

The assessment for MFRFB will focus on low-cost propagation techniques, maximizing profits, improving water quality, and enhancing habitat. Strategic partnerships and alliance building will help leverage ecological and socio-economic opportunities for MFRFBs.

Site designs and a detailed species matrix will accompany a revolving fund framework in assessing the goods and services in the forest product economy landscape, including on-going replication, and maintenance opportunities demonstrated on a subbasin scale. Matt Keefer Habitat (GIT2) Targeted Outreach for Wetland Protection and Restoration The Nature Conservancy $74,977 Completed View Final Report here .

The Nature Conservancy will perform outreach to private landowners to increase the acreage of wetlands being restored and protected in targeted locations. They will test multiple outreach strategies to determine tools and techniques that increase landowner engagement and participation in restoration programs.

The proposed project will: develop and test multiple outreach strategies in priority locations on Delmarva, collaborate with an advisory group of wetland restoration stakeholders, and evaluate outcomes and make recommendations for future outreach efforts.

Mitch Hartley Habitat (GIT2) Review of Statutes and Regulations that Protect Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in the Chesapeake Bay Chesapeake Legal Alliance $24,750 Completed SAV Database This project will evaluate and enhance current statutes and regulations that protect existing SAV in the Chesapeake Bay.

Chesapeake Legal Alliance (CLA) will provide a thorough review and analysis of existing federal and Chesapeake Bay jurisdiction statutes, regulations, and regulatory programs and policies that protect submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in the Chesapeake Bay. CLA will offer determinations as to the effectiveness and adequacy of the existing statutory framework in meeting Bay-wide SAV restoration goals, and suggestions for improvement.

CLA will provide a final report and searchable database of existing statutes and regulations, and a presentation of findings.

Becky Golden Habitat (GIT2) Development of Citizen Scientist Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Monitoring Protocol/Manual and Training/Certification Program University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) $24,954 Completed Video Training University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) will develop scientific protocols reflecting the needs and capabilities