Water: 5 Star Wetland Restoration & Grants
Grants & FundingWetlands5 Star Wetland Restoration & Grants2009 5-Star Restoration Subgrant Awardees2009 5-Star Restoration Subgrant Awardees
Alabama
Project Title: Reed Harvey Community Greenway Wetland Park
Recipient: Cawaco Resource Conservation & Development Council, Inc.
Location: Center Point, Jefferson County, Alabama
Foundation Federal Funds: $27,500
Matching Funds: $28,800
The Cawaco Resource Conservation & Development Council, Inc. will restore an urban stream with a bio-retention basin and wetlands. The project will be incorporated the Reed Harvey Community Greenway. Project activities include: Engineering design of the Reed Harvey Community Greenway Wetland Park and construction of the bio-retention facility and stream channel restoration. The project will install wetland trees, shrubs and herbaceous species tolerant of inundation and drought. Informational signs will be placed on the site, and a streamside education program for riparian maintenance, including workshop, DVD and two complete public park maintenance plans will result.
Project Title: Margaret Yarbrough Elementary Wetland Restoration (AL)
Recipient: Wrights Mill Road Elementary School
Location: Auburn, Lee County, Alabama
Foundation Federal Funds: $39,920
Matching Funds: $148,355
The Wrights Mill Road Elementary School will improve fish habitat and water quality by restoring 15 acres of woodland wildlife and bird habitat. The project partners will repair creek banks; remove non-native invasive plants; clear nature trails; construct a greenhouse in which the students will grow native plants for transplanting onsite; build handicap-accessible boardwalks and observation stations to accommodate physically challenged students; construct an Aquatic Study Area, including a pond stocked with native fish, amphibians, and aquatic plants; and apply for certification by the Alabama Outdoor Classroom Program. In addition to facilitating the preservation of onsite habitats, this project will result in student and adult appreciation for natural resources. Project partners include the Parent-Teacher Association, City of Auburn, Master Gardeners, Save Our Saugahatchee, and Auburn University.
California
Project Title: Soquel Creek Restoration and Watershed Education Project
Recipient: Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County
Location: Santa Cruz County, California
Foundation Federal Funds: $20,800
Matching Funds: $38,206
The Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County will restore 1.25 acres of degraded riparian habitat to reduce invasives by 80% along lower Soquel Creek where steelhead population is declining. Partners include the Water District, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Soquel Neighborhood Alliance, Natural Resources Conservation Service, County Weed Management and local schools. Hands-on community restoration days, creek talks, and in-classroom learning will result. The project site is adjacent to an elementary school where 4th-5th grade students will do native plant propagation; and elementary and high schools, Cabrillo College, and community volunteers will be carrying out on-going monitoring.
Project Title: Paulding Riparian Restoration and Education Trail, CA
Recipient: Central Coast Salmon Enhancement, Inc.
Location: San Luis Obispo County, California
Foundation Federal Funds: $27,975
Matching Funds: $58,860
The Central Coast Salmon Enhancement, Inc. will restore a riparian corridor, stabilize a 25- foot reach of Arroyo Grande Creek, design and build a trail leading to the creek, and initiate an environmental education program surrounding the threatened Steelhead trout. The uncontrolled public use of the site and recent construction has led to the degradation of the riparian corridor just downstream of Arroyo Grande Creek's most severe steelhead migration passage barrier. The project will provide habitat restoration through removal of exotics and installation of natives, rehabilitation of an unstable bank and environmental education through trail access and curriculum development with the adjacent school and district that will improve habitat conditions, bank integrity, public safety and increase public stewardship of public trust resources including threatened Steelhead trout. Partners include the RC&D, school district, Arroyo Grande in Bloom, California Conservation Corps, Arroyo Grande Tree Guild, City of Arroyo Grande, Girl Scouts and a local private foundation.
Project Title: Community-Based Restoration in Support of Coho Salmon
Recipient: Salmon Protection and Watershed Network
Location: Marin County, California
Foundation Federal Funds: $39,999
Matching Funds: $85,000
The Community-Based Restoration in Support of Coho Salmon projects will restore critical habitat for endangered Central California Coho salmon and California freshwater shrimp in the Lagunitas Creek Watershed (LCW) through community-led riparian habitat restoration efforts and landowner outreach and training. Several riparian areas have been identified for restoration along lands managed by project partners and private landowners. Project partners will propagate 5,000 native riparian trees and shrubs in the native-plant nursery, and will collaborate to achieve common restoration and educational goals. Coho Habitat Restoration Workshops will be conducted wherein partners will train landowners and lead hands-on restoration training projects in the community. Project outcomes include the participation of 350 volunteers in restoration projects, planting of 4,000 native trees, shrubs and grasses, and 100 participants in annual workshops. The Salmon Protection and Watershed Network has over 10 years of experience leading volunteer efforts in the LCW in a variety of restoration activities, resulting in improved community stewardship.
Project Title: Audubon Bobcat Ranch Oak Woodland Corridor
Recipient: National Audubon Society, Inc.
Location: Putah Creek, Napa County, California
Foundation Federal Funds: $40,000
Matching Funds: $80,000
The Audubon Bobcat Ranch Oak Woodland Corridor project will provide critical conservation benefits by re-establishing an ecological connection between the Dry Creek tributaries and the main channel of Putah Creek, creating a habitat corridor managed by local landowners. The project will offer educational benefits to local high school students who will participate in restoration activities through the Student Landowner Education and Watershed Stewardship (SLEWS) Program. Through hands-on restoration projects, the National Audubon Society, Inc. seeks to promote an understanding of the local ecosystem and foster a culture of conservation. Students will learn about the connection between a healthy ecosystem and responsible stewardship of a working landscape as they participate in this broad-based habitat restoration work.
Project Title: Pajaro Valley High Wetlands Restoration Project
Recipient: University of California, Santa Cruz
Location: Santa Cruz County, California
Foundation Federal Funds: $39,942
Matching Funds: $71,803
Researchers from the University of California, Santa Cruz will work with education and restoration staff from Watsonville Wetlands Watch and partners to institute an educational restoration program. Students will undertake the hands-on process of wetland habitat restoration while learning about the importance of wetlands and the human activities which affect them at the local level. This project will involve low-income and primarily English Language learning students from Pajaro Valley High School in the entire process of freshwater wetland restoration. Students will be involved in the planning, implementation and monitoring of a restoration project on the edge of West Struve Slough, an arm of the Watsonville slough system. The West Struve Slough, 120-acres in size, is an ecologically diverse piece of land in the Watsonville Sloughs owned by the California Department of Fish and Game. Among other important functions, it provides essential habitat for native plants, nesting, foraging, and prey populations for 249 species of local and migrating land and water birds, and serves as habitat for many species of concern.
Project Title: San Francisco Bay Native Oyster Restoration
Recipient: The Watershed Project
Location: San Francisco County, California
Foundation Federal Funds: $39,785
Matching Funds: $40,000
The Watershed Project aims to double the current acreage of native oysters in the San Francisco Bay within two years. The San Francisco Bay Native Oyster Restoration project will monitor and rehabilitate existing native oyster reefs, resulting in 0.25 acre of new reef. This 2-year, community-based native oyster restoration project combines K-12/public education & volunteer stewardship with professional oversight to restore native oyster and subtidal habitats in the Bay. Sedimentation from gold mining and dredging has covered or removed nearly all of the hard surface substrate oysters need to survive. This project supplies new substrate and relies on spawn from existing oysters to populate it. This project will expand the population of oysters where conditions will support success. This project will add 335,000 more community stewards from K-12 schools and the public as they learn the ecology of intertidal/subtidal habitat and oyster restoration. Fifty teachers, 600 students and 100 volunteers will be actively involved in all phases of the restoration project.
Project Title: Bog Trail Wetlands Restoration Project
Recipient: San Bruno Mountain Watch
Location: San Mateo County, California
Foundation Federal Funds: $40,000
Matching Funds: $36,900
San Bruno Mountain Watch will facilitate the Bog Trail Wetlands Restoration Project to remove exotic vegetation and restore native wetland vegetation. Project partners include environmental groups, county natural resource agencies, a high school, a city college, and funders to provide hands-on environmental education supported by classroom learning. Adult volunteers from San Francisco City College as well as townships adjacent to San Bruno Mountain will assist. Outcomes include: restoration of 1.6 acres of a unique wetlands which has almost disappeared from the San Francisco Peninsula, 30,000sq. ft. (300 linear feet) of riparian habitat enhanced (optimizing survival and recovery of 2 federally-listed herptiles), increased community stewardship of this local resource, and 200 students will receive an in-depth field and classroom learning experience.
Project Title: The Carmel River Lagoon Restoration and Monitoring Project
Recipient: Hilton Bialek Habitat
Location: Monterey County, California
Foundation Federal Funds: $40,000
Matching Funds: $110,000
The Hilton Bialek Habitat, partnering with the California State Parks, Hastings Natural History Reserve, the RISE program at California State University at Monterey Bay, the Carmel River Steelhead Association and the Monterey Peninsula Audubon Society will provide opportunities for 1000 underserved students per year to participate in a hands on environmental education program while performing full cycle restoration and monitoring activities. Over the next two years this project will enhance and restore 10 acres of critical riparian and wetland habitat associated with the Carmel River Lagoon. The project will not only create additional habitat for two endangered species, the California Red Legged Frog and the Steelhead Trout, but it will also provide an opportunity for students to learn about the fragile wetland ecosystem and gain valuable skills in performing scientific studies related to avian, vegetative and water quality monitoring.
Project Title: United Anglers of Casa Grande HS Complete Restoration Cycle
Recipient: United Anglers of Casa Grande High School
Location: Adobe Creek, Sonoma County, California
Foundation Federal Funds: $40,000
Matching Funds: $153,600
The United Anglers of Casa Grande High School (UACG) will be empowering students to become the next generation of scientific and environmental leaders. UACG seeks to repair stream habitat and rescue a species from extinction. What began in 1983 as a grassroots effort to save local Adobe Creek, the project continues to have four major goals: Complete Ecological Restoration of the entire seven-mile long creek, protect the biological diversity and genetic variability of the species that depend on the stream, implement a strategy for the hatchery-based supportive breeding program developed by UACG and their partners, develop a Fisheries Research Facility / Conservation Hatchery, and educate the community via media exposure for all its activities. Project partners include the UACG, Diablo Valley Fly Fishermen, University of California - Davis Genomic Variation Laboratory, California Department of Fish and Game, and the Dean Witter Foundation.
Project Title: Eco-Oakland and Eco-Richmond Environmental Education Program
Recipient: Golden Gate Audubon Society
Location: Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, California
Foundation Federal Funds: $20,000
Matching Funds: $205,500
The Golden Gate Audubon Society will restore a sensitive watershed through their unique award-winning Eco-Oakland and Eco-Richmond Program. The Eco-Oakland and Eco-Richmond Program is a year-round, hands-on, bi-lingual, environmental education program for inner-city youth and their families in East Oakland and North Richmond. The program will connect underserved youth and their families with the environment and engage them in exploring and restoring their local watershed. The program stresses place-based, experiential learning, focusing on creeks, wetlands, and beaches, and helps children and their families learn how to become environmental stewards.
Project Title: SY Chumash Creek and Riparian Habitat Restoration Project
Recipient: Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians
Location: Zanja de Cota Creek, Santa Ynez Reservation, Santa Barbara County, California
Foundation Federal Funds: $20,000
Matching Funds: $49,790
The Santa Ynez Chumash Band of Chumash Indians (Chumash) will implement creek and riparian zone restoration activities and conduct community environmental education. The Zanja de Cota Creek (ZDC), a perennial creek that runs for 1.3 miles through the Santa Ynez Reservation, contains several deposits of solid waste within its banks and creek bed. In addition, there is approximately 1 acre of Arundo donax and other noxious weeds scattered throughout the ZDC riparian zone. These environmental hazards contaminate water quality, reduce water availability, displace native habitat, harm native species, and increase the potential severity of wildfires and floods. The Chumash will partner with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Cachuma Conservation Release Board, Santa Barbara County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Cachuma Resource Conservation District to address and improve these conditions by (1) removing the solid waste from the ZDC banks and creek bed and (2) eradicating Arundo and other noxious weeds from the surrounding riparian habitat. In addition, the Chumash will promote local natural resource protection and prevent future re-contamination through community education and outreach. This project will result in several cubic yards of waste removal, 1 acre of noxious weeds eradication, distribution of 500 educational pamphlets, 3 community education/outreach events, 20 volunteers, and several project-related Tribal community employment opportunities.
Florida
Project Title: Deadman's Island Restoration Project
Recipient: The City of Gulf Breeze
Location: City of Gulf Breeze, Santa Rosa County, Florida
Foundation Federal Funds: $30,000
Matching Funds: $30,000
The City of Gulf Breeze will construct a 1,240-foot natural oyster reef breakwater using recycled oyster shell to reduce wave action and protect the natural resources of Deadman’s Island. The breakwater will protect the salt marsh, shoreline, dune ecosystem and submerged aquatic vegetation, increasing habitat for marine and terrestrial wildlife. The project engages all students in the life of an oyster and similar animals and provides greater knowledge of Pensacola Bay ecology. Partners include: school districts of Santa Rosa and Escambia Counties, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, University of West Florida, and local volunteers from Rotary and Garden clubs, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts.
Georgia
Project Title: Colvard Spring Habitat Restoration
Recipient: Conasauga River Alliance
Location: The Conasauga River Watershed, Murray County, Georgia
Foundation Federal Funds: $14,500
Matching Funds: $34,600
The Conasauga River Alliance will restore the heavily silted Colvard Spring by using a vacuum pump-sediment bag system. The project will use a 3"-inch hose vacuum to remove sediment and pump into filter bags on-shore which are then spread on nearby fields. Cleaning the stream will improve vital habitat for the Georgia-listed Coldwater darter. Georgia Department of Natural Resources proposes to evaluate Covard as a safe-guard population site for Tennessee yellow-eyed grass, a federal endangered wetland plant of the Limestone Ridge and Valley Province. Covard expands the Conasauga partnership base and enhances integration of land and water programs. This project builds on two previous 5-Star projects: FY06 Varnell Springs which enhanced city and school partners; and FY08 Swamp Creek Streambank project which enhanced planners, developers, and regulators. The project will result in a 1.5 acre spring pool habitat restored, potential safe-guard site for darter and plant, and a demonstration workshop for county, landowner, and resource managers.
Project Title: Gainesville/Hall County CWMA "Weeds, Seeds, & Deeds" Program
Recipient: Elachee Nature Science Center
Location: Chicopee Woods Area Park, Gainesville and Hall County, Georgia
Foundation Federal Funds: $10,000
Matching Funds: $21,600
The Elachee Nature Science Center will work with Hall Company Master Gardeners to restore thirty acres on the park grounds. The project will control Microstegium in the floodplains of the upper Walnut Creek Watershed, and restore damaged areas with native plants propagated from sources in the park. The project will also educate local students, teachers, and the public on the adverse impacts of exotic invasive species on native habitats and biodiversity, and encourage private citizens to identify and control exotic invasive plants. Project outcomes include: Control 30 acres of exotic invasive plants, educate over 100 students about riparian habitat and exotic invasive plants, host an Earth Day event with over 100 participants, host two Invasive Plant ID and Control Workshops for over 60 people, host two Stakeholders Meetings to bring together property owners, agencies, and the public to discuss strategies to control invasives in the watershed.
Project Title: Northwest Georgia wetland restoration and rare species recovery
Recipient: Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance
Location: Euharlee, Bartow County, Georgia
Foundation Federal Funds: $34,590
Matching Funds: $64,156
The Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance (GPCA) will partner with Georgia Department of Natural Resources Nongame Conservation Section, Georgia Power, Georgia Department of Transportation and USDA Forest Service to restore 11.1 acres of wetlands and riparian zones in northwest Georgia. This project will improve habitat quality, restore vegetation and remove invasive species. Populations of three rare plant species native to northwest Georgia wetlands will be protected and recovered through propagation and safeguarding at GPCA botanic gardens and in the restored wetlands. Community volunteers will participate in restoration efforts. Lesson plans, training workshops, and conservation display gardens at GPCA institutions will engage educators, students and the public in learning about the importance of wetlands in northwest Georgia and about the rare Tennessee yellow-eyed grass, Georgia alder and Virginia spirea.
Project Title: Putting the (native) Garden back in Garden Hills!
Recipient: Garden Hills Elementary School
Location: Upper Chattahoochee, White County, Georgia
Foundation Federal Funds: $10,000
Matching Funds: $20,300
Garden Hills Elementary School, in partnership with Atlanta Public Schools, Hands On Atlanta, the boy scouts, the Georgia Native Plant Society, Fernbank Museum and other partners, will remove invasive plants from a small urban stream and re-vegetate with native plants. The project will be used by the school as an outdoor classroom where students can apply the lessons they are learning about watersheds and wildlife protection. Interpretive educational signs will be posted at the site for the community to explain the importance of native plants to watersheds and wildlife.
Iowa
Project Title: Chariton Creek Restoration and Education Project (IA)
Recipient: Lucas County Conservation Board
Location: Franklin Township, Clarke County, Iowa
Foundation Federal Funds: $25,000
Matching Funds: $33,502
The Lucas County Conservation Board will partner to restore a half mile reach of the impaired Chariton Creek. The project will consider the stream corridor as a complex working ecosystem with the stream channel, plant communities, habitat and land use as integral parts. The techniques used for restoration will include a riparian buffer, live stock exclusion, rock toe protection, rock riffles and invasive species removal. The Mormon Trail Science and Agriculture Departments will participate in hands-on implementation of the restoration techniques and will utilize the area for an outdoor classroom and laboratory by monitoring various biological parameters. Students will gain a sense of stewardship by actively participating in the restoration project. The improvements will increase water quality, provide habitat and promote a healthy sustainable pattern of land uses across the landscape. Project partners include the Mormon Trail School District, Rathbun Land and Water Alliance, Clarke County Natural Resource Conservation Service, Clarke, Decatur Wayne, and Lucas Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Fisheries Bureau of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and local land owners.
Michigan
Project Title: Outdoor Classroom/Nature Preserve
Recipient: City of Gladstone
Location: Gladstone, Delta County, Michigan
Foundation Federal Funds: $25,000
Matching Funds: $71,422
The City of Gladstone will work with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Gladstone Area Schools, Upper Peninsula Conservation and Development Council, Wildlife Unlimited and local service organizations to restore and enhance 52 acres of natural wetlands within the City of Gladstone. The project entails removal of invasive species, and re-establishing the area with native plant species like White Spruce and Tamarack. An integrated trail system and observation platforms will allow wetland exploration and educational opportunities. Gladstone's Jr. High and High School will play a major role in the development of hands-on environmental education programs that will focus on the role wetlands play in water quality, wildlife habitat, and biological productivity. A Conservation Easement will be established to protect the wetland area from any future residential or commercial development. The wetland development will be incorporated into the City of Gladstone's park system and will be maintained by the city.
Mississippi
Project Title: Crosby Arboretum Gum Pond Educational Exhibit Project
Recipient: The Crosby Arboretum Foundation
Location: Picayune, Pearl River County, Mississippi
Foundation Federal Funds: $32,418
Matching Funds: $32,550
The Crosby Arboretum will create a gum pond wetland exhibit and environmental education program, to serve as an outdoor classroom for area schools and the visiting public. The project will create a gum pond wetland exhibit at The Crosby Arboretum in Picayune, Mississippi to educate schoolchildren and the public on the value of these declining wetlands. The completion of this proposed exhibit will result in the first forested wetland education exhibit devoted to the interpretation of gum pond ecology in the Southern United States. The primary outcome will be the design and creation of 13,300 sq ft of newly constructed wetlands, interpretive signage and trails. The proposed Gum Pond Exhibit will be enhanced with future projected additions, and will be conserved and managed as part of State lands.
Montana
Project Title: Mandeville Creek Community Education and Restoration Project
Recipient: Bozeman High School
Location: Mandeville Creek, Bozeman, Gallatin County, Montana
Foundation Federal Funds: $25,000
Matching Funds: $152,554
Bozeman High School will restore the upper and middle reaches of Mandeville Creek on the Bozeman High School and Montana State University campuses. Located in the heart of the city of Bozeman, and flowing through both the Montana State University and Bozeman High School campuses, Mandeville Creek offers an ideal setting for demonstrating proper ecological function in the rapidly urbanizing Gallatin Valley watershed. Bozeman High School, Montana State University, Mandeville Creek Restoration Work Group, Montana Watercourse and Trout Unlimited will restore aquatic habitat on 800 ft of stream on the High School campus by reducing sediment inputs, decreasing stream temperature and increasing water quality. Montana Watercourse, a statewide water education program housed at Montana State University, and Trout Unlimited will assist Bozeman K-12 teachers to develop inquiry-based curricula for Mandeville Creek, and carry out community outreach activities.
New Mexico
Project Title: San Ysidro River Project
Recipient: Santa Fe Watershed Association
Location: San Ysidro Park, Santa Fe County, New Mexico
Foundation Federal Funds: $25,000
Matching Funds: $77,000
The Santa Fe Watershed Association will plant native vegetation and restore the Sante Fe River shoreline. The project will include 20 planting events with lecture, a three day hands-on restoration workshop, and class presentations. Objectives include; add bioengineered structures, fix structures damaged in previous floods to maintain newly established floodplain and banks; continue the planting of native plants to improve bank and hillside stabilization, decrease erosion, increase infiltration and provide habitat for wildlife; and create a greater awareness and appreciation of riparian habitat by engaging the community in the restoration. Partners include Santa Fe County, Dryland Solutions, Youth Allies, Agua Fria Village Association and Agua Fria Elementary School.
Project Title: Peloncillo Mountains Ciénega Restoration Project
Recipient: Sky Island Alliance
Location: Cloverdale Creek, Hidalgo County, New Mexico
Foundation Federal Funds: $30,000
Matching Funds: $315,454
The Sky Island Alliance will restore a degraded creek and wetland. This project will reconnect one of the largest desert ciénegas to its subsurface water source and protect a large population of Chiricahua leopard frogs. Cloverdale Ciénega is an historic wetland of approximately 150 acres of which 90 acres has dried. This project is a coordinated set of restoration treatments which will remove all levees and plug the spillway gully with material from the removal of the levees. Flood flow going over the spillway will now have a chance to spread out over the entire width of the ciénega, flowing through it for almost a mile. The water table is expected to rise, and the ciénega surface should become fully saturated, eventually killing the upland species that have invaded the site, as a natural transition back to a wetland plant community occurs over the next decade.
Pennsylvania
Project Title: Slab Cabin Marsh & Kissinger Meadows
Recipient: University Area Joint Authority
Location: Slab Cabin Wetland & Kissinger Meadows, Centre County, Pennsylvania
Foundation Federal Funds: $25,000
Matching Funds: $174,730
The University Area Joint Authority will restore the banks of Slab Cabin Run and riparian wetlands will be constructed at meanders. Water quality and quantity protection is a driving force in the growing Centre Region. Spring Creek and its tributaries, including Slab Cabin Run, are world-renown trout waters. Valuable baseflow to these waters is provided by groundwater, which serves as the primary drinking water source for the Region. With a thriving population, the dual role of groundwater has become increasingly unbalanced. Further, Spring Creek is the only perennial stream large enough for wastewater effluent discharge which, can impact temperature, volume, and nutrient loads. To address water resource management concerns, the University Area Joint Authority (UAJA) embarked on the Beneficial Reuse Project in 1999. Beneficial Reuse project treats wastewater from five municipalities to drinking water standards so that it can be reused, as an alternative to potable water. One water reuse, mandated by the Centre Region Council of Governments (COG), is that 50% of the water be allocated to baseflow augmentation and groundwater recharge. In this Beneficial Reuse Project, a channelized and undercut reach of Slab Cabin Run will be restored to increase stream sinuosity. Riparian wetlands fed with reuse water will be constructed at the stream meanders. Once complete the site will be converted to a public park. Boardwalks and signs will be positioned throughout to educate the public about the important relationship between watershed stewardship and infrastructure management.
Vermont
Project Title: Lamoille Union (VT) Pond Remediation Project
Recipient: Lamoille County Natural Resources Conservation District & Nature Center
Location: Hyde Park, Lamoille County, Vermont
Foundation Federal Funds: $20,000
Matching Funds: $26,325
The Lamoille County Natural Resources Conservation District & Nature Center will reduce storm water impacts of sediment and non-point pollutants by installation of approximately 4,000 square feet of rain gardens, an enhanced riparian buffer, an improved stone-lined ditch and the removal of invasive barberry. Project outcomes include habitat for signature Vermont wildlife including brook trout, black bear, moose and river otter. Middle and high school students from six towns will contribute 2,000 service learning hours and teachers will receive professional development. Partners include the Lamoille Union Middle and High Schools, Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Vermont Extension Lake Champlain Sea Grant and the US Fish & Wildlife and Natural Resources Conservation Services.
Washington
Project Title: Snowden Wetlands Restoration and Citizen Science
Recipient: Columbia Gorge Ecology Institute
Location: Major Creek, Klickitat County, Washington
Foundation Federal Funds: $23,000
Matching Funds: $67,850
The Columbia Gorge Ecology Institute will restore 60 acres of emergent and forested wetlands in Major Creek Watershed. In addition, local middle school students, under the tutelage of biologists, will be conducting site inventories of reptiles, amphibians, and rare plants as part of the Oregon Zoo's Science in Action Project. The 120-acre Finn-Philpott property is a donated permanent conservation easement located nine miles north of White Salmon, Washington. The ecologically diverse property contains 60 acres of emergent wetlands, five-acre pond, and 10 acres of aspen forest. The seasonal marshlands have been highly degraded by past construction of drainage ditches and the channelization of West Major Creek. The project will fully restore the wetland's natural hydrology, which will benefit waterfowl species including the sandhill crane and spotted frog.