Long Island Sound conservation efforts land $12.5 million in grants

More than $12 million in grants will be funneled into conservation projects for Long Island Sound, officials have announced.

The federal money is distributed through the Long Island Sound Futures Fund, a program dedicated to revitalizing the Sound — the second-largest estuary on the East Coast with a watershed that “stretches 16,820 miles across five states,” according to officials.

“It’s really a critical time for us to be doing this when we see what is happening from climate change and how our ecosystems are changing,” said Sean Mahar, interim commissioner at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, during a virtual announcement of the grants on Monday.

The initiative — a partnership between the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Long Island Sound Study and the Environmental Protection Agency — has invested $68 million in 673 projects since it was launched in 2005, officials said.

For 2024, program officials have announced 31 grants totaling $12.5 million for environmental groups in New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont. Recipients have agreed to match the grants with another $12.2 million.

The money “will support water quality improvements, habitat restoration [and] public engagement projects to restore and maintain Long Island Sound,” said David Cash, EPA administrator for the New England region, during the virtual session.

Fourteen grants amounting to around $3.5 million have been awarded to projects completely or partially in New York, with at least four based on Long Island.

The Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County is among the award winners, with $153,700 granted to fund a program to engage around 300 students with care for young oysters being raised for oyster reef restoration efforts.

The Riverhead-based nonprofit will provide another $126,300, for a total $280,000 to fund the program.

It will also teach students how to propagate marsh grass plants for wetland restoration, said Kimberly Barbour, senior resource educator with Cornell’s Marine Program.

The Henry L. Ferguson Museum on Fishers Island won $50,200 to implement the final stages of a plan to place more eco-friendly moorings and seagrass area buoys around that island to protect eelgrass and shore bird habitats. The museum is providing another $43,000.

Eelgrass used to be widespread in Long Island waters, said Hannah Vagts, project coordinator. “Now you really only see it in the eastern part of the Long Island Sound,” she said.

Eelgrass prevents erosion, protects water quality and provides a habitat for marine animals, she said.

The grant initiative also provided $95,800 to the Research Foundation for the State University of New York for nitrogen-reducing septic installations in Suffolk County. The foundation is providing another $60,300 for a total of $156,100.

The grant money will pay for the design and permitting of the installations at 10 residential sites on the North Shore within the Long Island Sound watershed of Suffolk County, said Stuart Waugh, a Stony Brook University research scientist with the project. The next step will use the designs to apply for installation grants. 

Installing the systems will prevent a "substantial" amount of nitrogen from entering Long Island Sound, he said, noting that the filters can remove between 80% and 90% of nitrogen in processed wastewater. 

"But the real ecological benefit," he added, "will be wider distribution of these technologies at lower installation cost. The more installers we can train to put these in, the more installers will be able to … reduce the cost of installation."

Another $429,600 was provided to the National Audubon Society to develop a restoration plan for Crab Meadow Marsh with the Town of Huntington. The group will provide $215,200 in matching funds, for a total of $644,800.

By Brianne Ledda

brianne.ledda@newsday.com@brianne_ledda

Brianne Ledda covers the Town of Islip for Newsday. She previously covered Southold and Greenport for The Suffolk Times and is a graduate of Stony Brook University.