Do you have a project that needs funding?

The Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program (CHNEP) awards three types of grants and offers grant writing assistance to its partners for projects that help protect and restore the estuaries and watersheds from Venice to Bonita Springs to Winter Haven.

CHNEP’s Long-Range Funding Strategy, adopted in 2004, recognizes that additional financial resources are needed to implement its Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP), which is the program’s plan to protect the natural environment. One strategy is to hire staff to pursue grants for CCMP implementation — whether the grant is awarded to our partners or the CHNEP office.

The CHNEP has been able to utilize our status as a national estuary program to make federal funds more available to counties, citizen support organizations, nonprofit research laboratories and universities.

CHNEP helped its partners obtain grants to support the following projects.

• A Watershed Analysis of Permitted Coastal Wetland Impacts and Mitigation Methods with in the CHNEP: Pages 1 - 203 (PDF @ 5,295 KB) and Pages 204-391 (PDF @ 2,840 KB)

• Charlotte Harbor Regional Climate Change Vulnerability

• Southwest Florida/Charlotte Harbor Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment

• Clam Bayou oyster restoration.

• Strategic communication plan.

• Growth management regulation, public investment and resource implications for the Estero Bay watershed and other watersheds.

• Volunteer program to restore red mangroves that were damaged in 2004 by Hurricane Charley. Final report.

• Mullock Creek basin restoration: Homeowner Florida-friendly yards. Final Report.

• Matanzas Pass removal of invasive exotic plants and restoration of native plants.

• Hendry Creek Basin Onsite Treatment & Disposal Systems: Implementing a voluntary homeowner management program to maintain septic systems.

• Charlotte Harbor Buffer Preserve restoration.

• Estero Bay nutrient management partnership.

• Effectiveness of best management practices in southwest Florida.

• Oyster reef research.

• Southwest Florida regional water quality consortium.

• Air quality deposition.

To discuss projects you would like to initiate that help implement the CHNEP CCMP but that need additional funding, please contact CHNEP Deputy Director Liz Donley at ldonley@swfrpc.org or 866/835-5785, ext. 234