Grant Announced To Help Create Poquetanuck Cove Action Plan

Preston and Ledyard are among the recipients of federal grants announced today. The $60,000 Environmental Protection Agency grant will go toward creating a Poquetanuck Cove Action Plan.

Top federal and state environmental officials today announced that 39 grants totaling $1.6 million were awarded to state and local government and community groups under the Long Island Sound Futures Fund.

 When leveraged by $1.7 million contributed by the recipients themselves, a total of $3.3 million will support on-the-ground conservation in Connecticut and New York.

In Connecticut, 21 grants totaling $886,107 will be awarded and leveraged by $826,697 contributed by recipients towards the projects resulting in $1.7 million for community-based conservation in the state. 

The grant program pools funds from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for projects to restore the health and living resources of Long Island Sound.

In addition to the EPA grant, the project contributed $53,000 (matching)

According to the press release, the Eastern Connecticut Conservation District will work with public officials and the community to develop an Intermunicipal Agreement with a goal of adopting a Poquetanuck Cove Action Plan.

Forty local officials, 50 landowners, 100 citizens and 90 volunteers will be brought together in workshops, through surveys and with hands-on events to list the important resources, anticipate the threats to those resources and develop achievable strategies to address those threats. Poquetanuck Cove is described as the best remaining example of a brackish water tidal marsh wetland in the Thames watershed.

The cove is an established bird sanctuary and an important diadromous fish area. This public resource is enjoyed for scenic vistas, fishing, crabbing, bird watching, paddling, and hiking because of several public access opportunities along the shore.