The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) has awarded funding for eleven habitat restoration projects, through its RI Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration Trust Fund (CEHRTF).
The Council approved the funding at the February 28 semi-monthly meeting in Providence.
Projects approved for funding include a salt marsh restoration and enhancement project, a statewide salt marsh monitoring effort, eelgrass monitoring and assessment, two coastal resiliency projects, construction of a fishway, an urban habitat restoration pilot project, and evaluation of strategies to facilitate salt marsh migration.
As with the previous two years, in its request for proposals the CRMC put special emphasis on projects that would enhance the resiliency of Rhode Island’s coastal habitats to climate change and sea level rise.
One of the funded projects, improving coastal resiliency at Longmeadow coastal access site, exemplifies these goals.
Through the Trust Fund, the R.I. Department of Environmental Management was awarded $4,225 to restrict vehicular access over sensitive coastal habitats that have been damaged by traffic.
In addition, RIDEM will remove 1,000 square feet of asphalt and repair and revegetate a dune to address coastal erosion that has occurred at the site.