MEADVILLE, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection awarded Coastal Zone Grants totaling more than $268,000 to five projects in the state’s northwest region. The grants, aimed at protecting and restoring the Lake Erie Coastal Zone, will be used toward projects that will benefit this critical habitat and ecosystem.
A coastal zone is an area where land meets the coast and includes both coastal waters and adjacent shorelands. Coastal zones are also under increasing pressure from development, erosion, biodiversity loss and pollution. Coastal Zone Grants are awarded to projects related to fisheries, wetlands, recreation, public education, coastal hazards such as bluff recession and other areas. Grants may also be awarded to other projects in the watershed that have an impact on coastal waters.
The 77-mile Lake Erie coastal zone is in Erie County and includes the Lake Erie shoreline and several major tributaries. The coastal zone also extends to the middle of the lake, to the international boundary with Canada and inland an average of 1.4 miles.
Approved grants include $45,277 to Erie Bird Observatory for songbird migration research and visitor engagement at Presque Isle State Park; $75,000 to Erie County Department of Planning and Community Development for coordination and technical assistance with Lake Erie coastal zone grantees, municipalities and residents; $7,000 to Erie County Department of Planning and Community Development to assist Lake Erie coastal communities in administering the Bluff Recession and Setback Act of 1980; $65,831 to the Regional Science Consortium to establish a boat shrink-wrap recycling program along Lake Erie and $74,940 to Regional Science Consortium to track Yellow Perch migration between Presque Isle Bay and Lake Erie.
Delaware Estuary
The DEP also awarded Coastal Zone Grants totaling more than $573,000 to 10 projects in the state’s southeast region to protect and restore the Delaware Estuary Coastal Zone. The 112-mile Delaware Estuary coastal zone is in Bucks, Delaware and Philadelphia counties and encompasses islands, marshes and other areas in the Delaware Estuary watershed. It is the largest freshwater port in the world.
