WASHINGTON, DC, June 30, 2009 -- In February 2009, NOAA received $167 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to restore coastal habitat and help jumpstart the nation's economy. Altogether, the agency received 814 proposals from 34 states and 5 territories, totaling more than $3 billion in requests. The size and scope of this response speaks to the need for greater coastal restoration and represents a significant opportunity for NOAA to make an impact on the health of our coasts.
Today, NOAA announced that it has selected 50 high quality, high priority projects to restore U.S. coasts on a grand scale. These projects will restore wetlands, salt marsh, oyster and coral reefs, as well as remove fish passage barriers on coastal rivers and streams. In addition to improving the environment, these efforts will restore fisheries and support more resilient coasts in the face of climate change.
>> Click here to learn more about the chosen projects
You can view the projects and track our progress using the Restoration Atlas, a new interactive web-based map. You'll find project information, ecological impacts, and partners, as well as photos and video. You can also search for projects on Google Earth (requires the Google Earth viewer, which can be downloaded for free here).
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