Nearly $12 Million Flowing in Connecticut and Beyond to Improve Long Island Sound

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and partners today announced nearly $12 million in grants to organizations and local governments to improve the health of Long Island Sound and its wildlife populations.

The group in a Tuesday press release said matching contributions from recipients combines for more than $20 million “in total conservation impact” for projects in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont.

The 2025 Long Island Sound Futures Fund (Futures Fund) grants will support projects that:

Prevent 618,934 gallons of stormwater and 2,996 pounds of nitrogen pollution from entering the Long Island Sound
Remove 161,250 pounds of marine debris
Restore 70 acres of coastal habitat
Engage more than 300,000 people through programs that promote stewardship of the Sound
Conserve and enhance habitats for shorebirds, songbirds, diamondback terrapins, native pollinators and other wildlife
Restore fish passage for brook trout and migratory aquatic species such as alewives, blueback herring, shad and eel
Launch new oyster restoration efforts

Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO of NFWF, said the Long Island Sound is the second-largest estuary on the East Coast and one of North America’s most biologically diverse estuaries. Its watershed stretches 16,820 square miles across five states, with more than 16,000 miles of rivers feeding fresh water into the sound.

“Estuaries and their surrounding lands and waters represent some of the most productive wildlife habitats and most economically important areas in the world,” he said.

The Long Island Sound Partnership created the Futures Fund in 2005 through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Long Island Sound Office and NFWF. The fund has invested $68 million in 688 projects.

NFWF said the funding has reduced 130,000 pounds of nitrogen from entering the Sound, restored 862 acres of fish and wildlife habitat, treated 212 million gallons of stormwater pollution and engaged 5 million people in protecting and restoring the Sound.

State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes in the press release lauded the awards.

“In Connecticut, eleven distinct NGOs took home a total of 12 awards (Save the Sound was awarded two!) for projects ranging from riparian buffers to fish passage restoration, hands-on science programs to salt marsh restoration, and a green roof,” Dykes said. “These are just a few of the ways that today’s grantees are embracing this funding opportunity to further the health of our resources and residents across the Long Island Sound Watershed.”

U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, D-Conn., described the Long Island Sound as an ecological treasure that supports fishing, tourism, submarine and defense industries.

“Protecting the Sound takes ambitious investment and it’s been one of my top priorities as a U.S. Senator to deliver needed federal funding,” he said. “While we’ve made extraordinary progress over the last 8 years – more than tripling funding for the Long Island Sound Geographic Program – new threats to the Sound’s water quality and coastal resiliency require us to ramp up our efforts. I’m glad that new federal funds will be devoted to that goal and I will continue to support the researchers, advocacy groups, and local governments who are doing the hard work to preserve the long-term health of the Long Island Sound for Connecticut’s economy and for future generations.”

Included on the list of awards are these Connecticut-based efforts and regional projects affecting the state:

Buffers for Bridgeport, Connecticut	Bridgeport	Aspetuck Land Trust
Constructing Agricultural Nutrient Management to Reduce Nitrogen in LIS	Woodstock	Eastern Connecticut Conservation District
Installing Nature-based Infrastructure at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo	Bridgeport	Save the Sound
Planning for Riparian Buffer and Supplemental BMP Strategies	Woodbury	Pomperaug River Watershed Coalition
Stormwater Management and Education for Edgewood Park	New Haven	New Haven Urban Resources Initiative
Designs to Restore Stream Continuity, Fish Passage and Water Quality	Ridgefield (Norwalk River)	Norwalk River Watershed Association
Managing Invasive Plant Species and Restoring Island Habitat	Shell Island, Greenwich	The Greenwich Land Trust
Planning to Restore Fish Passage along the Quinnipiac River	Quinnipiac River	Save the Sound
Restoring Fish Passage on the Fourmile and Branford Rivers	Fourmile & Branford Rivers	American Rivers
Restoring Salt Marsh Habitat in Stamford Harbor	Stamford Harbor	SoundWaters
Design and Permitting of Flood Reduction Plans in the City of Groton	Groton	The Nature Conservancy
Hands-on Watershed Science Programs for the Health of Long Island Sound	Connecticut (statewide)	Earthplace – The Nature Discovery Center
Building the Foundations of Nutrient Management Planning with Farmers	CT, MA, NH (regional)	American Farmland Trust
Removing Lost and Abandoned Fishing Gear in Long Island Sound	CT, NY (regional)	The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk
Addressing Marine Debris through Cleanups on Long Island Sound Beaches	CT, NY (regional)	Atlantic Marine Conservation Society