2011 Barnegat Bay Environmental Grant Fund Awards

Ten Barnegat Bay watershed projects were awarded grants to promote environmental education, research, and stewardship in the Barnegat Bay and its watershed. Recipients of the sixteenth annual Barnegat Bay Environmental Grant Fund (BBEGF) awards received more than $40,000 from a $2.5 million New Jersey state fund administered by The Trust for Public Land (TPL). Grantees and awards for 2011:

• American Littoral Society ($6,000) will replace non-native, high-maintenance plantings with 800 native trees, shrubs and perennials on the grounds of Laurel Commons, a high-density housing community in Toms River, adjacent to Long Swamp Creek to demonstrate to other communities how they can reduce their impact on the Bay.

• Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey ($4,000) will decrease terrapin mortality along Great Bay Boulevard at the southern edge of Barnegat Bay and educate the public about this important wildlife population in the Bay.

• Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey ($8,491) will offer hands-on, park-focused programs at Island Beach State Park designed to teach participants about the natural Barnegat Bay ecology, the threats to it and the actions they can take to protect it.
• Forked River Mountain Coalition, Inc. ($3,500) will enhance its research and public outreach efforts for greater awareness, understanding and stewardship of the natural resources within the Barnegat Bay watershed.
• Master Gardeners of Ocean County, Inc. ($1,500) plan a demonstration garden of native woodland plants at their facility, which can be duplicated in home gardens or public buildings. Master Gardeners will also offer public lectures on how to garden in ways that protect the Bay, including the proper use of fertilizers. 
• Natural Resource Education Foundation of New Jersey ($3,850) will conduct a Barnegat Bay Teacher Research Institute for the summer of 2011 to improve participants’ understanding and interactions with Barnegat Bay and will represent a cross-section of teachers within the watershed.
• NJ Audubon Society ($2,500) will work with the Toms River Regional Schools to engage 30 to 50 high school students in the practice of scientific research while introducing them to watershed ecology, natural resource sustainability and community outreach through awareness and engagement.

• Pinelands Preservation Alliance (PPA) ($3,000) will create, print and distribute a low impact development resource guide tailored to the unique conditions of the Barnegat Bay watershed as part of a broader effort by PPA and many public and private agencies to restore the ecological health of the Bay from the impacts of excessive nutrients.

• Projects for Environmental Health, Knowledge, & Action, Inc. ($6,000) will collaborate with Lakewood High School Science Department, and area environmental organizations to help educate the Lakewood community about the Barnegat Bay watershed through study of Lake Carasaljo.

• ReClam the Bay ($2,000) plans to expand its current water quality testing and education to include measures of nitrates, phosphates and algae content. The organization will use its expanded monitoring to learn more, and teach more, about the parameters that signal eutrophication and water decline in the Bay.

Visit www.tpl.org/barnegatbay