The Chesapeake Bay Trust, in conjunction with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Restoration Center (NOAA), The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is soliciting proposals to create and promote living shorelines in the Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C portions of the Chesapeake Bay.  "Living shorelines" are defined as shoreline stabilization techniques that use natural habitat elements to protect shorelines from erosion while also providing critical habitat for Bay wildlife.  The funding partners invite non-profit organizations, community associations, academic institutions, and state and local governments to submit applications for the Living Shoreline Initiative grant program.

This grant initiative is designed to reverse the trend of shoreline hardening by encouraging the creation of living shoreline restoration projects and by enhancing public awareness about the benefits of living shorelines.  In 2007-2008, approximately $600,000 is available. Requests of up to $75,000 is permitted. 

Goals:

• Create living shoreline restoration projects on public property, on shared community property, or, in some cases, on private property to serve as models for others to replicate. 
• Support monitoring activities to ensure living shoreline projects achieve their intended ecological objectives. 
• Educate landowners, public agencies, contractors, and regulators about the benefits of living shorelines and the process and techniques used to establish these projects. 
• Expand the capacity of landowners, public agencies, local governments, contractors, watershed organizations and others to install living shorelines. 
• Encourage the adoption of living shoreline projects broadly and, when possible, build on ongoing efforts to advance living shorelines on a watershed-wide basis. 
• Leverage other public and private funds and in-kind contributions for living shorelines that might otherwise have been applied to hard shoreline armor.