Coastal Summit Highlights Living Shorelines, Sediment Reuse and Adaptive Restoration
October 7, 2026 - At Restore America’s Estuaries’ 2026 Coastal & Estuarine Summit in San Francisco, four connections spanned across conversations.
Media Mentions
Audubon Champions Coastal Resilience Bills during National Estuaries Week
September 25, 2026 - Last week, a bipartisan group of Congress members, led by Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL), Rick Larsen (D-WA), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), and Mike Haridopolos (R-FL), introduced a resolution dedicating this week as National Estuaries Week.
Mapping a Path to Recovery: Saving Maine’s Eelgrass Meadows
September 16, 2026 - This summer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) biologists with the Gulf of Maine Coastal Program worked with partners to advance eelgrass assessments and ultimately restore eelgrass in Casco Bay, Maine. With financial support from a Restore America’s Estuaries, the partnership combined careful planning and pre-restoration monitoring with an increasingly useful conservation tool: drones.
Bowdoin’s Schiller Coastal Studies Center Supports Eelgrass Restoration Effort in Casco Bay
July 22, 2026 - Building on work that began in 2024, SCSC, in collaboration with several local partners, secured grant funding from Restore America’s Estuaries and has led the design of eelgrass seed maturation and storage facilities and seed processing methods in support of seed-based restoration efforts in Casco Bay.
A Watershed Moment for Clean Water Action in RI & MA: U.S. Senators Unveil SNEP Authorization Act
April 21, 2026 - What started over a decade ago when U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) secured a $2 million appropriation to launch the collaborative Southeast New England Program (SNEP) for Coastal Watershed Restoration program in Fiscal Year 2014 has grown into a clean water success story with over $70 million in federal funding and the appropriations pipeline flowing to revitalize local watersheds in Rhode Island and southern New England.
Bowdoin’s Schiller Coastal Studies Center Secures Water Monitoring and Eel Grass Restoration Funding
November 1, 2025 - Two grants funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency will support SCSC’s water quality monitoring and eelgrass restoration efforts in Casco Bay.
New footbridge, reopened trails at Hinckleys Pond - Herring River Preserve in Harwich
October 23, 2025 - The Harwich Conservation Trust hosted a ceremony Wednesday morning at its Hinckleys Pond -- Herring River Preserve in Harwich to celebrate the completion of the eco-restoration project that rewilded two retired cranberry bogs.
Cassidy Introduces Resolution Designating September 20–27 National Estuaries Week
September 29, 2025 - U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) introduced a resolution designating September 20 through September 27, 2025, as National Estuaries Week and calling for the protection and restoration of America’s estuaries, which drive economic activity and are facing mounting threats from rising sea levels, pollution, and extreme weather.
5 Reasons to Love Estuaries
September 22, 2025 - NOAA’s Office of Habitat Conservation protects and restores habitat to sustain our nation’s fisheries, recover endangered species, and support coastal communities. Estuaries—where salty seawater mixes with fresh water draining from the land—are one of many coastal habitats in which we work.
Construction on Thompson Island Living Shoreline Project Underway
September 12, 2025 - DNREC and the Center for Inland Bays have begun construction on the Thompson Island Living Shoreline Project. This project includes about 400 wave attenuation devices designed to protect the island’s shoreline and enhance the surrounding aquatic environment.
ScottsMiracle-Gro: Helping To Protect and Restore Bays and Estuaries for More Than 10 Years
September 10, 2025 - Since 2014, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation has partnered with Restore America’s Estuaries (“RAE”), a national non-profit conservation organization dedicated to protecting and restoring bays and estuaries as essential resources for our nation.
Setalcott Nation awarded $90,000 grant for Long Island Sound stewardship efforts
July 18, 2025 - The Setalcott Nation, an Indigenous community with ancestral ties to the Town of Brookhaven, is one of 16 organizations to have been awarded grant money from a fund aimed at supporting historically marginalized communities addressing the health of Long Island Sound.
CT organizations receive federal funding to protect Long Island Sound
July 15, 2025 - Long Island Sound, one of the most densely populated estuaries in the United States, is getting a boost from the federal government. The Environmental Protection Agency is awarding $1.5 million in grants to more than a dozen projects in Connecticut and New York focused on protecting Long Island Sound.
Shell Recyclers in Connecticut Are Helping Oysters Find Homes
April 21, 2025 - Summer in New England means lobster rolls, fried seafood and, of course, freshly shucked oysters. But there’s a problem. Those empty shells usually end up in a dumpster instead of back in the water, where they play a key role in the oyster life cycle.
Collective Oyster Recycling & Restoration
March 6, 2025 - Around 150 students from all over the Southeast descended on Eckerd College campus Saturday for the first ever Tampa Bay Youth Ocean Summit. The event brought together more than 30 professionals from careers that connect to the health of our oceans, waterways and estuaries.
Oyster restoration "a shot in the arm" for business and nature
February 28, 2025 - Investment into oyster restoration delivers almost double the amount in economic and environmental benefits, a new report has celebrated, adding that for every $1 spent on reef restoration so far, communities have seen as much as $1.70 in return.
Funding freeze hits water programs once backed by Trump, Zeldin
January 28, 2025 - The freeze is also affecting projects funded by the Protect and Restore America’s Estuaries Act, a bipartisan bill that President Donald Trump signed into law at the end of his first term, said Daniel Hayden, president and CEO of Restore America’s Estuaries.
Trump’s funding freeze sends shock waves across energy, environmental agencies
January 28, 2025 - Grant programs to clean up estuaries like the Chesapeake Bay and the Great Lakes are also expected to be "directly impacted" said Brad Williamson, manager of government affairs and communications for Restore America's Estuaries.
Pearls of Wisdom
January 21, 2025 - “If we harvest all of the oysters — or even just a significant percentage of the oysters — out of the region, then the next generation has no place to grow,” said Hilary Stevens, the coastal resilience manager at Restore America’s Estuaries, which works in Mobile and other places along the coast.
Coastal Habitat Conservation Act Signed into Law
December 13, 2024 - On Wednesday, December 11th, the Coastal Habitat Conservation Act was signed into law, authorizing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife (FWS) Coastal Program U.S. The Coastal Program is a voluntary, partnership-based, habitat conservation program focused in 24 priority coastal areas along the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes, and in the Caribbean, including the Chesapeake Bay.
Manatee County man awarded by NOAA and the American Fisher’s Society
October 21, 2024 - Manatee resident, Damon Moore has been awarded the 2024 Dr. Nancy Foster Habitat Conservation Award at Restore America’s Estuaries’ Coastal & Estuarine Summit. This award was presented by the NOAA and the American Fisheries Society.
US Representative Bill Keating and EPA Announce $11.5 Million for Cape Cod & Southeast New England Environmental Restoration
October 3, 2024 - On Friday, October 4, U.S. Representative Bill Keating will be joined by federal, state and local partners to announce $11.5 million in grants and technical assistance for local organizations working on high-priority environmental projects, provided through the Southeast New England Program (SNEP).
National Estuaries Week sheds light on fragile habitats
September 27, 2024 - Restore America’s Estuaries, the National Estuarine Research Reserve Association and the Association of National Estuary Programs have sought to draw attention to these fragile ecosystems that are continually facing challenges by celebrating National Estuaries Week, Sept. 21-28.
Restore America’s Estuaries Summit to Examine Management Approaches for a Changing Climate
September 24, 2024 - The Pew Charitable Trusts works to address the twin challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss through the conservation and restoration of coastal ecosystems. That’s why Pew is proudly sponsoring and participating in the Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE) 2024 Coastal and Estuarine Summit: “Capitalizing on Our Coasts.”
CITGO Donates $1 Million for Coast Protection
September 24, 2024 - CITGO has announced it latest round of grants through the CITGO Caring For Our Coast initiative, which includes $1 million for 17 environmental organizations located around the Gulf Coast region and in Lemont, Ill., where CITGO has operations.
RI Trout Unlimited, DEM land funds for Breakheart Dam removal project
September 13, 2024 - RI Trout Unlimited, DEM land funds for the Breakheart Pond Dam removal project. Rhode Island Trout Unlimited and the state Department of Environmental Management received a $190,000 2024 SNEP grant for their joint project — engineering for the removal of Breakheart Pond Dam in the Arcadia Management Area in Richmond
En-shoring a Better Future for Coastal Ecosystems and Communities
September 10, 2024 - Welcome to Season 8 of The Climate Conversation podcast! Many of us are returning from trips to the coast, where breezy beaches provided a respite from the brutal summer heat. But these coastal areas are important for more than just the occasional vacation.
Reed Announces $11.5 Million for Rhode Island’s Regional Environment
September 05, 2024 - The Southeast New England Program (SNEP), funded by Congress and managed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), works to restore clean water, healthy ecosystems, and sustainable communities in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts.
Whitehouse and Cartwright Reintroduce Bill to Create National Strategy to Protect America’s Natural Resources from the Climate Crisis
July 24, 2024 - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Representative Matt Cartwright (D-PA) reintroduced a bicameral bill to protect America’s natural resources and wildlife...
