Welcome,
to the Winter 2021/22 edition of Casco Bay Currents, the newsletter for Casco Bay Estuary Partnership (CBEP).
You are receiving this quarterly email newsletter because you signed up for our newsletters in the past. If you wish to unsubscribe, please click the link at the bottom of the newsletter.
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State of Casco Bay 6th Edition
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Every five years Casco Bay Estuary Partnership takes a step back and provides a closer look at the current condition of Casco Bay. This scientific assessment of the health of Casco Bay uses the best available data and includes information on stressors, changes over time, drivers of changes and what all this data means to anyone who works, lives or plays on or near the Bay.
If your organization would like a presentation about any of the State of Casco Bay findings, please contact us via email.
Find the complete report and supplementary information here.
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Funding Opportunities
Community Resilience Partnership Grants
The Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (GOPIF) has released a Request for Applications (RFA) for their Community Action Grants funding program. The grant deadline is March 22, 2022. Municipal and tribal governments can apply directly for funds to support projects that reduce energy use and costs and/or make their community more resilient to climate change effects. To learn more, visit GOPIF’s Grant Opportunities webpage.
Shore and Harbor Planning Grants
The Maine Coastal Program has released the fiscal year 2023 Shore and Harbor Planning Grant program statement. This grant is designed to help municipalities plan for shoreline access, harbor management, identification and resolution of waterfront use conflicts, and planning and design efforts for resilient waterfront facilities. Proposals are due on Friday, April 1, 2022, at 5:00 pm.
Examples of potential activities:
- Climate vulnerability assessments and resilience plans for waterfront infrastructure
- Development and implementation of regulatory and non-regulatory approaches to waterfront conservation and improvement
- Public and commercial access inventories and development of needs assessments for additional or improved access
- Capital improvement plans to finance waterfront improvements
- Public outreach activities to raise awareness of working waterfront businesses
You can find more information about the grant program and a link to the program statement here.
Nonpoint Source Grants
The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Nonpoint Source (NPS) Water Pollution Control Project Request for Proposals will be released in March. DEP administers Nonpoint Source (NPS) grants to help communities make progress restoring or protecting waters named as NPS Priority Watersheds ( Nonpoint Source Priority Watersheds List).
NPS grants are available to:
- Implement a watershed-based plan.
A DEP-accepted and active (i.e. not expired) plan is a prerequisite to be eligible to submit a proposal for an implementation grant. List of DEP-accepted active and expired plans with the respective plan expiration dates
- Develop a watershed-based plan.
A plan provides assessment and management information and describes actions needed to restore NPS-impaired water bodies or protect water bodies threatened by NPS pollution.
When available, the RFP will be here: Maine Division of Procurement Services Grant RFPs
Photo: Jacqueline Balabas Kantro, Cape Elizabeth |
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2022 Casco Bay Community Grant Awards
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Photo: KELT 2017 clam conservation project with Phippsburg Elementary School
CBEP's Community Grants Program supports new partnerships and innovative projects that engage communities with Casco Bay and its watershed. Supporting new and existing partnerships centered on protecting our coastal resources has a ripple effect throughout Casco Bay.
The 2022 awarded projects:
Brunswick High School (BHS), “Brunswick High School Green Crab Data Collection at Maquoit Bay." In BHS' outdoor classroom on Maquoit Bay, students will conduct a long-term study on the invasive green crab populations and their connection to rising water temperatures and their effects on soft-shell clam numbers, as well as the negative impact green crabs have had on the local clamming industry. Students will measure water temperatures in Maquoit Bay, trap and collect green crabs, and analyze data related to green crab numbers and their effects on local soft-shell clam populations. They will also plant clam seeds to help rejuvenate the population. These long-term studies correlate with Next Generation Science Standards-based curriculum from BHS' traditional classrooms.
Town of Long Island School, "Introducing Students to Climate Change and Resiliency Planning in Casco Bay." This project will introduce island students to climate change, sea level rise, coastal erosion, intertidal and nearshore habitat and wildlife, and resiliency planning. Hands-on data collection will be combined with interactive discussions with wildlife and marine biologists, geologists, and artists. Students will use their own data to identify resources at risk and to develop plans to ameliorate risk. They will then present their findings to the island community using poster presentations and art they create. Project locations will be on Long Island, Great Diamond Island, and Cliff Island, where they will work with a Cliff Island teacher.
University of Maine (UM)/Wells National Research Reserve (Wells NEER), “Training Community Scientists to Monitor Blue Crabs in Casco Bay." Community volunteers with the Marine Invader Monitoring and Information Collaborative (MIMIC) will join scientists from Wells NERR and UM to monitor the distribution and abundance of Blue crabs. This project will engage and educate MIMIC's Casco Bay community volunteers as they play an active role in Blue crab monitoring and also increase awareness about this potentially emerging threat to the Casco Bay ecosystem. Volunteers will survey nine existing long-term MIMIC monitoring sites in Casco Bay for the presence and abundance of blue crab adults, larvae, and post-larvae. Survey findings will be shared with program volunteers and other interested community members, as well as the scientific community.
Congratulations to all awardees!
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Meet Resilience Fellow Josee Stetich!
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Resilience Corps, a partnership between Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG) and AmeriCorps, supports local government agencies, nonprofit agencies and regional cohorts in the Greater Portland area.
CBEP is happy to be hosting Coastal Resilience Fellow Josee Stetich. Josee comes to us from Salt Lake City, Utah. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from Westminster College. While in school, she assisted with grassroots outreach and lobbying efforts for local nonprofits in wilderness conservation and environmental health. She always had a fascination with how urban environments interact with the surrounding environment. She moved to Boulder, Utah on the fringes of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, after reading about it in the New Yorker magazine. Living in one of the most remote communities in the country is when Josee became interested in the idea of community resilience in the face of climate change.
Josee joined Resilience Corps because she believes in the tremendous impact of local action. During her service, she’s excited to explore a different ecosystem, learn about community action in the greater Portland area, and try to surf for the first time. She’s been working on projects surrounding working waterfront access, the Community Intertidal Data Portal, and other community resilience projects. Long term, her goal is to help communities become more resilient through conservation and climate action projects whether they are in the desert or on the coast.
When she’s not working, she likes to hike, garden, ski, paint, bake sourdough bread, and dabble in film photography.
Welcome, Josee!
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Copyright © 2022, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
University of Southern Maine Muskie School of Public Service
Wishcamper Center #229, 34 Bedford Street
Portland, ME 04104
Phone: (207) 780-4820
Fax: (207) 228-8460
cbep@maine.edu
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