The conservation fund proposes to work with the U S fish and wildlife service S chesapeake marshlands national wildlife refuge complex to implement some of marsh restoration strategies described in…

The Conservation Fund will receive $1,520,320 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the National Wildlife Refuge System Enhancements cooperative agreement program to implement marsh restoration strategies at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge from January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2027. As part of the award, The Conservation Fund will work with Blackwater NWR staff and an expert advisory panel to identify and implement tidal marsh restoration projects that support wildlife habitat and align with long-term refuge conservation plans. Planning will occur in 2023-2024 with project implementation and monitoring from 2024-2027. The techniques developed through this work aim to inform multi-agency saltwater marsh persistence efforts in the face of climate change impacts.

The conservation fund proposes to work with the U S fish and wildlife service S chesapeake marshlands national wildlife refuge complex to implement some of marsh restoration strategies described in blackwater 2100 a strategy for salt marsh persistence in an ERA of climate change J a lerne ET AL , the conservation fund, 2013 the conservation fund and U S fish and wildlife service have collaborated on multiple projects to restore tidal marshes within blackwater national wildlife refuge this project proposes to use the conservation fund and U S fish and wildlife service expertise combined with an expert advisory panel to identify the locations and types of projects that best align with the refuge wildlife habitat needs and maximize availlable funding planning will take place in 2023 and 2024 will implemntation overlapping and following monitoring and evaluation of imlementation projects will be part of the 2026 2027 work the marsh restoration strategies and implementation techniques used at blackwater national wildlife refuge are cental to the long term plans of the multi agency and organization delmarva restoration and conservation network