NOAA is awarding federal funding in the amount of $6,000,000 to the florida department of environmental protection under the FY2022 bipartisan infrastructure law coastal zone management habitat…

NOAA is awarding federal funding in the amount of $6,000,000 to the florida department of environmental protection under the FY2022 bipartisan infrastructure law coastal zone management habitat restoration and conservation competition. This award will fund the acquisition of a portion of the remaining, privately-owned 10,976 acres of the 73,400-acre northeast florida blueway project, which is on the florida forever program's climate change lands list. Most of the acquisition is within the boundaries of the guana tolomato matanzas national estuarine research reserve. Acquiring this acreage will protect and maintain the waters and shoreline plant communities of the tolomato and matanzas rivers, which provides critical habitat for 14 federally listed species of fish, amphibian, reptiles, birds, mammals, and plants. This acquisition will also connect existing natural areas to form a conservation corridor and watershed buffer along the intracoastal waterway in northeast florida, from duval