Boston Harbor Islands Partnership

The National Park Service within the Department of the Interior funds cooperative agreements with partners of Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area through CFDA 15.947, with the most recent grant award issued on October 1, 2023.

The program exclusively funds Cooperative Agreements that support visitor access, infrastructure maintenance, education and youth engagement, stewardship activities, and community programming at Boston Harbor Islands. Recent awards have financed deferred maintenance repairs on island piers, renovation of historic carriage roads with stormwater management improvements, archaeological investigations supporting wetlands restoration, youth and volunteer engagement programming, safety infrastructure upgrades such as fencing and walkway repairs, and public access and awareness initiatives.

The program operates through the National Park Service centrally (16 awards, $1.7 million federal dollars obligated) and the National Park Service Northeast Region (4 awards, $1.2 million federal dollars obligated), with a small additional component under the broader Department of the Interior (1 award, $142 thousand federal dollars obligated). Combined federal obligations total $3 million across 21 awards since 2013, with non-federal cost-share bringing the total obligated to $6.2 million.

Award magnitudes vary considerably. Recent awards range from $10,978 for woody debris control to $3.3 million for a multi-year youth, stewardship, and public access initiative in 2017. The October 2023 award for carriage road renovation at World's End carried a $323,103 obligation. A 2017 award for pier repairs totaled $691,154.50.

Funding activity has declined in recent years. The program distributed five to seven awards annually from 2015 through 2017, but only one award was issued in 2023. No current grant opportunities are listed as open. The long gap between 2017 and the 2023 award suggests the program may be in reduced or dormant funding status.