Ohio Department Of Natural Resources, Office Of Coastal Management

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Office of Coastal Management (doing business as Coastal Management Office) is a U.S. state government entity that receives federal grant funding as a prime recipient to administer Ohio's federally approved Coastal Management Program and operate the Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve, with all work performed in Huron, Ohio and across Ohio's Lake Erie shoreline and tributaries.

The Coastal Management Office operates as a prime recipient on 56 of 57 federal awards in the source data, with a single sub-award representing less than 2% of the portfolio. The organization is entirely grant-funded; it holds no federal contracts or contract vehicles. NOAA's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration funds 48 of 57 awards (84% of the portfolio) under three primary grant programs: the Coastal Zone Management Administration Awards program (CFDA 11.419), the Coastal Zone Management Estuarine Research Reserves program (CFDA 11.420), and the Office for Coastal Management program (CFDA 11.473). The Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 funds five awards under the Geographic Programs - Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (CFDA 66.469), and the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service and EPA (non-regional) fund two awards each.

The Coastal Management Office's capability portfolio centers on coastal ecosystem management, habitat restoration, water quality monitoring, coastal erosion hazard assessment, public access enhancement, and environmental education. Representative prime grant work includes a $4.133 million NOAA Cooperative Agreement (September 2026 through August 2028) to administer Ohio's Coastal Management Program, which encompasses policy coordination, erosion management, clean marinas implementation, Lake Erie shoreline orthoimagery and LIDAR for erosion designation updates, and the Sheffield Lake Public Access Feasibility Study. A parallel $1.33 million NOAA Cooperative Agreement funds operations, research, monitoring, education, and stewardship at the Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve through August 2028. An $8.23 million NOAA award (October 2025 through September 2027) supports the Coastal Management Program with pass-through funding to Ohio State University for coastal geospatial database development and extends to local partners including Cleveland Metropolitan Park District for kayak ramp relocation and Ottawa County for overlook and boardwalk construction. EPA Region 5 funded a $685,436 Project Grant (July 2025 through October 2027) for a 35-acre nature-based barrier wetland restoration at Pickerel Creek Wildlife Area with deliverables including 0.45 miles of protected shoreline and 18 acres of native vegetation planting. The Coastal Management Office also holds a $699,000 EPA award to monitor wetland sites in the Maumee River basin and validate soil chemical indicators for wetland restoration effectiveness, with sub-awards to the Lake Erie and Aquatic Research Network at Ohio State University.

Customer concentration is extremely high and monolithic. NOAA's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration anchors the portfolio at 48 awards accounting for the vast majority of combined dollars and covering the full range of coastal management, estuarine research reserve operations, and habitat restoration work. EPA Region 5 places five awards focused on Great Lakes restoration and environmental education. The Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service and EPA (non-regional) each fund two awards. This 100% coverage across four agencies reflects the exclusive federal grant funding model; there is no contracting diversification or prime-contractor customer base.

The portfolio shows activity growth from four awards in 2022 to seven in 2025, with two awards documented in 2026 as of the source date. Eight awards carry ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months, presenting recompete opportunity for competitors and renewal risk for the Coastal Management Office. The single sub-award, a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant pass-through (February 2024), funded conceptual design services for shoreline stabilization and enhancement at Geneva State Park.

Combined dollars obligated across all 57 awards total $136.9 million, with NOAA's investment leveraging substantial state matching funds — recent awards document NOAA funding of over $2.1 million matched by over $2 million in state funds per award cycle. Federal grant awards run through cooperative agreements and project grants, with performance concentrated at the Huron, Ohio headquarters and distributed across Lake Erie's 312-mile coastline and Ohio's Lake Erie tributaries including the Chagrin River and Maumee River basin.