Maryland is offering grants and technical assistance to help local communities prepare to respond and adapt to the anticipated impacts of coastal hazards and climate change through the CoastSmart Communities Initiative (CCI). In partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the State will provide grants ranging from $10,000 to $75,000 to coastal communities to support the planning and preparation needed to adapt to climate related impacts. In addition to competitive grants, the State will offer on-the-ground expertise, planning guidance, training and tools to support local planning efforts.

The deadline to submit proposals is rapidly approaching!  If you would like to discuss your project ideas or require pre-proposal assistance, please e-mail CoastSmart Planner, Jeff Allenby.

For more information on this opportunity as well as the services offered by the State or to apply for a grant, please visit the CoastSmart Communities Online Resource Center at http://dnr.maryland.gov/CoastSmart.

Photo of a recently completed biolog living shoreline project (biolog is buried) on Ayers Creek. Marsh grass planting is scheduled for Spring 2012. Photo by Bhaskar Subramanian.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Town of Ocean City, and the Maryland Coastal Bays Program have partnered to install a living shoreline and create a soft launch on Ayers Creek in Worcester County. The project will provide public recreational boating access to Ayers Creek from a site that was formerly the Ocean City Landfill.

 

The 37-acre site, with approximately 450 feet of shoreline, is owned by the Town of Ocean City and was the municipal landfill until 1980. Once designated as a Superfund site, the area has since been cleaned of toxic materials and was cleared by MDE in 2007. The site is also adjacent to the 442-acre Ayers Creek/Holly Grove Swamp property - a large, forested wetland complex along a half-mile stretch of Ayers Creek - which was preserved for public open space through a partnership between DNR, the County, the Maryland Coastal Bays Program, NOAA's Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program (CELCP) and the Trust for Public Land in 2011.

Specific features of the project include:

This new access site will benefit paddlers, recreational trail users and nature lovers by providing an amenity that is accessible by persons with disabilities, and provides access to the headwaters of Ayers Creek. The public will be able to experience both nearby CELCP properties from the water, which are also accessible for passive recreation opportunities like hiking and bird watching. And finally, this new access site provides much needed access to the northwestern areas of the Assateague Water Trails network which is being developed by DNR Boating Services, Worcester County and Delmarva Low Impact Trail Experiences (DLITE). The trail network will feature a series of routes for paddlers and other recreational boaters who want to explore Ayers Creek, Newport, Chincoteague and Sinepuxent Bays, Ocean City and the Atlantic Ocean.

For more information about this project contact Lisa Gutierrez with DNR Boating Services at lgutierrez@dnr.state.md.us.

On February 2, 2012, the Department of Interior announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is moving forward with the process for wind energy lease sales off the coasts of Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Delaware.  BOEM's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) assessment found that there would be no significant environmental and socioeconomic impacts from issuing wind energy leases in designated Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) areas off the mid-Atlantic Coast.

The environmental assessment considered potential environmental impacts associated with site assessment activities, such as geophysical, geotechnical, archeological and biological surveys and the installation and operation of meteorological towers and buoys.  BOEM will use this environmental assessment to inform future leasing decisions in the Mid-Atlantic, including those emerging from BOEM's recent Call for Information and Nominations (Call) for Maryland's Wind Energy Area (WEA). Through this Call, BOEM is soliciting additional lease nominations and is requesting public comments about site conditions, resources and other existing uses of the WEA off the coast of Maryland. Once a lease is obtained and the developer proposes a wind energy generation project on its lease, BOEM will prepare a separate site- and project-specific analysis under NEPA of its construction and operations plan, and provide additional opportunities for public involvement.  

The Call Area offshore Maryland contains nine whole OCS blocks and 11 partial blocks. A map of the area of interest can be found at: http://www.boem.gov/Renewable-Energy-Program/State-Activities/Maryland.aspx.