ANNAPOLIS — The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced the Grants Gateway application is open for local governments and organizations for Fiscal Year 2024, which begins July 1, 2023.

Through this process, funding is available for projects that restore local waterways, increase communities’ resilience to climate change and storm impacts, strengthen local economies, develop the next generation of environmental stewards, and foster sustainable development and use of Maryland waterways with projects that benefit the general boating public.

The department’s Grants Gateway provides a streamlined, single point of entry to several state and federal programs, maximizing the resources available to restore the Chesapeake Bay and help coastal communities. The system, now in its fourth year, enables communities better access to financial resources and a more intuitive reporting and management process.

Last year, Maryland helped coordinate more than $35 million in state and federal support for hundreds of projects and initiatives that are protecting and enhancing the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Locally some of those projects included ecosystem restoration through tree planting by the Maryland Forestry Foundation along the Big Annemessex River; work at Somers Cove Marina and Janes Island State Park, and improvements to the county dock in Tylerton with bulkheading and pier improvements in the planning phase for the county boat ramp in Dames Quarter.

Grants are made possible with funding through the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund, the Waterway Improvement Fund, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program. 

More information on all of DNR’s grant programs can be found online.