Musconetcong Watershed Association to Receive $299,735 from Interior

by MYRA TUGADE Targeted News Service

WASHINGTON, March 13 -- The U.S. Department of the Interior's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it intends to award a $299,735 cooperative agreement to the Musconetcong Watershed Association of Asbury, New Jersey, for ecological data collection for Hurricane Sandy coastal resiliency aquatic connectivity restoration projects.

The agency description of the grant states: "The grantee will collect data related to coastal resilience benefits such as fish abundance, reduced flooding extent, and increased stream miles available to aquatic species. Information will be obtained through project visits, fish surveys, modeling, and other methods. This project will contribute crucial knowledge that will be used to improve aquatic connectivity system cost-effectiveness and functionality. Specifically this effort will focus on Hughesville Dam on the Musconetcong River in Pohatcong Township, Warren County and Holland Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey.

This project will monitors important spawning habitat for anadromous fish as well as improving habitat for native brook trout. This project is authorized by the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013, Public Law 113-2.The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 5, intends to make a sole source award of a Cooperative Agreement to Musconetcong Watershed Association. This project was previously vetted and approved for funding by the Department of the Interior.

The appropriation for this project is the Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriation Act of 2013, Public Law 113-2. Criteria for funding was based on the project's ability to yield the greatest return on investment by taking advantage of existing science and regional planning tools for resiliency and by working with states, cities, communities, and partners who contribute to the goals restoring and rebuilding national wildlife refuges and other federal public assets and to increase resiliency and the capacity of coastal habitat and infrastructure and to withstand future storms and to minimize the damage incurred."

The funding opportunity number is F17AS00147 (CFDA 15.677).

For more information, contact Arnold Zinan, 413/253-8528, arnold_zinan@fws.gov.

Myron Struck, editor, Targeted News Service, Springfield, Va., 703/304-1897; editor@targetednews.com; http://www.targetednews.com

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