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EPA Gives West Virginia Division of Natural Resources $201,702 to Protect Wetlands

Release Date: 10/7/1999
Contact Information: Roy Seneca (215) 814-5567

Roy Seneca (215) 814-5567

PHILADELPHIA - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded two grants totaling $201,702 to the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources for wetland protection. These funds are two of 16 wetland protection grants totaling $1,274,000 that EPA has awarded to state and local governments in the mid-Atlantic region.

One grant of $169,039 will assist in identifying stream restoration needs and in developing an infrastructure to support a long-term multi-agency river corridor and wetland restoration effort in West Virginia.

Another grant of $32,663 will help augment the web page of West Virginia’s wildlife resources section so that users of will be able to access various map data.
Wetlands is the collective term for marshes, swamps, bogs and similar areas that develop between open water and dry land. These areas, found in every state in the nation, help improve water quality; reduce flood and storm damage; and provide important fish and wildlife habitat.

A critical goal in Vice President Gore’s Clean Water Action Plan is to slow down the loss of wetlands nationwide and by the year 2005, to restore at least 100,000 acres of wetlands each year. The wetlands grant program helps minimize losses by giving states and local governments financial support to develop and improve their wetlands protection programs.

Wetlands grants are awarded through a competitive process. Nationally, EPA appropriated $15 million in 1999. Applications for 2000 are due by November 1, 1999. For more information, please contact Alva Brunner, the regional grants coordinator at 215-814-2715.