Gulf-area waters restoration grants

ATLANTA – The Southern Company in partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and other public/private partners has awarded $2.3 million in grants to 64 organizations nationwide – including Mississippi and Northwest Florida - as part of the Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration program. The 2015 program funding directly supports 12 habitat-restoration projects and helping restore more than 83 acres and 750 feet of stream-banks across four southern states. (Source: PR Newswire 07/22/15) Gulf Coast Maritime Note: In Mississippi: The Land Trust for the Mississippi Coastal Plain for scientific and educational activities on Weeks Bayou in Jackson County; Jackson County Board of Supervisors for development of practical tidal wetland mitigation methods and practices.; and the Crosby Arboretum Foundation and partners will construct a unique 900-square-foot quaking bog wetland exhibit at The Crosby Arboretum Interpretive Center in Picayune. In Northwest Florida, the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance will engage with students in Okaloosa and Walton counties through a hands-on science education programs and the replanting of 1.2 acres of salt marsh habitat and restoration of 1.3 acres of dune habitat.