Department of the Interior Awards $65 Million to Restore Coastal Salt Marshes and Protect Refuges

WASHINGTON, DC — The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced $65 million in disaster resilience and nature-based infrastructure funding, delivering capital to restore 25,000 acres of coastal salt marsh habitat across 20 National Wildlife Refuges in 10 coastal states.

Building Living Nature-Based Shorelines to Buffer Hurricane Storm Surges

The funding packages provide capital to execute thin-layer sediment placement, construct oyster reef breakwaters, and reconnect tidal marsh channels at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland, Cape Romain in South Carolina, and Aransas in Texas. The restored coastal marsh systems absorb wave energy during extreme hurricane storm surges, reducing inland flood damage to surrounding coastal towns by up to 40% while preserving critical nesting habitat for threatened migratory waterfowl and saltmarsh sparrows.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland stated that investing in natural coastal buffers strengthens ecological biodiversity and protects human coastal communities from severe storm flooding.

National Audubon Society and Coastal Engineers Endorse

The National Audubon Society and Ducks Unlimited praised the large-scale marsh restoration grants for reversing decades of coastal erosion.

Coastal civil engineers commended the use of dredged clean harbor sediment to elevate subsiding salt marshes.

Civil Marsh Construction Schedule

Sediment spray placement and living shoreline reef installation will commence during low-tide windows in winter 2026.