Gov. Roy Cooper and the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources announced on Monday a $421 million grant that will be directed toward conservation and restoration projects.
Awarded under the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program, the funding will seek to strengthen preservation and restoration efforts for more than 200,000 acres of coastal habitats, forests, and farmland across North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.
“Protecting our natural lands for future generations is not only critical to our fight against climate change but also our state’s economy and tourism industries,” Cooper said in a press release. “This major award from the Biden-Harris administration will strengthen our bipartisan partnership to conserve and restore public and private lands across state lines.”
The funding allows for each of the four states to receive $50 million for “shovel-ready” projects, and directs an additional $200 million to The Nature Conservancy for high carbon-sequestering forest and wetland restoration projects.
It’s one of the largest grants ever awarded by the EPA, and the largest for “nature-based climate solutions.”
The award supports Cooper’s Executive Order 305, which set goals towards conserving and restoring natural and working lands by 2024 and the North Carolina Natural and Working Lands Action Plan.
Under these proposals, the state will restore more than 600 acres of coastal habitats, build living shorelines, reforest over 55,000 acres, plant 1,200 urban trees, and add 3,300 acres to the North Carolina State Park System.
The Atlantic Conservation Coalition identified 21 projects — such as salt marsh conservation, conserving land for outdoor recreation, and cost-assistance to small forest landowners — to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“This substantial Climate Pollution Reduction Grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will enable North Carolina to conserve more natural lands and restore degraded streams and wetlands,” DNCR secretary Reid Wilson said in a press release. “These projects will make our state more resilient to the devastating effects of climate change.”
Congresswoman Deborah Ross, a Democrat representing North Carolina’s Second District, said she was “excited” about the funding.
In April, she previously shared her support for the coalition’s application for the grant.
“I supported our state’s application for this grant and fought to pass the Inflation Reduction Act to deliver transformative investments that will improve air and water quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and preserve our environment for generations to come,” Ross said in a press release.