Congresswoman Hirono Announces $2.6 Million to Help Restore Pelekane Bay Watershed on the Big Island of Hawai‘i
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawai‘i) today announced the awarding of $2,696,737 in U.S. Department of Commerce funding to The Kohala Center to help restore the Pelekane Bay Watershed in the northwestern section of the Big Island of Hawai‘i. The federal grant is being awarded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Distributed through the Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, the Recovery Act funds will be used to help restore more than 1,460 acres of coastal and marine habitat by reducing the amount of runoff and sediment build-up on the coral reefs in Pelekane Bay. This will primarily be accomplished by controlling erosion through the planting of native vegetation, eliminating feral animals, and the establishing of erosion buffers.
The Kohala Center is an independent, non-profit, community-based research and learning center. Borne out of the community’s desire to create new teaching and research programs that are oriented toward the island of Hawaii’s unique cultural and spiritual landscape, the founders of The Kohala Center hope to inspire increased work in the field of science by integrating science with culture and community.
In conjunction with the awarding of $167 million in federal funding for coastal habitat restoration, nationwide, the Nature Conservancy of Hawai‘i will receive $3,408,848 in Recovery Act funding to restore 23 acres of coral reefs in Maunalua Bay on ‘Oahu by removing invasive algae.
Congresswoman Hirono voted in favor of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on February 13, 2009.
President Barack Obama signed it into law four days later.
To see a map of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration restoration projects funded through the Recovery Act, please visit http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/restoration/restorationatlas/recovery_map.html
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