The Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast was recently awarded a three-year grant of $156,000 from the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities for its Myakka Island Conservation Corridor project. This grant was one of just nine given nationally through the Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant Program, in a competitive process that began with 169 applicants.

In its inaugural year, the Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant Program awarded more than $1.4 million to organizations and partnerships across seven states. Conceived by the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water, the Grant Program’s goal is to “accelerate and expand the strategic protection of healthy, freshwater ecosystems and their watersheds.” The EPA co-funds this program with the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities. The Conservation Foundation aims to conserve more than 10,000 acres of the highest conservation value over the next six years within the Myakka River watershed, in Sarasota and Manatee counties.