Published Feb 23, 2021

The Florida Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Trustee Implementation Group released its Draft Restoration Plan II and Environmental Assessment, including 11 projects within Escambia County and adjacent localities. NRDA invites the public to comment on the full suite of 19 restoration projects through Mar. 29.

A public webinar will be held Mar. 11 at 4 p.m. CST. Those seeking to attend can register with this link.

"This is an opportunity for our local community to get involved with the welfare of our wildlife, beaches and local natural resources," said Matt Posner,  senior advisor of Pensacola & Perdido Bays Estuary Program and Natural Resources Management Department RESTORE program manager. "We encourage the public to reach out and share their support or feedback about the projects that directly impact their community."

The draft plan seeks to award $62M in funding to directly benefit residents, visitors and natural resources across the state of Florida. The plan's current draft allocates more than $43M to Escambia County and its surrounding localities. The plan proposes projects for restoring natural resources and services adversely impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The local proposed projects are included in the chart below.

Follow this link to learn more and review the plan. The public can provide feedback by submitting comments online, during a public webinar or by mail via the following address.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
P.O. Box 29649 Atlanta, GA 30345

Project Name	Lead Implementor	Grant Amount
Engineering and Design for Pensacola Beach Park West Fishing Pier and Access Improvements	Escambia County	$353,100
Pensacola Beach Fort Pickens Road Wildlife Lighting Retrofits	Escambia County	$540,000
Johnson Beach Access Management and Habitat Protection	Department of Interior (DOI)	$3,200,000
Perdido Key Sediment Placement	DOI	$6,773,000
Baars Park and Sander Beach Kayak Fishing Trail Access	City of Pensacola	$1,402,000
Pensacola Community Maritime Park Public Fishing Marina	City of Pensacola	$3,190,000
Florida Artificial Reef Creation and Restoration (Gulf-wide)	Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)	$10,342,500
Florida Shorebird and Seabird Stewardship and Habitat Management (Gulf-wide)	FWC	$10,500,000
Reducing Threats to Sea Turtles through Removal of In-water Marine Debris (Gulf-wide)	FWC	$3,667,400
Increased Observers and Outreach to Reduce Incidental Hooking of Sea Turtles (Gulf-wide)	FWC	$1,394,000
Florida Marine Mammal Stranding Network (Gulf-wide)	FWC	$5,000,000
Gulf Breeze Parks Boating and Fishing Access Upgrades	City of Gulf Breeze	$1,221,000

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