TBA (last known deadline was April 23, 2012)
The Long Island Sound Study (LISS), sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the states of Connecticut and New York, is a partnership of federal, state, and local agencies, universities, national and local environmental groups, businesses, and community groups who are dedicated to protecting and restoring the Sound. The LISS partnership is committed to the implementation of the 1994 Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) that serves as the blue print for actions needed to conserve the Sound. In 2011, the LISS completed an Action Agenda that outlines priority activities that will drive measurable conservation outcomes over the next two years that benefit the Sound.
The Long Island Sound Futures Fund (LISFF) is a key implementation tool of the LISS. Since 2005, this competitive grants program has invested $8.8 million in 227 projects in communities surrounding the Sound. The projects are opening up 78 river miles for migratory fish to return to their historic spawning and feeding areas, restoring and acquiring nearly 570 acres of critical fish and wildlife habitat, and reducing pollution from entering the Sound and its rivers through control of polluted runoff and protection of riparian buffers. The LISFF has built the capacity of organizations and institutions to support the conservation of the Sound and funded important educational programs that are helping to connect the public to it. With grantee match of nearly $20 million, LISFF has generated a total of almost $29 million for locally-based conservation.