FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 28, 2004
CONTACT: Merritt Mitchell, (813) 744-6100 EXT. 475

DEP Receives $10,000 Grant for Wetlands Restoration

--Project will restore and enhance Tampa Bay wetlands--

TAMPA—The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Southwest District today received a $10,000 grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency Five Star Restoration Program to restore and enhance more than five acres of wetlands at a 30-acre site close to the Terra Ceia Bay, on Tampa Bay.

“This restoration project will provide significant habitat and water quality benefits to Southwest Florida,” said DEP Southwest District Director Deborah A. Getzoff. “This funding allows us to further the renewal of once disturbed lands and share natural Florida with a new generation of residents.”

One of only 50 projects selected this year from 185 applicants nationwide, DEP will partner with the Manatee Audubon Society, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Gulf of Mexico Program to complete the entire project, including the construction of an education center and interpretive trails.

The US EPA Five Star Restoration Program brings together students, conservation corps, youth groups, citizen groups, corporations, landowners and government agencies to provide environmental education and training through projects that restore wetlands and streams. The program provides challenge grants, technical support and opportunities for information exchange to enable community-based restoration projects.