The California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) is seeking grant applications to help fund projects that enhance or restore habitat for wildlife, with available funding totaling more than $735,000 over the next three years.

Grant applications must be received by 5 p.m. on Nov. 16, 2018. Selected projects will be notified in spring 2019. For more information, go to www.wildlife.ca.gov/OSPR/Science/Environmental-Enhancement-Fund/About.

The grants stem from the multi-agency Environmental Enhancement Fund (EEF), whose selection committee includes representatives from the California Coastal Conservancy, the National Fish and Wildlife Federation and OSPR. The panel may select multiple projects. Previous EEF awards have typically amounted from $75,000 to $150,000. Applications with multi-year projects may also apply.

“In the seventh year of the EEF grant program, we have seen successful restoration projects that have positively impacted the ecosystem,” said OSPR Environmental Scientist Daniel Orr. “We encourage qualified agencies to submit proposals for a variety of inland and coastal projects.”

To qualify, an environmental enhancement project must acquire habitat for preservation or improve habitat quality and ecosystem function. In addition, it must meet all of the following requirements: Be located within or immediately adjacent to waters of the state; have measurable outcomes within a pre-determined time frame; be designed to acquire, restore, or improve habitat or restore ecosystem function, or both, to benefit fish and wildlife.

Funds come from OSPR’s EEF, funded by oil spill violations, in accordance with California’s Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act. Disbursement of the grants is contingent on the availability of funds in the EEF.