Earth Conservation Corps members pick up litter near their headquarters on the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 30, 2013. A wetland restoration project there was funded by the Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund in 2012. (Photo by Eric Vance/Environmental Protection Agency)

From the restoration of tidal wetlands to the greening of a town cemetery, 40 environmental projects across the Chesapeake Bay watershed have received more than $9 million in funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s (NFWF) Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund.

Half of the projects will be funded by the Small Watershed Grants Program, which supports on-the-ground restoration, conservation and community engagement. Twenty more will be funded by the Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Grants Program, which finances the reduction of nutrient and sediment pollution in rivers and streams.

The Anacostia Watershed Society, for instance, will restore more than 10 acres of tidal wetlands along the Anacostia River, improving area flood control and outdoor recreation. The Oyster Recovery Partnership will repopulate at least 40 acres of oyster reefs in Harris Creek, bolstering current restoration work in the Choptank River tributary. And the Town of Bath in West Virginia will bring green infrastructure into a local cemetery, increasing tree canopy and reducing erosion into the Potomac River.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy joins other officials for the announcement of the Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund grant recipients at the Earth Conservation Corps headquarters on the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 30, 2013. (Photo by Eric Vance/Environmental Protection Agency)

The awards were announced this morning at the Earth Conservation Corps Pump House, where a wetland restoration project was funded by the Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund in 2012.

Learn more about the grant recipients.

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