NFWF's Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund is dedicated to protecting and restoring the Bay by helping local communities clean up and restore their polluted rivers and streams. We advance cost-effective and creative solutions with financial and technical assistance.

Working in partnership with government agencies and private corporations, the Stewardship Fund awards $8 million to $12 million per year through two competitive grant programs and directed technical assistance. Through NFWF-sponsored forums and symposia, we also serve as a convener and thought leader on the critical cross-cutting issues affecting the health of the Bay, such as agricultural practices, habitat restoration, stormwater and local government strategies.

From 1999 to 2012, the Stewardship Fund awarded over 740 grants totaling roughly $83.7 million. These investments leveraged more than $121.2 million in grantee matching funds to support a wide range of conservation projects throughout the Bay basin. In total, these grants have restored over 4,600 acres of wetlands and 1,475 miles of forested riparian buffers, installed over 170 miles of livestock exclusion stream fencing, re-connected over 100 miles of rivers and streams for fish passage, established 142 acres of oyster reefs, and preserved 519,000 acres of forest and farmland.

The Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund is a partnership with the Federal-State Chesapeake Bay Program. Major funding is provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and Forest Service, Altria Group, CSX, and Wells Fargo.