Coastal Commission announces grants
The state Coastal Commission has announced it will have $488,000 available for marine education, coastal habitat improvement and stewardship projects in its upcoming 2016-17 round of educational grants.
Last year, $753,000 was awarded across the state to fund 37 projects, including an $8,700 grant to Cambria’s Camp Ocean Pines for a large touch tank. According to the camp’s executive director, Chris Cameron, that tank houses invertebrates, such as local snails, crabs, sea stars and such that were collected from local tide pool areas under a scientific collecting permit.
The camp uses the tank as a teaching tool for all student visitors.
It’s the second Coastal Commission grant awarded to the camp, according to Cameron, who said the first one had been given in the 2004-05 cycle.
He said the author of this year’s grant application was Kat Montgomery, the camp’s outdoor education director.
Local donations help the camp, too. Cameron said that, for instance, a decade’s worth of locally funded grant from the Cambria Community Council “helped us build the Nature Center building where the touch tank is.”
The ocean-view camp was established in 1946 as a nonprofit YMCA camp and a conference center. It sits on 13 hilly acres of Monterey pine forest.
For details on the camp, go to www.campoceanpines.org.
Funding priorities for the commission’s grant program include: High-quality coastal and marine education; providing access to the coast, with a priority for underserved communities; general public education on issues about the health of watersheds and the ocean; enhancement of beaches or other coastal habitats; reaching low-income, multicultural or inland populations; and creative, innovative ideas.
The 2015-16 round of Whale Tail grants included the first-ever disbursement of “Protect Our Coast and Oceans” Fund tax checkoff donations on state tax returns. Those donations were combined with proceeds from sales of the state’s Whale Tail license plates.
Whale Tail grants grant applications for the next cycle are available at www.bit.ly/1LNeY0Q.
To date, more than 236,000 Californians have purchased the Whale Tail plate, one of the most popular specialty plates in the state.
The plate, which features an image of a whale diving into the sea, costs $50, with an annual renewal fee of $40. A personalized version is $98, with an annual renewal fee of $78. The Whale Tail plate can be ordered over the Internet at www.ecoplates.com, by calling 800-COAST-4U, or through the DMV.
This story was originally published October 5, 2016 at 10:25 AM with the headline "Coastal Commission announces grants."