Very often, understanding federal coastal policy means understanding the flow of federal funds. Once again, The Capitol Beach explores a federal funding program that advances coastal resilience, but this time by meeting with National Fish & Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) to hear about the National Coastal Resilience Fund (NCRF). This program, funded by Congress and administered jointly with NOAA, provides competitive grants ranging from $100,000 to a $3+ million for coastal projects that improve a community’s resilience while also supporting or restoring fish and wildlife habitat. Guest Erika Feller is the Director of Marine and Coastal Conservation for NFWF. She discusses the program goals, what it has achieved and how to apply.
Erika Feller is Director of Marine and Coastal Conservation for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation where she oversees a portfolio of conservation funding programs related to coastal resilience and marine fisheries, wildlife, and habitat protection. Prior to this she served as Director of North American Fisheries for The Nature Conservancy, focusing on promoting fisheries co-management and improving fishery science and data to support management, and as Deputy Associate Director for Ecosystems at the White House Council on Environmental Quality where she led CEQ’s efforts on large scale ecosystem restoration. Before joining TNC, she was Senior Legislative Assistant for Environment and Natural Resources for Congressman Wayne T. Gilchrest where she worked as the principal staff person for a wide range of environment and natural resource management policy issues. She was a Dean John A. Knauss Sea Grant Marine Policy Fellow. She received a M.S. in Natural Resource Economics from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and a B.A. in Economics from Saint Mary’s College of Maryland.
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ASBPA Executive Director, Derek Brockbank, hosts this semi-regular podcast. Prior to starting with ASBPA, Derek worked as campaign director for a coalition effort to restore the Mississippi River Delta and Coastal Louisiana, and was part of a gulf-wide campaign to pass the RESTORE Act, securing billions of dollars for Gulf Coast restoration. This followed up on his work with National Wildlife Federation on climate adaption. Derek started his career as a grassroots organizer. Derek grew up in New York City and got his coastal education from an early age playing on the beaches of Long Island, and kayaking and fishing in Peconic Bay.
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