CPRA staff told the board on March 19 that six projects from five parishes were selected for FY2025 Parish Matching Program awards intended to leverage local and federal matches and advance projects consistent with the state coastal master plan. Brandon Champine, CPRA coastal resource scientist supervisor, presented the awards and said the FY2025 program reimburses up to $6 million of eligible restoration or resilience work; the program is funded through the state WICOMICO/Restore allocation.

Champine said 11 proposals arrived from seven parishes and that CPRA selected six projects from five parishes. The announced awards and CPRA’s summary for this round were: Vermilion Parish — North Vermilion Bay Shoreline Protection Phase 2, $1,265,000; Tangipahoa Parish — Lead Landing Hydrology Project, $850,000; St. Tammany Parish — two projects totaling $2,000,000 (one focused on shoreline/breakwater protection near a historic lighthouse and one on Mandeville lakefront cypress swamp and a rock berm); Lafourche Parish — Highway 1 Terracing extension, $1,110,000; and Terrebonne Parish — Bay Racersy Terracing Phase 2, $775,000.

Champine highlighted last year’s awards as context: CPRA invested $7 million across seven projects that drew nearly $30 million in matching funds (a roughly 5:1 match ratio). He said the parish matching program prioritizes projects that are shovel-ready, leverage significant outside funds, and align with CPRA priorities for resilience and habitat.

The presentation included finished examples in Vermilion Bay and Rockefeller Refuge and noted that the program will support shoreline protection, terracing, hydrologic improvements and recreational/cultural protections. CPRA staff said the program evaluation included engineering and planning staff reviews of constructability, cost sharing, ecological and resilience benefits and synergies with other restoration projects.

Board members offered no substantive changes to the awards at the meeting; CPRA said staff would proceed with grant implementation steps.