Stockbridge — The Healey-Driscoll Administration today announced $31.5 million in grants for climate resilience implementation and planning throughout Massachusetts. For the first time in the history of the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program, two Tribes are receiving funding since eligibility was expanded by the Legislature in 2022.

Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll and Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Rebecca Tepper made the announcement in Stockbridge, the original homeland of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans. In the 1800s, the Tribe was pressured to leave their home, forcing them to eventually relocate to Wisconsin. The Tribe was awarded $2.26 million MVP Action Grant to reclaim 351 acres of their indigenous homelands and establish tribally driven conservation and forest management strategies.

"As we work to address the climate crisis, we have an opportunity to right historical wrongs," said Governor Maura Healey. "This investment to the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans demonstrates our administration's commitment to building strong relationships with Indigenous communities and supporting their efforts in mitigating the impacts of climate change. We are proud to be a part of this significant first step of welcoming the Tribe back to their homeland."

"The Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans' stewardship of lands is profoundly interwoven into their culture and reclaiming it will not only restore their relationship with the natural environment but also ensure ancestral-significant areas are preserved," said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. "The MVP program is one of our critical tools to partner with communities and build resiliency. We're grateful to this year's recipients for their hard work to mitigate the impacts of climate change."

"Our mission is to continue to foster and create relationships centered around integrated capital solutions and capacity building with our Tribal Nation, alongside partners, changemakers, community developers and partners like the state of Massachusetts," said Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans President Shannon Holsey. "We are creating a paradigm shift in how society invests in tribal nations by grounding an investment strategy in Indigenous systems thinking, recognizing the interconnectedness of all things and our responsibilities to our homelands and each other. Our approach ensures a resilient and regenerative framework from start to finish, built around the origins of our homeland."

"Equity and environmental justice are fundamental in our approach to tackling climate change. This project is just one example of how our administration is taking historic action in undoing the systems that excluded the Indigenous, Black, and brown communities and ensuring they are centered in our work," said EEA Secretary Rebecca Tepper. "We look forward to continuing our partnerships with Tribes to develop proactive strategies protecting and restoring Massachusetts' natural resources."

The MVP grant program provides communities with funding and technical assistance to support the climate resilience planning process and implement priority actions to adapt to climate change. In April, Governor Healey launched MVP Planning 2.0, which serves as the next phase of our flagship program. It supports communities in updating their climate change resiliency plans in a way that centers environmental justice and other priority populations most impacted by climate change and putting these plans into action. The awards announced today include $3 million in funding for MVP 2.0 to 28 individual municipalities, one regional group, and one Tribe. The following communities will receive funding to complete MVP 2.0 in 2023-2025:

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Grantee	Total Award
Abington	$95,000
Acton	$95,000
Arlington	$95,000
Ashland	$95,000
Belchertown	$95,000
Charlton	$95,000
Chelmsford	$95,000
Chelsea	$95,000
Chesterfield	$95,000
Chicopee	$95,000
Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission on behalf of the Towns of Uxbridge, Sutton, Douglas, and Northbridge	$290,000
Cohasset	$95,000
Deerfield	$95,000
Easton	$95,000
Fairhaven	$95,000
Goshen	$95,000
Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band	$95,000
Leicester	$95,000
Lincoln	$95,000
Maynard	$95,000
Milford	$95,000
Montague	$95,000
Northampton	$95,000
Peabody	$95,000
Reading	$95,000
Somerville	$95,000
South Hadley	$95,000
Sudbury	$95,000
Westport	$95,000
Windsor	$95,000
Total (30)	Total: $3,045,000

Today's awards also include $28.5 million in MVP Action Grant funding for 79 local implementation projects. These 79 projects are led by 56 different individual municipalities, 16 regional groups, two water districts, and one Tribe. MVP Action Grant projects are focused on proactive strategies to address climate change impacts and may include actions to invest in and protect environmental justice communities and improve public health, nature-based solutions to mitigate the impacts of extreme heat and flooding, and climate resilience-focused regulatory updates.

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Grantee	Project Title	Total Award
Amherst	Fort River Watershed Improvements for Flood & Water Quality Resiliency	$          169,250
Andover	Climate Ready Shawsheen - Preparing for Flood Resilience	$          81,900
Attleboro	Green Stormwater Infrastructure Feasibility Study	$          101,250
Avon	Urban Park for People: Resilient D.W. Field Park	$          1,455,350
Barnstable	Hyannis Harbor Master Plan	$          199,000 More on Boston Chron Bitsight Named an Overall Leader in 2023 KuppingerCole Leadership Compass Report for Attack Surface Management USA - English USA - English SK Biopharmaceuticals' Proteovant Therapeutics Presents Preclinical Data on IKZF2 Protein Degrader Program and MOPED™ Molecular Glue Screening Platform at the 20th Annual Discovery on Target Conference Samuel Adams Just Unlocked Beer Lovers' Phobia: Cenosillicaphobia Jennifer Steffens, PE Joins Opti Software for Stormwater Solutions as Vice President of Marketing Massachusetts Selected to Host ARPA-H Hub as Part of Nationwide Health Innovation Network
Bolton	Future Resilient Field at Derby	$          22,300
Boston (& Revere)	Regional Climate Resilience and Recreation in Boston, Revere, and Belle Isle Marsh	$          330,500
Briggsville Water District (& Town of Clarksburg)	Briggsville Water District Land Acquisition and Tank Engineering for Flood and Drought Resilience	$          48,150
Brookline	Brookline Town-Wide Drainage Model, System Evaluation & Vulnerability Assessment	$          145,226
Buckland	Design of Clesson Brook Watershed Resiliency Projects	$          160,000
Burlington (& Upper Mystic Communities)	Retrofits to Facilities that Host or Serve Priority Populations	$          90,600
Carlisle	Climate Resilience Land Use Best Practices in Carlisle	$          93,740
Chelsea	Heat Mitigation at Chelsea's Elementary Schools	$          315,690
Chelsea	Advancing the Vision for a Resilient & Community Focused Eastern Avenue	$          339,000
Chesterfield	Chesterfield MVP Planning	$          76,000
Clarksburg	Four Corners Floodplain Restoration and Flood Resiliency Project	$          215,143
Conway	Conway Center Flood Mitigation Project	$          279,000
Dartmouth	Nature-Based Solutions Retrofit of Critical Infrastructure within Coastal Flood-Prone Areas	$          84,375
Dedham	Short and Long-Term Flood Resilience Strategies for Dedham's Manor Neighborhood	$          93,750
Dedham (& Boston, Canton, Foxborough, Milton, Norwood, Sharon, Stoughton, Westwood)	Neponset River Watershed Regional Climate Resilience Collaborative and Flood Model Phase 2	$          608,134
Deerfield	Deerfield Green Infrastructure	$          237,823
Devens (& Ayer)	Taking Root:  Expanding the Ayer-Devens Pocket Forest Project	$          109,004
Easthampton	Emerald Place Resiliency Improvements	$          304,800
Egremont (& Great Barrington)	Bringing Climate Action Home to Egremont	$          81,500
Everett	The Resilient and Accessible Habitat at Rivergreen on the Malden River Project	$          97,795
Everett (& Melrose, Chelsea)	Creating Oases in our Hottest Neighborhoods: Increasing Urban Forest Health through Green-Grey Solutions in the Mystic Watershed	$          390,725
Fall River (& Swansea, Somerset, Dighton, Freetown, Westport, Dartmouth)	Regional Water Supply Firm Yield Analysis and Systems Assessment Under Climate Change	$          111,170
Fitchburg	Blue/Green Downtown Fitchburg - Climate Adaptation Action Plan	$          365,000
Fitchburg	Generating & Measuring Resiliency in Downtown Fitchburg with Nature-Based Solutions	$          293,800
Fitchburg (& Leominster, Groton, Pepperell, Ashburnham)	Nashua River Watershed Natural Solutions Action Project	$          403,985
Framingham	Walnut Street Neighborhood Flood Mitigation - Construction	$          1,987,968
Framingham (& Ashland, Sherborn)	Protection of a Climate Resilient Tri-City Open Space Cluster in MetroWest	$          215,000
Gloucester	City of Gloucester Low-Lying Roads Project	$          58,506
Great Barrington	Lake Mansfield Improvements Phase 2	$          709,720
Groveland	Town of Groveland Continuation of Johnson Creek Watershed Flood Resiliency Project	$          143,666
Hadley	Town of Hadley Watershed-Wide Flood Resilience Improvements	$          157,641
Hampden	Town of Hampden Main Street Bridge Replacement and Green Solutions Project	$          247,740
Harvard	Harvard Littleton County Road Land Protection	$          401,250
Harvard	Harvard Climate Implementation Plan - Phase One: Protective Bylaws and Community Outreach	$          47,390
Harwich (& Brewster)	Harwich Route 124 Culvert Restoration	$          89,913
Holyoke	Green Infrastructure Design and Land Protection in the Day Brook Watershed	$          192,900
Holyoke	Recipes for a Resilient Holyoke: A Community Cookbook	$          141,680
Hull	Hampton Circle Area Adaptation Roadmap Phase 2	$          200,000
Ipswich	Ipswich Town Wharf Pump Station Relocation and Coastal Resiliency Improvement Project	$          235,000
Ipswich (& Essex)	Upper Castle Neck Salt Marsh Restoration	$          104,848
Leyden (& Bernardston)	The Identification, Assessment, and Mitigation of Multi-Town Wildfire Hazards	$          179,200
Longmeadow	Cooley Brook Watershed Improvements Phase 2: Conceptual & Permitting Design	$          424,375
Ludlow	Resilient Stormwater and Urban Heat Island Assessment More on Boston Chron Boston: Affordable Homeownership Opportunity in Dorchester Boston: Latest Updates from the Mayor's Office of Housing: September 22, 2023 Massachusetts: Governor Healey Creates Commission to Accelerate Siting and Permitting of Clean Energy Infrastructure The Luxe Team at Dale Sorensen Real Estate Brevard Presents 100 Ocean Condominium in Melbourne, Florida Boston and Providence Wendy's Celebrate National Coffee Day with Free Coffee ALL WEEK LONG	$          135,000
Lynn	G.E.A.A. Field - Flooding Now, Floodable in the Future	$          190,000
Malden	Malden River Works for Waterfront Equity and Resilience	$          2,998,049
Martha's Vineyard Commission (& Aquinnah, Chilmark, Edgartown, Nantucket, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury, West Tisbury)	Fostering Ecosystem Resilience through Mapping, Prioritization, and Community Engagement	$          163,540
Mashpee	Town of Mashpee, Increasing Resilience to Harmful Algal Blooms in Santuit Pond - Town Landing Stormwater Design and Permitting	$          228,000
Medford	Medford Urban Forest Vulnerability Assessment	$          106,500
Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) (& Metro Mayors Coalition Communities)	Metro Mayors Cool Roof Project	$          88,500
Monson	Bunyan Road Relocation and Floodplain Restoration	$          291,500
Natick	Climate Resilient Park Network Along the Charles River in South Natick	$          290,000
New Bedford	Kempton Street Green Infrastructure	$          350,750
Newburyport	Climate Resilient Newburyport: Community Collaboration & Capacity Building Project	$          191,377
Northbridge	Flood Resilience and Water Quality Protection Through Better Causeway and Green Infrastructure Design	$          402,627
Norwood	Hennessey Field Stormwater Detention Basin Concept Design	$          432,000
Oak Bluffs	Oak Bluffs Design of the Coastal Resilience Improvements for the Dukes County Ave Pump Station	$          146,658
Pittsfield	Francis Avenue Parklet, Stormwater Designs, and Routing Study to West Street	$          322,435
Plymouth	Bartlett Road Dam Removal, Culvert Resiliency, and Stormwater Improvements	$          1,975,959
Revere	Diamond Creek Catchment Climate Resilience Improvements - Design and Permitting	$          386,911
Revere (& Saugus, Lynn, Malden, Everett)	SPRARR-Regional Prioritization and Design Project	$          154,717
Rockport	Rockport Coastal Resilience Planning Project	$          242,067
Sharon	Climate Resiliency Watershed Plan: Lake Massapoag 2025-2050	$          75,000
Southwick	Kline Road/Shurtleff Brook Culvert Replacement Project	$          526,800
Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans	Fenn Farm- Monument Mountain Acquisition Project	$          2,257,990
Water Supply District of Acton (& Town of Acton)	549 Main Street Water Supply & Open Space Preservation Acquisition	$          1,501,610
West Boylston	Resilient Streams of the Wachusett Reservoir	$          105,000
West Newbury	Evaluating Vulnerabilities and Options to Promote Resiliency: River Road and Environs	$          150,000
West Springfield	Establishment of a Tree Nursery and Development of Tree Planting Program	$          59,000
Westborough	Aquifer Recharge for Water Resiliency	$          271,950
Wilbraham	Wilbraham Culvert Assessment	$          60,000
Williamsburg	Williamsburg Mill River Watershed Planning	$          682,085
Winthrop (& Revere, Boston)	Belle Isle Marsh as a Nature Based Solution to Coastal Flooding: Regional Collaboration and Morton Street Neighborhood Design and Permitting	$          291,076
Woburn	Hurld Park - Heat Resilient Park CDs	$          180,500
Worcester	Resilient Community Place-Making and Miyawaki Forests	$          409,461
Total (79)		$          28,507,819

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