The Oregon Coastal Management Program (OCMP) offers a variety of grant programs tailored to
Oregon's coastal zone. These grants, based on funding availability, support a wide range of projects, including habitat acquisition and restoration for coastal resiliency, as well as technical assistance to local communities and tribes for land use planning.
DLCD provides additional grant opportunities to applicants on topics including transportation planning, local government comprehensive plan and code updates, and community green infrastructure planning and implementation. Visit
DLCD’s Grant and Funding Opportunities webpage for a list of current opportunities
Please see the list of OCMP current funding opportunities below. This site will be updated with new information as additional funding opportunities become available.
Coastal Zone Management Habitat Protection & Restoration Program
The Coastal Zone Management Habitat Protection & Restoration Program is a competitive funding opportunity administered by the Oregon Coastal Management Program at DLCD through funding provided by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The program funds projects that conserve and restore coastal lands to increase and support resilience to natural hazards, recreation, plant and animal habitat, coastal economies, and a regional approach for the wise management of ocean and coastal resources.
Restoring and conserving ecologically significant ecosystems — such as tidal wetlands, headlands, and natural shorelines — helps reduce the impacts of coastal hazards, including flooding and sea level rise, on property, infrastructure, and cultural resources. The program seeks to enhance resilience through large-scale habitat restoration and conservation in coastal ecosystems nationwide.
Cape Foulweather | photo by Steve Smith Photography
Watch here for announcements of a 2026 funding cycle. Contact
Claire.Fiegener@dlcd.oregon.gov for more information and to be added to an information distribution list.
Project Types Funded
There are three categories of "shovel-ready" projects that are eligible. Projects should be designed, when possible, to meet multiple objectives within the project category.
Habitat Restoration
For habitat restoration projects, priority will be given to projects that:
- Reflect coastal habitat restoration priority areas identified in state/territories, tribal or regional plans;
- Restore important habitats and connected ecosystem functions/species;
- Restore hydrologic connections between habitats that improve ecosystem function;
- Enhance or restore important ecosystem services that support coastal communities, vulnerable populations or cultural resources (i.e., coastal flood protection, extreme weather resilience, water quality and quantity, food safety and security, chronic coastal erosion, etc);
- Include a long-term plan for monitoring specific criteria relevant to achieve project objectives; and/or
- Provide for engineering and design needs, if not already completed.
Habitat Restoration Planning, Engineering, and Design
- Habitat restoration planning, engineering, and design projects will be evaluated using the same criteria as noted for habitat restoration projects
- Habitat restoration planning activities do not have to support the implementation of a specific infrastructure project, but applicants should demonstrate how these efforts will support or catalyze subsequent on-the-ground restoration
Land Conservation/Acquisition (fee or Conservation Easement)
Priority will be given to projects that:
- Show significant ecological value
- Establish a demonstrated need for protection
- Can be effectively managed and protected
- Protect properties under an imminent threat of conversion to a use that will degrade or diminish their natural, undeveloped, or recreational state
- Serve to mitigate the adverse impacts caused by coastal population growth in the coastal environment
- Reflect that the land conservation project goals are identified in CELCP and/or other regional or statewide conservation plans
- Have a high level of project readiness
Eligibility
All projects must be located within
Oregon’s coastal zone. Restoration and restoration planning, engineering, and design projects must be located on publicly-owned land or land where a public entity holds a lease or easement that provides for adequate public control of the property. To be eligible, acquisition projects must be structured so land, or conservation easements are purchased by a non-federal public entity. Federally recognized Indian tribes and tribal organizations are eligible to purchase and hold land or conservation easements under this program.
OCMP's partners eligible to apply for this funding include:
- Non-federal public entities (includes state agencies, local governments, regional authorities, or Federally recognized Indian tribes and tribal organizations) and institutions of higher education.
- Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) may serve as the applicant for habitat restoration or habitat restoration engineering, design and planning projects. However, all restoration projects must be located on publicly-owned land or land where a public entity controls the land. NGO's are not eligible to hold title to lands acquired with these funds and therefore may not apply for the Land Conservation funds.
Project Funding
Each project can request a maximum of $6 million for project costs. Match is not required, but cost sharing is an important element considered in the evaluation criteria.
Project Implementation Timeline
All projects should be completed within three years of receiving the grant award. An extra year may be allowed for restoration monitoring.
Grant Application Process
As the lead agency of the OCMP, DLCD acts as the main applicant to NOAA for these applications. NOAA invites all coastal state management programs to submit up to three project recommendations for each funding cycle. NOAA then invites certain projects to submit a full application.
Interested partners must participate in a Pre-Application Consultation Meeting with DLCD staff, prior to submitting a Letter of Intent to the agency. DLCD will then choose the three top-ranked projects to submit to NOAA for consideration. Detailed information is included in the Grant Guidelines & Application Resources section below.
Pre-Application Consultation Meeting with DLCD Requirement
Pre-Application Consultation Meetings will be scheduled prior to application due dates. Exact dates will be released when the funding cycle opens. OCMP/DLCD staff will meet with potential applicants to review basic information about their proposed projects. The purpose of this early consultation is to ensure applicants are proposing eligible projects that will meet NOAA’s funding requirements. This is also an opportunity for potential applicants to ask OCMP/DLCD staff questions about the funding program and proposal development.
For more information see the
Pre-Application Consultation Meeting Fact Sheet.To schedule a Pre-Application Consultation Meeting please contact: Claire Fiegener, Coastal Habitat Projects Coordinator at
claire.fiegener@dlcd.oregon.gov or 971-301-3512.
Grant Guidelines & Application Resources
Below is a selection of resources, forms, and templates regarding this funding opportunity.
Financial assistance for this program provided by the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended, administered by the Office for Coastal Management, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.