The Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest (ASNF) utilized over 25 million funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to support projects that increase local employment, support forest restoration and fire mitigation, and boost local economy. Projects included forest restoration and fuels reduction, recreation and related road improvements, forest fire rehabilitation efforts, and greenhouse construction on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation.

Restoring Lake St. Clair, between Michigan and Canada, has been an international priority for decades. The Clinton River Mouth Wetland, at the edge of Lake St. Clair is the site of a restoration project headed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This project will remove invasive species and use dredged materials to create wetland habitat. 

A dam placed in Dry Creek in Sonoma County, California degraded important fish habitat. Instead of building an expensive and unattractive bypass pipeline, the Dry Creek Ecosystem Restoration Project restored 30 hectares of stream, floodplain, and riparian habitat. This project increased in-stream habitat complexity and improved hydrologic connectivity with the floodplain.  

The Nature Conservancy led the project to restore 7,100 acres of farmland to functional flood plain and return its ability to sustain native plant and wildlife species. In 2007, 180,000 trees, 8,000 pounds of seed, and 90,000 upland shrubs and trees have been planted in 1,400 acres of Emiquon.

Dredged material was used to nourish the beach at 61st Street on Galveston Island, TX. This project increases recreational opportunities on the beaches and increases tourism to Galveston and nearby Houston, TX. This project is part of a long-term strategy to provide storm protection, increase property value, and reduce erosion. 

Led by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), this project aimed to apply the integrated pest management (IPM) approach to control the invasive giant salvinia (Salvinia molesta) in Lake Raven, a 203-acre reservoir located in the Huntsville State Park, Texas.

The Nature Conservancy restored a 54-acre oyster reef in Matagorda Bay, Texas. This project successfully restored large, thriving oyster reefs that have enhanced biodiversity in the bay. This increase in biodiversity has improved recreational fishing opportunities and fishing-related tourism in the area. The increase in fishing at Half Moon Bay reef adds around $691,000 to Texas’ gross domestic product annually.  

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources hired the Design-Build team of EcoGro/Ridgewater/Stantec to design and build a one-mile extension downstream to create one of Kentucky’s first self-sustaining trout stream capable of supporting spawning, which was previously impaired by the Wolf Creek dam.

Since 2009, the Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) has been working to restore 4,500 acres of converted hay fields to their natural sagebrush conditions—conducting controlled experiments, initial restoration, and an adaptive management approach to achieve long-term, high quality ecological restoration goals.

The diversion dam on the Lower Yellowstone River impeded upstream migration of many native fish species, including the endangered pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus). This project built a headworks, weir, and fish bypass channel to open access to 266 additional kilometers of the river for fish migration, spawning, and larval development.  

Mangrove Reef Walls are seawall-enhancing panels that create engineered-living habitat along developed waterfronts. These were installed in two locations in Florida in 2016 and 2018. These can improve biodiversity and water quality, and reduce erosion in areas where “traditional” living shorelines are not feasible (high energy zones, narrow canals, steep slopes). 

The Illinois Coastal Management Program and Navy Pier, Inc collaborated to redevelop Chicago’s Navy Pier with green infrastructure projects. These projects aimed to reduce runoff, flooding, and pollution. The project planted trees in planters designed specifically for this project to retain and filter stormwater, or redirect it for future use.

The National Park Service led an oak savanna restoration project along a 5-acre stretch of the Mississippi River Gorge in a Minneapolis neighborhood. The project sought to eliminate the threat of exotic species, reintroduce the appropriate gorge plant community, and address erosion concerns with the collaborative effort of national and local agencies, and the advocacy of the local community.

The Paradise meadows have been subject to heavy recreational use since the early 1900s. In 1986, the National Park Service initiated a long-term restoration project aimed at rehabilitating and revegetating 913 impacted areas within the meadows. Restoration of individual impacts involves 6 steps: scarification, stabilization, filling, revegetation, site protection, and monitoring.

Along Water Street in Yorktown, VA, York County led a shoreline protection project that placed clean sand fill and rock breakwaters to form a series of pocket beaches—beaches stabilized by artificial or natural headlands. The project provides protection to approximately 1,600 feet of Route 1020 (Water Street) along the York River.

Prime Hook Wildlife Refuge, located on Delaware Bay’s Western shore, was severely degraded due to sea-level rise, storms, and anthropogenic pressures. These issues led to over 1,600 hectares of freshwater marsh and 240 hectares of riparian forest impacted or lost. This project restored habitat, nourished shorelines, and increased resiliency of the refuge. 

This project restores river flow to 11.25 miles of secondary channel habitats in the lower Mississippi River through the construction of 11 notches in 8 dikes, 1 chevron, and 2 roundpoints. This project, located outside of Memphis, TN, greatly improves recreational opportunities and increases habitat availability for 3 federally listed species. 

Tampa Bay was designated an "estuary of national significance" by Congress in 1990, paving the way for development of a long-term blueprint for bay restoration through the Tampa Bay Estuary Program. A long-term restoration plan was made in restoring coastal wetlands and benthic habitats, including 1,000 hectares of seagrass beds.

Cape May, New Jersey is increasingly vulnerable to flooding and erosion from coastal storms. This project replenished the beach and restored dune and freshwater wetland habitats. This project resulted in restoration of over 460 acres of coastal habitat, and increased resiliency of the Cape May community. 

In 1999, work began on 19 km of the Provo River in the Heber Valley to clean-up, and otherwise restore, the habitat and ecological functions of the middle Provo River, which significantly impacted by the construction of the two dams that define its boundaries. The project focused on the restoration of natural fluvial processes.