Fish and Wildlife Service

Description

Recreational boating is a popular activity; there are approximately 13 million registered boats in the U.S. Of this total, an estimated 600,000 are 26 feet in length or longer and are considered nontrailerable. BIG provides Federal grant funds to States to assist in developing and maintaining facilities for transient use by these boats. Specifically, BIG provides funding to construct, renovate, and maintain either publicly or privately owned boating infrastructure facilities for transient, nontrailerable recreational vessels 26 feet in length or longer. States must provide public access to these federally funded facilities. Some examples of potentially eligible activities include:(a) Mooring buoys (permanently anchored floats designed to tie up eligible recreational vessels);(b) Day-docks (tie-up facilities that do not allow overnight use);(c) Navigational aids (e.g., channel markers, buoys, and directional information);(d) Transient slips (slips that boaters with eligible recreational vessels occupy for no more than 10 consecutive days);(e) Safe harbors (facilities protected from waves, wind, tides, ice, currents, etc., that provide a temporary safe anchorage point or harbor of refuge during storms);(f) Floating docks and fixed piers;(g) Floating and fixed breakwaters;(h) Dinghy docks (floating or fixed platforms that boaters with nontrailerable recreational vessels use for a temporary tie-up of their small boats to reach the shore);(i) Restrooms;(j) Retaining walls;(k) Bulkheads;(l) Dockside utilities;(m) Pumpout stations;(n) Recycling and trash receptacles;(o) Dockside electric service;(p) Dockside water supplies;(q) Dockside pay telephones;(r) Debris deflection booms; (s) Marine fueling stations; and(t) One time dredging (see pages 8-9, 14). Additional information on BIG, including application requirements, eligible activities, and grants, is in the BIG regulations (50 CFR 86).

Who can apply

• State governments

Contact

Christy Vigfusson <br/>Biologist - Grants <br/>Phone 703-358-1748
christy_vigfusson@fws.gov