Excerpts from a Dept. of Interior press release:

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced more than $7.5 million in competitive grants to 10 states for 11 projects to support recreational boating through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Boating Infrastructure Grant program.

Outdoor recreation, including boating and fishing, contribute an estimated  $730 billion to the U.S. economy each year, Salazar noted.

The Service will also release approximately $2.5 million to 26 states, commonwealths, and territories willing to match a smaller, non-competitive  grant program known as “BIG Tier 1” funding.

Grantees use Boating Infrastructure Grant funds to construct, renovate, and maintain facilities with features for transient boats (those staying  10 days or less) that are 26 feet or more in length and used for  recreation. Grantees may also use funds to produce and distribute information and educational materials about the program and recreational boating.

Funding for the Boating Infrastructure Grant program comes from the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund, formerly known as the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund, which boaters and manufacturers support through excise and other taxes on certain fishing and boating equipment and boat fuel.

One of the grants:

• J. P. Coleman State Park, Iuka, Mississippi

BIG Grant

$  802,560

The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks will partner with Tishomingo County Board of Supervisors, the Tishomingo County Development Foundation and The Tombigbee River Valley Water Management District to construct 20 transient boating slips at the J. P. Coleman State Park marina.

Non-Federal Match: $  451,440

Total Project Cost: $1,254,000