Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe Awarded $196,230 in MVP Action Grant Funds from the Healey-Driscoll Administration to Build Climate Resilience and support the Tribe’s Rematriation efforts.
October 1, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Plymouth, MA September 15, 2025 – Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe is thrilled to announce it has received a $196,230 climate resilience grant for the “Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe – Tidmarsh Farms Planning and Acquisition Project.” Awarded by the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) program, which is administered by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), these competitive grants support communities in identifying climate hazards, developing strategies to improve resilience, and implementing priority actions to adapt to climate change. Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe is one of 54 projects to have received action grant funding in the latest round of applications.
“This MVP Action Grant empowers us to reclaim and reawaken Tidmarsh as a living testament to tribal stewardship and climate resilience,” said Melissa Harding Ferretti, Chairwoman of the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe. “By restoring our ancestral homelands, we honor the sacrifices of our ancestors and continue our work to uplift our elders, nurture our youth, and secure a sustainable future for generations to come.”
The project involves the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe, the Schulman family, the Town of Plymouth, and Mass Audubon to explore land acquisition and stewardship initiatives and builds on the tribe’s climate resilience planning process. The MVP funds will support planning to acquire the Schulman family property, which lies within the Traditional homelands of the Tribe. The project also aims to expand on the ecological success and community partnership of the Tidmarsh Wildlife Sanctuary, the largest freshwater restoration project in the Northeast, which abuts the property. “The MVP funds will help us build a strong foundation of trust and collaboration,” said Evan Schulman. “The collaboration between the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe, Mass Audubon and the Town of Plymouth will help us all reimage conservation stewardship of ancestorial lands in Massachusetts”
The Tidmarsh Homestead Planning and Acquisition Project will highlight the integration of a modern restoration of agricultural farmland and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). The partners believe that the TEK can help inform and execute stewardship on this large complex of restored wetlands and surrounding uplands.
“Any time a local group actively begins the process of conserving land and protecting it from development, we’re fully in support” said Amy Weidensaul, Mass Audubon’s Senior Director of Wildlife Sanctuaries. “And if the caretakers of that land are the ones whose ancestors first inhabited it, all the better.”
The project provides an opportunity for the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe to participate in environmental and climate change decision-making on their ancestral homelands as described in the Massachusetts Environmental Justice Policy’s statement of purpose.
For more information about the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe and the Tidmarsh Planning and Acquisition Project:
Contact: Melissa Ferretti, Chairwoman info@herringpondtribe.org or www.herringpondtribe.org Phone: 508.260.2358