/PRNewswire/ - More than 65 nonprofit groups have been selected to receive $1.25 million in grants from the Entergy Charitable Foundation, bringing the total amount of grants awarded by the foundation during 2011 to $3,052,267.

Among the Entergy shareholder-funded grants are a $100,000 grant to Barataria Terrebonne Estuary Foundation to stem coastal land loss by restoring small isolated bay islands and the natural resources and wildlife that rely on them.

The efforts of  Barataria Terrebonne Estuary Foundation  promise to result in doubling the habitat area for nesting Great Egret, Reddish Egret, Roseate Spoonbill, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, Laughing Gulls, Least Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Sandwich Tern, Royal Tern, and others.

Among the other wetlands and environmental issues related grants, the foundation gave:

• $75,000 to the national Arbor Day Foundation to help fund their The Energy-Saving Trees program, a community tree planting program that helps residents save energy by planting the right trees in the right places to effectively shade their homes.
• $25,000 to St. Charles Parish Louisiana for continued development of Wetland Watchers Park, a park which serves not only as a recreational outlet, but as a service learning site for wetlands conservation and restoration. The LaBranche Wetland Watchers program allows students from regional schools to engage in science and learn about the many challenges facing wetlands in southeast Louisiana.

The Entergy Charitable Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation wholly funded by Entergy Corporation shareholders. The goal of the foundation is to support initiatives that help create and sustain thriving communities. ECF has a special focus on low-income initiatives as well as educational and literacy programs and efforts to protect the environment. The ECF accepts applications three times per year. For more information or to access an application form from the Entergy Charitable Foundation, look under "Our Community/Corporate and Foundation Giving" at www.entergy.com.

Entergy is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $11 billion and approximately 15,000 employees.

Entergy's online address is www.entergy.com