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GLIN==> $850,000 in funding for Belle Isle
Title: $850,000 in funding for Belle
Isle
The Detroit Free Press and Detroit News
covered the announcement of $850,000 in funding for two
projects on Belle Isle. Links to the
newspaper articles, as well as the news release from the Detroit
Recreation Department are below. Photos from the press
conference are available via the Michigan Sea Grant web site at
www.miseagrant.umich.edu.
New spawning reef
could turn Detroit River into a love nest
Project off Belle
Isle to help sturgeon breed
November 21,
2003
BY HUGH MCDIARMID JR.,
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Great Lakes lake sturgeon -- a
monster-sized fish with prehistoric lineage, a life span of 150 years
and a face only a momma sturgeon could love -- is being invited to
fool around in the Detroit River... See complete story at
http://www.freep.com/news/metro/reef21_20031121.htm
Michigan Sea Grant is managing the
Sturgeon Habitat & Education Project. For
more information about this project, contact Mark Breederland,
Michigan Sea Grant and the Greater Detroit American Heritage River
Initiative; phone: 586-823-3300, email: breederm@msue.msu.edu or
Jennifer Read, Michigan Sea Grant; phone (734) 936-3622, email
jenread@umich.edu
------------------
Two projects
expected to enhance Belle Isle
State, federal
funds will be used to clean lagoon, create a spawning
reef
Thursday, November 20,
2003
By Darren A. Nichols /
The Detroit News
Two projects that are expected to enhance
the natural habitat at Belle Isle will be announced by Recreation
Department officials today... See complete story at
http://www.detnews.com/2003/metro/0311/20/d11d-330247.htm
For more information about this project,
contact Smith Group, JJR, Lara Treemore Spears, email:
lara.treemore-spears@smithgroup.com
------------------
News
Release
November 20,
2003
Contact: Chris
Kopicko, (313) 224-3758, Lee Stephenson, 313-224-1126 or Alicia
Minter, 313-852-4075
Detroit Mayor Kwame
Kilpatrick and the Detroit Recreation Department recently announced
two new projects at Belle Isle Park totaling nearly $850,000.
One project will restore a natural area on the banks of Blue Heron
Lagoon; the second project will create a sturgeon spawning reef in the
waters just off the island. Both projects are important
components of the City of Detroit's Belle Isle Master
Plan.
Blue Heron Lagoon
Natural Area Project
The Detroit
Recreation Department has received a $250,000 grant from the Michigan
Coastal Management Program for ecological restoration of the 41-acre
Blue Heron Lagoon located on the eastern end of Belle Isle. The U.S.
Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration provided these funds to the Michigan Department of
Environmental Quality for resource restoration projects in the Great
Lakes. The Detroit Recreation Department will also contribute
$100,000 in matching funds for this project, bringing the total to
$350,000.
The Recreation Department and its professional consulting team, headed
by SmithGroup JJR, will launch the project by conducting a survey to
identify plants and analyze ecological conditions in the area.
The restoration of the habitat will ensure the protection of unique
native species like Prairie Ladies' Tresses, Pumpkin Ash, and
Sullivant's Milkweed, and offer educational opportunities for
visitors. The project will also develop strategies for
controlling invasive species like phragmites. This grant is part
of the effort that will eventually enable the City to create a
deep-water fish habitat in the Lagoon and a direct fishery connection
between the Detroit River and the waters of the Blue Heron
Lagoon.
Sturgeon Habitat
Project
The City will also benefit from a second pair of grants: the
Michigan Coastal Management Program grant and the Great Lakes Fishery
Trust grant. The grants will be used to create a spawning
habitat for the largest fish in the Great Lakes - the Lake Sturgeon,
a species that can grow to 7 feet in length. Sturgeons are a
threatened species in Michigan and are living dinosaurs, having
remained essentially unchanged for millions of years.
Although sturgeon
formerly reproduced abundantly in the Detroit River, recent studies
have found few places where they currently reproduce. To provide
such a habitat, this project will construct a lake sturgeon spawning
reef off Belle Isle. The project will also develop educational
displays in the Belle Isle Aquarium, where visitors can also see live
sturgeon. Visual presentations about the sturgeon reef project
will also be on display at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum and the Belle
Isle Nature Zoo.
The sturgeon project
is a $500,000 effort, with $309,262 coming from the Michigan Coastal
Management Program and $110,000 from the Great Lakes Fishery Trust.
In-kind support will come from the University of Michigan, Michigan
State University, the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers-Detroit District, the Michigan Department of Natural
Resources, the Detroit Zoo, DTE Energy, the Greater Detroit American
Heritage River Initiative of Metropolitan Affairs Coalition, and
others. The Michigan Sea Grant College Program will manage and
implement the effort. SmithGroup JJR is a consultant for the City of
Detroit assisting with the project.
"These projects
are significant because they improve our premier park, Belle Isle, and
enhance recreational and educational opportunities for kids and
families," stated Lee Stephenson, deputy director of the Detroit
Recreation Department.
These new projects are priorities of the Greater Detroit American
Heritage River Initiative, which champions projects that celebrate
history and culture, further economic development, and promote
environmental stewardship. The Detroit River was one of 14
rivers to be honored with the American Heritage River designation in
1998 by Presidential Executive Order. In 2001, the Detroit River
also received a Canadian Heritage River designation, making it the
first international heritage river system in North
America.
In 1883, Frederick Law Olmstead, the landscape architect who designed
New York's Central Park, designed Belle Isle Park, the 980-acre
crown jewel of Detroit's public park system. The park is
situated on one of America's busiest waterways and provides
spectacular views of Detroit, Canada, freighter traffic, and the
Ambassador Bridge. The park has over 8 million visitors
annually.
####
--
Elizabeth LaPorte, Communications Director,
Michigan Sea Grant College Program |
Email: elzblap@umich.edu | (734) 647-0767 |
Fax: (734) 647-0768 |
One Great Lakes Plaza, 401 E. Liberty S.,
Ste. 330, Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2298 | www.miseagrant.umich.edu
|