GLIN==> NOAA Announces $9.2 Million to Restore Fish Habitat in Great Lakes

    NOAA Announces $9.2 Million to Restore Fish Habitat in Great Lakes

November 19, 2010

NOAA announced today that it has awarded about $9.2 million to nine 
projects throughout the Great Lakes Region that will restore fish 
habitat by removing dams and barriers, constructing fish passage, 
restoring wetlands, removing marine debris and invasive species.

NOAA received funding from the Environmental Protection Agency through 
President Obama's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to support these 
projects.

"Industrial activities and development have led to the habitat 
degradation in the Great Lakes basin," said Eric Schwaab, assistant 
administrator for NOAA's Fisheries Service. "These projects to restore 
more than 700 acres of habitat and open more than 100 miles of river for 
migratory fish passage, are an important step in restoring the fisheries 
of the Great Lakes."

Projects funded include:

    * *Removal of the Campbellsport Millpond Dam (Campbellsport, Wis.)*
      -- $684,000 -- The Village of Campbellsport will remove the
      Millpond Dam, opening fish passage throughout the uppermost 25
      miles of the Milwaukee River and restoring approximately 22 acres
      of wetland and 3,000 feet of free-flowing river.
    * *Erie Marsh Preserve Coastal Wetland Restoration Project* *(Erie,
      Mich.)* -- $2.5 million --The Nature Conservancy will construct
      and improve levees, water distribution canals, and water control
      structures; install a new water supply system; and build a fish
      passage structure. This will increase the quality and diversity of
      approximately 258 acres of coastal wetlands and provide additional
      fish spawning and rearing habitat.
    * *Fordson Island Oxbow Restoration and Debris Removal (Detroit,
      Mich.) *-- $150,000 -- Detroit Wayne County Port Authority will
      remove 15 metric tons of shoreline debris in and around Fordson
      Island. The island, located in the Rouge River just upstream of
      the Detroit River, is uniquely positioned as a refuge for fish and
      wildlife.
    * *Lower Black River Fish Habitat Restoration Project (Lorain, Ohio)
      *-- $1.7 million -- The City of Lorain, Ohio will build two fish
      habitat shelves, totaling more than 3,000 feet of new fish
      habitat, in the Black River watershed -- a tributary to Lake Erie.
    * *Restoring Lake Erie Hydrology and Coastal Marsh (Middle Harbor,
      Ohio) *-- $643,000 -- Ducks Unlimited will install a culvert to
      establish fish access and restore the water connection to Lake
      Erie. At least 350 acres of submerged aquatic grasses and other
      native vegetation will be planted, which will provide natural and
      long-term flood control in the marsh.
    * *Radio Tower Bay Restoration Project (Duluth, Minn.) *-- $665,000
      -- In the first phase of this project, the Minnesota Department of
      Natural Resources and its partner, the Minnesota Land Trust, will
      remove marine debris, including 460 derelict pilings, from Radio
      Tower Bay.
    * *Restoring Native Fish Spawning Habitat in the St. Clair River
      Delta (St. Clair, Mich.)* -- $890,000 -- Michigan Sea Grant will
      construct 40,000 square feet of native fish spawning habitat in
      the St. Clair River and connect spawning habitat to almost 14
      square miles of rich, underutilized nursery area in the St. Clair
      delta.
    * *Coastal Fisheries Habitat Restoration in the St. Lawrence River
      (Watertown and Alexandria Bay, N.Y.) *-- $1 million -- As part of
      an on-going restoration effort, Ducks Unlimited will install fish
      passage and excavate river channels at three locations in the
      upper St. Lawrence River watershed in New York. The project will
      restore and enhance 110 acres of marsh ecosystem and fish spawning
      habitat.
    * *Watervliet Dams Removal in the Paw Paw River (Berrien, Mich.) *--
      $920,000 --The Berrien County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority
      will remove two concrete dams, restoring fish passage to more than
      100 river miles, including 31 miles of the mainstem and
      tributaries of Lake Michigan.

The EPA provided the NOAA Restoration Center with funding for habitat 
restoration in the Great Lakes region as part of President Obama's Great 
Lakes Restoration Initiative, a collaborative effort between EPA and 15 
other federal agencies with a goal of building on existing and current 
work to restore the Great Lakes. For more information on the Initiative 
and Action Plan go to www.greatlakesrestoration.us 
<http://www.habitat.noaa.gov/restoration/programs/greatlakes.html>

NOAA's mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's 
environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and 
to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Find us on 
Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/usnoaagov>.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2010/20101119_greatlakes.html

-- 
Julie A. Sims
Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Program Coordinator
NOAA Restoration Center
4840 South State Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48108-9719

julie.sims at noaa.gov
Ph: 734.741.2385
cell: 734.680.5671

www.habitat.noaa.gov


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