GLIN==> Coalition Announces Grants to Help Groups Participate in $475 Million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition

Coalition Announces Grants to Help Groups Participate in $475 Million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

ANN ARBOR, MICH. (September 1, 2010) -The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition today announced $189,564 in grants that will be awarded to 12 organizations poised to jump-start restoration projects on each of the Great Lakes.

The Coalition grants will help conservation organizations participate in the $475 million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a federal program to clean up toxic pollution, confront aquatic invasive species and restore habitat and wetlands.

Grants of up to $15,000 per project are being awarded to groups in five geographic priority areas: The St. Louis River and St. Louis Bay in Lake Superior; the waters of Lake Michigan in the Chicagoland area; Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay; western Lake Erie's Maumee Bay and eastern Lake Ontario.

The funds will support efforts to restore fish habitat on Lake Ontario, reduce bacterial contamination that forces beach closures near Chicago, control the invasive reed phragmites in coastal areas around Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay, remove contaminated sediments from Duluth Harbor and decrease the amount of sediment washing into Lake Erie from the Maumee River.

 A complete list of grants is included below.

"These grants will address an array of issues that are important to the health of the Great Lakes and the regional economy," said Jeff Skelding, campaign director for the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. "We're excited to partner with local groups to advance Great Lakes restoration and economic recovery."

In the inaugural year of the Coalition's grant program, 12 organizations received funding of the 14 that applied. The coalition is funding 13 projects.

"There were a lot of great proposals demonstrating an amazing array of projects to restore and protect rivers, lakes, and wetlands that came out of each of the five priority areas ," said Cheryl Mendoza, Freshwater Future associate director and Healing Our Waters implementation coordinator. "There were some tough choices to make and while we couldn't fund everyone, we are thrilled that the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition will to be able to support some great efforts."

A panel of Great Lakes scientists advised the Coalition in its selection of priority areas, recommending sites suffering from some of the biggest, most acute problems, while also exhibiting the potential to be successfully restored. Coalition staff and outside advisors selected the final grant recipients.

The coalition's announcement comes as the U.S. EPA prepares to unveil the final grant awards of the $475 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative-the most ambitious federal effort to date to restore the Great Lakes. The initiative-proposed by President Obama and enacted by the U.S. Congress-has been widely hailed as kick-starting a lagging federal response to the many serious threats facing the Great Lakes, the largest source of surface freshwater in North America.

Funded at $475 million in its inaugural year, President Obama requested the program to be cut to $300 million in the 2011 budget. House of Representative appropriators agreed, slashing the program to $300 million. The Senate has yet to agree on a funding level for the program.

"Now is not the time to scale back the nation's commitment to a resource that is the backbone of our economy and way of life," said Skelding. "After years of neglect and abuse, there is a huge need for a robust federal investment in Great Lakes restoration and economic recovery."

When the EPA put out its request for restoration proposals as part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the agency was inundated. It received proposals that outpaced funding by more than 7-to-1. Many projects will not be funded.

Every day, the lakes face serious threats, including:
* Sewage contamination, which closes beaches and threatens public health.
* Aquatic invasive species, which cost people, communities and businesses at least $200 million annually in damage and control costs.
* A legacy of toxic pollution, which leads to drinking water restrictions, beach closings and fish consumption advisories.
* Habitat destruction, which threatens water quality and harms the region's outdoor recreation economy.

Restoring the lakes will be good for fish and wildlife, tourism, human health and the economy.

A study by the Brookings Institution found that every $1 investment in Great Lakes restoration leads to $2 in economic benefit for the eight-state region of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

"Great Lakes restoration and economic recovery go hand-in-hand," said Skelding. "We have solutions to restore the environment and jump-start the economy. It is time to use them. Every day we wait, the problems get worse and the solutions get more costly."

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition consists of more than 115 environmental, conservation, outdoor recreation organizations, zoos, aquariums and museums representing millions of people, whose common goal is to restore and protect the Great Lakes.

For Immediate Release:
September 1, 2010

Contact:
Jordan Lubetkin, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, 734-887-7109
Jeff Skelding, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, 410-245-8021
Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition 2010 Grant Recipients

Project Title: Lake and Suburban Cook County Ravine Project Identification and Engagement
Applicant: Alliance for the Great Lakes
Priority Area: Chicago Land
Award: $15,000
Project Summary:
The Alliance for the Great Lakes will build municipal partnerships in northeastern Illinois to support a federal funding proposal that creates a ravine improvement prioritization and tracking system. This will lead to the implementation of on-the-ground Lake Michigan ravine restoration projects by allowing landowners to identify and prioritize erosion and water quality impairments and demonstrate improvements over time. This project builds on research previously completed with funding from Illinois DNR that established a baseline data set of ravine erosion problems. This preliminary system has already been used in two on-the-ground ravine restoration proposals recommended for GLRI funding of nearly $1 million in 2010, and support for this work will generate additional on-the-ground projects.

Project Title: Indiana Lake Michigan Beaches Sanitary Survey Public Involvement and Implementation
Applicant:  Save the Dunes Conservation Fund, dba "Save the Dunes"
Priority Area: Chicago Land
Award: $14,588
Project Summary:
Save the Dunes will assess the feasibility of and develop a competitive GLRI proposal to build upon the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM)'s "Indiana Lake Michigan Beaches Sanitary Survey" project by facilitating public involvement, implementing practices and projects identified in this process to address E. coli sources.  To do this, Save the Dunes will meet with stakeholders, including IDEM, USGS, municipalities, and beach managers and users to assess the needs for additional outreach, analysis, and implementation work to ensure that the results of the surveys yield meaningful results toward removing beach closure beneficial use impairments with emphasis on the Grand Calumet River Area of Concern.

Project Title:  Pultneyville Watershed Plan Development
Applicant: Center for Environmental Information
Priority Area: Eastern Lake Ontario
Award: $15,000
Project Summary:
Residents, visitors, fisherman and boaters who use the Pultneyville Harbor cannot access that resource to the extent they want due in part to eutrophication and e-coli contamination.  The Center for Environmental Information will facilitate the initiation of a formal watershed planning and implementation process for the Pultneyville Watershed.  This effort will result in sufficient detail being developed to allow this newly formed watershed group to seek Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding to complete their watershed plan and begin implementation of initial restoration work identified in planning process under this project.


Project Title: Fish Habitat Enhancement at Lake Shore Marshes WMA, Eastern Lake Ontario, N.Y.
Applicant: Ducks Unlimited, Inc. New York
Priority Area: Eastern Lake Ontario
Award: $15,000
Project Summary:
Ducks Unlimited will restore hydrologic function, improve fish passage and enhance spawning habitat within two coastal marsh systems in Eastern Lake Ontario.  Dense cattail mats in these marshes, caused in part by man-induced stable water levels, have reduced access by fish to suitable spawning habitat and to adjacent streams and tributaries, reducing utilization and productivity.  Restoration activities will involve creation of open water potholes with diverse emergent vegetation for spawning habitat within the cattail marsh.  The coalition grant will be used to build collaborative partnerships, develop restoration designs and prepare permit applications, thus enhancing the potential for funding under GLRI opportunities.

Project Title: Rifle River Watershed Nonpoint Implementation Project
Applicant: Huron Pines
Priority Area: Saginaw Bay and Saginaw Watershed
Award: $15,000
Project Summary:
The Rifle River Watershed Nonpoint Implementation Project is an intensive, action-oriented three-year project aimed at achieving on-the-ground results. In order to implement solutions to the highest priority sites within the watershed, additional support is needed to assist Huron Pines and partners in project promotion, educational outreach and helping to engage stakeholders. Support from the Healing Our Waters grant program will encourage higher involvement with the project, resulting in more water resource information sharing, higher participation in public meetings and site visits, and the opportunity for more stakeholders to help identify problems and selecting solutions to improve water quality.

Project Title: Identification of Phragmites Control Sites in Saginaw Bay Coastal Areas
Applicant: Partnership for the Saginaw Bay Watershed
Priority Area: Saginaw Bay and Saginaw Watershed
Award: $15,000
Project Summary:
Dense stands of phragmites are crowding out native plants, blocking shoreline views, reducing public access, and creating fire hazards in Saginaw Bay coastal areas. The communities in Bay, Arenac, Tuscola, and Huron Counties have teamed together to conduct an invasive species control project on public lands. The first step in this project will identify where control of the species would be most cost effective and measureable. The completion of this first step will show progress toward restoring the beneficial use impairments in Saginaw Bay and providing the opportunity for all to more fully enjoy the Bay.

Project Title:  Getting to the Source: Thermal Imaging to Identify Failing Septic Systems in a High Priority Watershed
Applicant: The Conservation Fund
Priority Area: Saginaw Bay and Saginaw Watershed
Award: $15,000
Project Summary:
The Kawkawlin River is a direct tributary of the Saginaw Bay Area of Concern and has been identified by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment as AOC-influencing because of persistent water quality issues that are directly affecting both the river itself and Bay.  Since 2005, the Kawkawlin has been closed to body contact for 181 days, with high bacteria levels being cited as the cause.  Coalition funding will support an innovative thermal (color infra-red) imaging effort to identify failing septic systems that are thought to be a cause of some of the water quality issues.  This project will support a Great Lakes Restoration Initiaitve application to establish a revolving fund to encourage system repair and replacement where municipal sewer is not available.

Project Title: Implementing St. Louis River Habitat Plan Priority Projects
Applicant: Minnesota Land Trust
Priority Area: St. Louis Bay and St. Louis River
Award: $15,000
Project Summary:
The St. Louis River Habitat Plan is a component of the St. Louis River Remedial Action Plan that outlines targets and projects to restore the ecological integrity and address the Beneficial Use Impairments of the lower St. Louis River. Projects within the Habitat Plan support the objectives of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration's Habitat Conservation and Species Management section. Minnesota Land Trust is positioned as the primary NGO partner for implementation of on-the-ground clean-up, restoration and protection projects in the St. Louis River Area of Concern. Minnesota Land Trust works in close collaboration with local, state and federal agencies and the St. Louis River Alliance in selecting and developing projects for implementation. With funding from the Coalition, the trust will increase their capacity support to develop and submit funding proposals to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and Minnesota's newly-created Outdoor Heritage Fund to implement two to three priority restoration and protection projects in the St. Louis Bay Priority Area.

Project Title: St. Louis River AOC Remediation and Restoration Initiative
Applicant: St. Louis River Alliance (Formerly the St. Louis River Citizens Action Committee)
Priority Area: St. Louis Bay and St. Louis River
Award: $24,976
Project Summary:
Funding from the coalition will provide the St. Louis River Alliance needed capacity assistance that will enable project development for GLRI funding regarding high priority projects within the St Louis River Area of Concern (AOC). The two separate projects under this proposal will focus on high priority projects that advance delisting the St Louis River through the remediation of contaminated sediments and habitat restoration. Efforts will focus on developing funding-ready scoping documents detailing recommendations for project design and implementation. The first project will develop detailed recommendations for design and implementation of remediation to restoration projects within the AOC. The second project is habitat restoration for piping plover on Wisconsin Point. Both projects involve facilitating partnerships between federal, tribal, state and local agencies.

Project Title: Step-by-Step Support for Permit Applications for GLRI Wetlands Project
Applicant: Partners For Clean Streams, Inc.
Priority Area: Western Lake Erie
Award: $15,000
Project Summary:
Partners for Clean Streams, the Maumee RAP's non-profit, will restore at least 10 acres of wetland, 30 acres of upland habitat and 1,200 linear feet of stream bank along the Ottawa River, at a 157-acre Boy Scout Camp in the Oak Openings Region, directly improving Lake Erie's Western basin. Partners for Clean Streams was invited by U.S. EPA to submit a full proposal for this restoration. Partners for Clean Streams would use the funding from the coalition to allow them to hire an experienced consultant to guide us through the process of writing and submitting federal and state permit applications, moving their Great Lakes Restoration Initiative project closer to implementation.

Project Title:  Addressing Altered Hydrology in the Western Lake Erie Basin
Applicant: The Nature Conservancy
Priority Area: Western Lake Erie
Award: $15,000
Project Summary:
The Western Lake Erie basin faces many water quality and water quantity challenges-from flooded basements in Findlay, Ohio, to algal blooms in Maumee Bay.  Coalition funding will compliment assembled grant proposals that focus not only on water quality but also water quantity issues.  With the use of a practice called the two-stage ditch, water quality and quantity will improve.  The practice will also benefit aquatic habitat. The proposed Great Lakes Restoration Initiative project would construct eight segments of two-staged ditch within the Maumee watershed.  This project would reduce the amount of sediment reaching Lake Erie by an estimated 1.2 million pounds per year, as well as reducing nutrients.  All reductions will be monitored by the University of Notre Dame.  This helps to meet numerous goals established by the Environmental Protection Agency and other groups.  The project will also establish and promote this technology in the watershed, and seek to provide additional funding sources for further two-stage ditch construction.

Project Title: Public Outreach & Early Detection of Invasive Species in the Toledo Shipping Channel Area of Western Lake Erie
Applicant: Western Lake Erie Waterkeeper Association
Priority Area: Western Lake Erie
Award: $15,000
Project Summary:
Toledo Harbor and western Lake Erie has been described as a "canary in the coal mine" for the Great Lakes. It is one of the most biologically productive water habitats in the world-yet as the shallowest, warmest Great Lakes it is highly susceptible to threats. For the Early Detection Invasive Species pilot project, coalition funding will be used to raise public awareness and hands-on participation in invasive species research.  Funding will be used to pilot a project to detect invasive species that will lead to a proposal that meets a goal of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to contrast, test, validate, and improve EPA-ORD Early Detection methods developed in Duluth Harbor.  Researchers and Waterkeeper volunteers will use ponar grab, trawls, and other methods to collect samples for microscopic and DNA analysis, followed by informative meetings to discuss implications of results for Great Lakes.

Jordan Lubetkin
Senior Regional Communications Manager
National Wildlife Federation
Great Lakes Regional Center
Office: 734-887-7109
Cell: 734-904-1589

www.nwf.org/greatlakes
www.healthylakes.org

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