Forest Service Supports Restoration Efforts in the Great Lakes Region
Contact(s):
Franklin Pemberton
Milwaukee, WI (March 2, 2021) —The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, is pleased to announce the distribution of over $985,500 in grants to 21 organizations working to control invasive plants within the Great Lakes region. These Cooperative Weed Management Area grants are provided through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI).
“The Forest Service is proud to work side by side with the wide array of organizations taking effective, local approaches to improve the Great Lakes ecosystem,” said Gina Owens, Forest Service Regional Forester. “The diversity of forest ownership throughout the basin means we must all work together to serve the millions of people who rely on clean water and healthy forests for their day to day lives.”
The Environmental Protection Agency leads the GLRI, which was launched in 2010 to accelerate efforts to protect and restore the largest system of fresh surface water in the world — the Great Lakes. As one of the GLRI’s 16 regional working group members, the Forest Service uses GLRI resources to strategically target the biggest threats to the Great Lakes ecosystem and accelerate progress toward long-term restoration goals. These grants support local efforts that take a collaborative, coordinated approach to controlling invasive species. Invasive species pose a risk to ecological resiliency, watershed stability and biological diversity.
This year, recipients in the Great Lakes basin states of Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin received funding ranging from $31,000 to $50,000. Each recipient will provide a minimum 20% match for this funding, in collaboration with state or local partners, donors or volunteers.
The funded projects build on overall GLRI restoration and protection efforts, focused on:
- Cleaning up Great Lakes areas of concern
- Preventing and controlling invasive species
- Reducing nutrient runoff that contributes to harmful/nuisance algal blooms
- Restoring habitat to protect native species
- Implementing science-based adaptive management
2021 Forest Service Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Cooperative Weed Management Area (CWMA) Grant Recipients:
Michigan
Marquette County Conservation District – $49,997
Project: Partnering for Native Restoration and Non-native Invasive Plant Management in Lake to Lake Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (CISMA)
Chippewa Luce Mackinac Conservation District – $48,217
Project: Three Shores CISMA Drummond Island Management Initiative
Iron Baraga Conservation District – $50,000
Project: Western Peninsula Invasive Species Coalition CWMA: Resources for Every Season, and All Times
Van Buren Conservation District – $40,232
Project: SWxSW Corner CISMA Defends Wetlands Through Priority Invasive Species Management
Grand Traverse Conservation District – $49,944
Project: Sustaining the Invasive Species Network
Ottawa Conservation District – $50,000
Project: Managing Phragmites in West Michigan
Mason-Lake Conservation District – $50,000
Project: Parks as Showplaces for Control and Restoration
Ingham Conservation District – $48,337
Project: Detection and Control of Aquatic Invasive Species in the Mid-Michigan CISMA
Huron Pines Resource Conservation and Development Council – $50,000
Project: Huron Coastal Invasive Species Network – Pathways and Priority Areas
Chippewa Nature Center – $49,984
Project: Tittabawassee River Survey – Post-flood Effects on Invasive Species
Minnesota
Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District – $50,000
Project: Regional Coordination and Facilitation of Non-native Invasive Species Management
New York
The Nature Sanctuary Society of Western New York – $31,320
Project: Invasive Species Management to Protect Rare Habitats at Alexander and Houghton Preserves
Hobart and William Smith Colleges – $47,332
Project: Eradication of High Priority Invasive Species to Protect Important Wetland Communities within the Lake Ontario Watershed
Research Foundation for SUNY – $35,193
Project: Western New York Japanese Stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum) Early Detection and Rapid Response Project
Ohio
The Nature Conservancy – $50,000
Project: Early Detection Rapid Response in the Oak Openings Region
The Nature Conservancy – $50,000
Project: From Projects to a Program: Building on the Lessons of a Decade
Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy – $35,000
Project: Control of Tree-of-heaven in the Lake Erie Watershed
Wisconsin
Southeastern Wisconsin Invasive Species Consortium – $50,000
Project: Restoring Lake Michigan Ecosystems
Bayfield County – $50,000
Project: Managing and Monitoring Non-native Invasive Species in the Lake Superior Basin of Wisconsin
Golden Sands Resource Conservation and Development – $50,000
Project: Central Wisconsin Invasives Partnership: Invasive Plant Control to Create Habitat for the Endangered Karner Blue Butterfly
Wisconsin Tribal Conservation Advisory Council – $50,000
Project: CWMA for Tribal Lands in Wisconsin
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