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EPA Announces 2011 Great Lakes Restoration Investments in Wisconsin Grants Will Help Tackle Invasive Species, Protect Beaches

Release Date: 08/17/2011
Contact Information: CONTACTS: Mick Hans, 312-353-5050, [email protected] Josh Singer, 312-353-5069, [email protected]

(CHICAGO – Aug. 17, 2011) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today awarded eight Wisconsin organizations and agencies $3,754,554 in grants under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. These grants are among 70 grants totaling nearly $30 million awarded by EPA under the GLRI in 2011.

“The President’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative aims to rehabilitate the ecosystem that is the foundation of this region’s economy,” said Cameron Davis, the EPA’s Senior Advisor to the Administrator on the Great Lakes. “For the regional economy to thrive, we need to accelerate our efforts to comprehensively attack problems such as habitat loss, invasive species and pollution that causes algae that choke beaches and fish life. Today’s investment will help make that happen.”

Davis announced the grants today with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett at Discovery World on Milwaukee’s lakefront. EPA will announce additional grants across the Great Lakes basin in the weeks ahead.

"The Great Lakes and its tributaries are central to our quality of life in Southeastern Wisconsin," said Mayor Barrett. “From manufacturing, to agriculture, to recreation, a healthy lake and rivers makes it all possible.”

Funded projects will advance the goals and objectives of the GLRI Action Plan, which EPA developed with 15 other federal agencies in 2010.

The funded projects announced in Milwaukee include:

· $85,733 – University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Stormwater Management at UW-Milwaukee Power Plant).
· $385,307 – Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (Reducing Invasive Plant Species in Trade in Great Lakes Water Bodies).
· $286,843 – Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (Red Swamp Crayfish Prevention, Containment and Eradication).
· $1,073,630 – University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (Implementation Mitigation Strategies at Wisconsin Beaches).
· $300,000 – Northland College (A Targeted Landowner Approach to Watershed Protection).
· $173,000 – Northland College (Lake Superior Binational Forum Lakewide Management Plan Implementation).
· $702,300 – Door County Soil & Water Conservation District (Implementation of Beach Management Practices to Improve Water Quality).
· $747,741 – Outagamie County Land Conservation Department (Plum and Kankapot Creeks Riparian Protection).

- Cleaning up toxics and toxic hot spot Areas of Concern.
- Combating invasive species.
- Promoting near-shore health by protecting watersheds from polluted runoff.
- Restoring wetlands and other habitats.
- Tracking progress, education and working with strategic partners.