Michigan Ag Connection - Partnership Announces $7.48 Million for Great Lakes Restoration

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Partnership Announces $7.48 Million for Great Lakes Restoration
Michigan Ag Connection - 08/14/2017

Sustain Our Great Lakes partners announced $7.48 million in grant funding for 23 ecological restoration projects in the Great Lakes basin. Approximately $12.06 million in additional project support will be leveraged by grantees, for a total on-the-ground conservation impact of $19.54 million.

The grants will support projects that sustain, restore and protect fish, wildlife and habitats in the Great Lakes basin through a focus on restoring coastal wetland habitat, improving the quality and connectivity of streams and riparian habitat, and improving water quality through green stormwater infrastructure.

Sustain Our Great Lakes is a public-private partnership that supports habitat restoration throughout the Great Lakes basin. Administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), the program receives funding and other support from ArcelorMittal and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), a federal program designed to protect, restore and enhance the Great Lakes ecosystem. The GLRI includes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Since 2006, Sustain Our Great Lakes has awarded 287 grants worth more than $67 million and leveraged an additional $77 million in matching contributions, for a total conservation investment of over $144 million.

"This is great news for fish and wildlife and the people of the Great Lakes Basin," said Charles Wooley, deputy Midwest regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "From coastal wetland restoration at Ohio's Toussaint State Wildlife Area, to fish passage restoration in Breakneck Creek in New York and rare dune protection at Flower Creek Dunes Nature Preserve in Michigan, this program brings together partners from across the basin who are truly moving the conservation needle."

"Water is a critical natural resource, and at ArcelorMittal, water plays an integral role in our steel production processes and the transportation of our materials," said Bill Steers, general manager of communications and corporate responsibility for ArcelorMittal's Americas region. "With four of our integrated steel mills located along the Great Lakes in the U.S. and Canada, we recognize the importance of managing and minimizing our company's environmental impact through innovating new solutions, as well as forging public-private partnerships that can leverage resources and expertise. Our partnership with Sustain Our Great Lakes demonstrates our commitment to this philosophy, and we are proud to continue this collaborative effort to conserve our environment and protect vital natural resources."

The work funded in 2017 will improve passage and habitat for fish and other aquatic organisms, control invasive species, restore wetland hydrology and improve green stormwater infrastructure. Collectively, the funded projects will:

- Reopen 162 miles of river for fish passage

- Restore three miles of stream and riparian habitat

- Remove or bypass 29 barriers to aquatic organism passage

- Control invasive species on more than 1,422 acres

- Add more than 46.4 million gallons of stormwater storage

"The Sustain Our Great Lakes partnership shows that we are stronger and more impactful when the public and private sectors work together to meet conservation challenges," said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO of NFWF. "Through the awards announced today, Sustain Our Great Lakes will continue to invest in critical restoration activities throughout the basin to protect and preserve this resource for both wildlife and people."

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