FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 11-OPA 097 EPA provides…
No. 11-OPA 097
EPA provides over $1.1 million for
Sleeping Bear Dunes and Grand Traverse Band
watersheds
(Traverse City, Michigan - October 6,
2011) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced
funding for Great Lakes Restoration Initiative projects in Northern
Michigan totaling $1.1 million. The projects will help to restore
the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Grand Traverse Band
watersheds and put people back to work, using a conservation corps
model to hire unemployed workers to improve habitat and clean up
shoreline.
The National Park Service and Bureau of
Indian Affairs projects were selected from 44 proposals totaling
almost $25 million, which were submitted in response to a $6
million challenge that EPA issued in August to encourage federal
agencies to sign up unemployed workers to implement restoration
projects in federally-protected areas, on tribal lands and in Areas
of Concern in the Great Lakes Basin. To qualify for funding, each
project is required to provide jobs for at least 20 unemployed
people.
"The tremendous response to EPA's
challenge underscores the large backlog of Great Lakes restoration
projects that are ready to be implemented and the strong support
that exists for using a conservation corps model to get the job
done," said Susan Hedman, EPA Great Lakes National Program Manager,
today at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. "This week, EPA is
announcing a total of eight restoration projects worth $6.6 million
as part of this challenge. Each project will produce immediate,
direct ecological benefits and will help to put unemployed people
back to work."
The National Park Service will receive
$891,225 to expand wetland restoration work in the Sleeping Bear
Dunes National Lakeshore. The Bureau of Indian Affairs will receive
$255,365 to work with the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and
Chippewa Indians on watershed restoration - part of $876,810
awarded to BIA to allow it to expand its work with tribal
governments to complete Great Lakes restoration projects in Indian
country. Other tribes that will participate in the project are the
Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Keweenaw Bay Indian
Community, the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin and the Red
Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
"The National Park Service is very
proud to contribute to this effort," said National Park Service
Midwest Regional Director Michael T. Reynolds. "Our participation
in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has given us a terrific
opportunity to do restoration work in all of our Great Lakes
national parks that might never have been accomplished otherwise,
and on a scale that can really make a difference. This project at
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will not only provide jobs
in an area with a high rate of unemployment, but will also
accomplish much needed work to restore impacted sites throughout
the 71,000 acre park."
"The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa
& Chippewa Indians is very pleased to announce that we have
received $255,365 to be utilized over 2 years. We will be using the
award to employ 4-5 individuals for 'on the ground' field work,"
said Tribal Chair Derek J. Bailey. "The work crew will be
supervised by a Grand Traverse Band/Natural Resources Conservation
Service collaboratively funded position. Work will include removing
woody debris, planting grasses and shrubs, river shoreline
restoration, and hands on placement of bank stabilization
materials."
Selected projects will advance the
goals and objectives of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
Action Plan, developed by EPA with 15 other federal agencies in
2010. The action plan, which covers FY 2010 through 2014, ensures
accountability by including measures of progress and benchmarks for
success over the next three years. It calls for aggressive efforts
to address five urgent priority "Focus Areas":
- Cleaning up toxics and areas of concern.
- Combating invasive species.
- Promoting near-shore health by protecting watersheds from polluted run-off.
- Restoring wetlands and other habitats.
- Tracking progress, education and working with strategic partners.
More information on selected projects is available at https://www.glri.us/