Habitat and Wildlife Protection and Restoration

Grand Trunk site started in 2009 with funding from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act

NOAA’s Restoration Center plans, implements, and funds coastal habitat restoration throughout the Great Lakes Region. Projects include providing financial and technical assistance to remove dams and barriers, construct fish passage, clean up marine debris, restore coastal wetlands, and remove invasive species. This year NOAA funded both shovel-ready projects and engineering and design projects. This allows NOAA to support both current efforts to restore the Great Lakes watershed as well future projects that, once implemented, will have significant benefits to Great Lakes restoration.

In 2011 NOAA is funding three implementation projects and five engineering and design projects. Implementation projects include:

• Wayne Road Dam Removal and Habitat Improvement Project (Wayne, MI) – $1million: The Alliance of Rouge Communities will remove the Wayne Road Dam. This will restore fish passage to migratory species such as salmon, walleye, northern pike and small mouth bass, and improve shoreline habitat. It will also reconnect 22 miles of the Rouge River with the Great Lakes.
• Lower Black River Habitat Restoration (Lorain, OH) – $1million: In the second phase of this project, the city of Lorain, Ohio will build more than 2,800 feet of prime vegetated fish habitat for walleye, smallmouth bass, and northern pike. This project will also restore up to two acres of riparian habitat, and will remove more than 45,000 cubic yards of recyclable steel mill slag in the Black River watershed – a tributary to Lake Erie.
• Habitat Restoration in the Maumee Area of Concern (Oak Harbor, OH) – $1.3 million: The Nature Conservancy, in partnership with Ducks Unlimited and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will restore and enhance 512 acres of critical coastal wetland and marsh habitat within Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. The project will reconnect 127 acres of wetlands to Lake Erie.

Engineering and design projects and future implementation impacts include:

• Muskegon Lake Hydrologic Reconnection and Mill Debris Removal (Muskegon, MI) – $313,000: The West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission will develop designs for a project that will soften 2,850 feet of shoreline, restore up to 126 acres of floodplains and emergent wetlands, and remove more than 197,000 metric tons of unnatural lake fill debris. Once completed, this restoration project will fulfill the remaining 51% of habitat-related beneficial use impairments in the Muskegon Lake Area of Concern.
• Little Rapids Habitat Restoration Project (Sault St. Marie, MI) – $348,000: The Eastern Upper Peninsula Regional Planning & Development Commission will develop plans that will increase fish passage in the remaining available rapids habitat, considered essential spawning and nursery habitat for species such as lake whitefish, lake sturgeon and walleye. This will address half of the actions needed to remove the two fish-related beneficial use impairments in the St. Marys River Area of Concern.
  
• Clinton River Spillway and Fish Habitat Restoration (Clinton Township, MI) – $350,000: Macomb County will develop plans to improve fish passage along two miles of restored channel, directly connecting nearly 200 acres of river corridor to Lake St. Clair.
• Buffalo River RiverBend Habitat Restoration project (Buffalo, NY) – $167,000: Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper will develop plans to restore and soften 1,520 feet river shoreline. Implementation of these actions will achieve a 50%completion of the restoration targets for removal of habitat-related beneficial use impairments.
• Lower Black River Fish Habitat Restoration Project (Lorain, OH) – $350,000: In the third phase of this project, the city of Lorain, Ohio will develop plans to build shallow underwater rocky fish habitat shelves, totaling more than 1,600 feet of new prime vegetated fish habitat for walleye, smallmouth bass, northern pike and longnose gar in the Black River watershed—a tributary to Lake Erie. 

Great Lakes Partnerships

The NOAA Restoration Center also supports partnerships in the region and maintains strong relationships with a number of non-profit organizations. In the Great Lakes, with 2011 GLRI funds NOAA is working with Ducks Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy, and the National Wildlife Federation. Through these partnerships, we focus on assisting with design and engineering, conducting on-the-ground restoration work, and aiding project evaluation to inform future restoration efforts, and providing climate change expertise to inform restoration planning and implementation.

All of these projects are supported by the NOAA Restoration Center with funding provided by the U.S. EPA via President Obama’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is a collaborative effort between the EPA and 15 other federal agencies to build on existing and current work to restore the Great Lakes.

For more information on the Initiative and Action Plan go to www.greatlakesrestoration.us.
NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us on Facebook , Twitter and our other social media channels.

On the Web:
NOAA: www.noaa.gov
GLHRP: http://www.habitat.noaa.gov/restoration/programs/greatlakes.html

Read More Here >>

Frog Bay

The Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program (CELCP) provides state and local governments with matching funds to purchase significant coastal lands. The $949K in funding will help protect more than 328 acres of coastal watersheds on Lakes Erie and Superior. The awards will help acquire, or put under easement, coastal areas that might otherwise be altered by development. CELCP helps states and communities preserve threatened coastal areas that have exceptional ecological, historical, and recreational value, and natural beauty. Since 2002, CELCP has provided for the permanent protection of more than 7500 acres of Great Lakes Coastal Habitat. CELCP grants are competitive and matched one to one with non-federal funding.

An additional $940K will support protection of lands within Areas of Concern that will set the stage for restoration and/or removal of habitat-related beneficial use impairments for those areas. The Great Lakes AOC Land Acquisition Program is designed to complement NOAA’s Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Program and the first year of program funding will protect more than 80 acres of coastal habitat within four AOC watersheds.

The 2011 Great Lakes CELCP projects funded through GLRI are:

Frog Bay Tribal National Park (Wisconsin): The Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa will protect 88 acres of Lake Superior transitional boreal forest and more than 0.25 miles of pristine shoreline adjacent to the Frog Bay estuary, which drains into Lake Superior. The Red Cliff Tribe plans to manage the land as the “Frog Bay Tribal National Park,” which will be open to both Tribal and non-tribal members. Protecting the site will also help preserve Tribal cultural traditions and way of life.

Lost Creek Watershed Protection (Wisconsin): The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) will acquire 230 acres along two branches of Lost Creek in Bayfield County which connects two high quality state-designated conservation sites. This natural area protects the unique and ecologically significant estuarine land of Lake Superior’s Siskiwit Bay, and is expected to reduce run-off and soil erosion, preserve a self-sustaining class III anadomous stream for brook trout, and provide access for fishing and a variety of non-consumptive
public recreational uses.

Lake Erie Bluff Preservation Project II (Ohio): As the second phase of its efforts to protect the Lake Erie Bluffs in Lake County, Lake Metroparks will acquire a parcel that includes 1,500 feet of forested lakeshore bluffs, coastal wetlands, and inland wet deciduous forests. Protection of this property is important in a county where 80 percent of the coast has been developed. Lake Metroparks plans to manage the site as a passive recreational park, providing trails to improve access to Lake Erie.

The 2011 Great Lakes Area of Concern Land Acquisition projects funded through GLRI are:

Grand Isle Ferry Landing (New York): New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will acquire a 1 acre parcel within the Niagara River AOC. This parcel is one of the last undeveloped sections of shoreline that provides natural habitat for native fish, wildlife, and plant species.

White Lake (Michigan): Muskegon County Soil Conservation District/City of Whitehall will acquire an 3.9 acres wetland parcel adjacent to Mill Pond Park. This project benefits the White Lake AOC and would protect 150' of shoreline on White Lake.

Muskegon Lake AOC (Michigan): The City of North Muskegon will protect 17 acres within the Muskegon Lake AOC boundary, including 1200' of shoreline on Bear Creek and Bear Lake. Acquisition of this property will allow for future emergent wetland habitat restoration .

Prindle AOC (Michigan): Bay County will acquire a 54 acre parcel that includes 3,500 feet of frontage along the Pinconning River, within the Saginaw Bay AOC. This parcel has been identified as one of the highest priority wetland sites in Bay County, and will serve to connect several existing conservation sites.

For more information on these projects, please contact Liz Mountz at 301-563-1148 or Elizabeth.Mountz@noaa.gov.