Joint Venture Program Awards Grants to Promote Fish and Wildlife Conservation in the Great Lakes
OutdoorHub 07.24.13
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Midwest and Northeast Regions are pleased to announced the recipients of over $700,000 in 2013 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grants awarded through the Joint Venture Habitat Restoration and Protection program.
The 2013 grant recipients are:
- The Stewardship Network for Collaborative Conservation to Support Priority Birds in the River Raisin watershed in Michigan, $50, 173.
- Huron Pines RC+D for Kirtland’s Warbler Habitat and Stewardship in northern Michigan, $171,000.
- Ducks Unlimited for Manistee Marsh Wetland Enhancement in Manistee County, Michigan, $196,000.
- Western Pennsylvania Conservancy for Continued Protection of Bird Conservation within Pennsylvania’s Lake Erie Watershed in Erie County, Pennsylvania, $289,275.
The goal of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is to target the most significant environmental problems in the Great Lakes region. As part of this initiative, the Upper Mississippi and Great Lakes Region Joint Venture and the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture are working with the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration programs in the Midwest and Northeast Regions of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to competitively fund state and other partner projects. The Joint Venture Habitat Restoration and Protection program awarded funding to projects that supported long-term habitat restoration, enhancement and protection in areas of the Great Lakes that promoted the conservation of fish and wildlife populations, particularly migratory birds.
“The shores and adjacent natural habitats along the Great Lakes have some of the highest densities and abundances of migrant birds in North America,” said Midwest Regional Director Tom Melius. “The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has drastically enhanced our ability to support our partners in the implementation of conservation efforts to protect and restore critical habitat for many priority bird species.”
“Most of the annual mortality of land birds occurs each year during the spring and fall migration, so resting habitat along migratory routes is an important conservation issue,” noted Northeast Regional Director Wendi Weber. “These grants will conserve natural forests, shrublands and wetlands along the Great Lakes that are critical for millions of migrating birds.”
The grants were funded by the President’s 2013 Budget, which provided $300 million for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency –led, interagency Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. For more information on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service activities related specifically to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, please visit http://www.fws.gov/GLRI
More information on the 2013 funded projects (PDF): http://www.fws.gov/midwest/news/documents/2013GLRIJVprojects.pdf
