ANN ARBOR, Mich. – April 26, 2010 – Ducks Unlimited received one of the first Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grants through the Sustain Our Great Lakes program this past week. DU and its partners will restore coastal streams and marshes in northern Michigan using the $783,823 grant. Partners and additional recipients gathered in Grand Rapids, Mich., along with Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Rep. Vernon Ehlers to celebrate the first grants funded by the historic initiative, administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
"Ducks Unlimited is here today because they're always here when the Great Lakes needs them," said Sen. Stabenow. "Theirs is exactly the sort of work that the GLRI is meant to support; impactful, on-the-ground improvements to Great Lakes habitat."
The conservation organization received the grant for the Arcadia Marsh/Bowens Creek restoration and fish passage in Manistee County, Mich. When completed, DU and its grant partners will have restored 10 miles of fish passage, 75 acres of coastal marsh, and 11 miles of stream and fish habitat. The grant will also allow the protection of 128 acres of coastal marsh.
Ducks Unlimited partnered with Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy, Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Conservation Resource Alliance and the Great Lakes Fishery Trust to qualify for the grant. The Manistee County Road Commission and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment – Fisheries also are supporting the project.
Dr. Robert Hoffman, director of DU's Great Lakes/Atlantic Regional Office, said, "It's an exciting time to be doing habitat work in the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has the potential to have a huge impact on conservation work in the area."
Ducks Unlimited received GLRI funds through Sustain Our Great Lakes, a public–private partnership coordinated by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and funded by ArcelorMittal, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the USDA Forest Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This year, additional grant funding was provided through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a $475 million initiative to protect, restore and enhance the Great Lakes ecosystem.
Ducks Unlimited is the world's largest non-profit organization dedicated to conserving North America's continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 12 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever.
Kristin Schrader
kschrader@ducks.org
734.623.2000