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Northland receives second grant through Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

September 30, 2010

Northland College, acting on behalf of the Chequamegon Bay Area Partnership (CBAP), has been awarded a $251,414 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant to fund habitat restoration in the region. The grant is the second major competitive grant awarded to CBAP members in the last week. The grants are made possible through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative developed by the administration of President Obama and approved by Congress in Public Law 111-88. The grant will fund efforts to restore habitat for fish and other aquatic wildlife throughout the Chequamegon Bay area.

“Northland understands the exceptional responsibility we now carry as recipients of these vital public funds,” said Marc Barbeau, vice president for institutional advancement at Northland College. “We will work to ensure the expectations of the public, the EPA, and the elected officials who have expressed their support for these projects, including Senators Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl, and Representative Dave Obey, are met and exceeded during each part of the workplans.”

Five of the fourteen CBAP partners will work to administer portions of the project. Agencies and organizations participating under the Chequamegon Bay Area Partnership Habitat Restoration Project include the Ashland County Land and Water Conservation Department, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Iron County land and Water Conservation Department, the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute and the United States Geological Survey.

In addition to the federal dollars to be used in restoration activities, members of the partnership have contributed funding equal to 10 percent of the federal investment. Individual projects within the grant will reduce erosion and sedimentation through proper design and replacement of degraded culverts and will restore connectivity of tributaries to Lake Superior by removing structural impediments to fish and other aquatic organisms. This proposal incorporates planning, design, implementation, and monitoring of sediments.