NOAA Grants $4.7 Million for Great Lakes Shoreline Sites
Michigan DNRE received word from NOAA that two key Great Lakes shorline protection projects in Michigan will receive a total of $4.7 million in funding through NOAA's Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program (CELCP)
March 30, 2010
By Heart of the Lakes
In March, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment received word from the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that two key Great Lakes shoreline protection projects in Michigan will receive at total of $4.7 million in funding through NOAA’s Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program (CELCP). Three Heart of the Lakes member land conservancies are active partners in these projects: Keweenaw Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy in Michigan, and the Land Conservancy of West Michigan.
$1.7 million was awarded to support the public acquisition of approximately 1,475 acres of high-quality wetlands, sand dune uplands, and 3,500 feet of shoreline frontage on Lac La Belle, a freshwater estuary of Lake Superior. Funding for the Bete Grise wetlands, noted for its extremely high number and diverse mix of plants and animals, comes from a portion of federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative dollars allocated to NOAA’s CELCP program, the first Initiative dollars received in the state. Partners in the multi-phased effort to ultimately preserve 8,000 acres of the wetland complex include the MDNRE, The Nature Conservancy, Keweenaw Land Trust and the Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District. Learn More
And on the Lake Michigan shore, a $3 million CELCP grant will go to the preservation of the Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area near Saugatuck, a 171 acre, undeveloped coastal dune area unusually rich in diverse habitats and rare plant and animal species given its proximity to the second largest population area in the state. The purchase of the property will permanently protect 1,650 feet of the Kalamazoo River, 3,650 feet of Lake Michigan shoreline and will be open to the public for passive recreation such as hiking, fishing and bird watching. The City of Saugatuck, Land Conservancy of West Michigan and The Nature Conservancy in Michigan have partnered with many others for years to preserve this jewel in perpetuity. The Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund board also recommended funding toward this acquisition. Learn More
