NEW YORK — Oct. 1, 2015 — Central Michigan University received a five-year, $10 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to continue implementation of the agency’s Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Monitoring Program, according to a press release.
SUNY College at Brockport and other institutions and agencies are also on the project team, noted the release. The team will monitor coastal wetlands around the Great Lakes basin. SUNY Brockport will monitor wetlands along the Lake Ontario and Lake Erie shores with about $1.2 million of the grant money.
"Wetlands provide enormous environmental benefits, and help in alleviate harmful effects of climate change, such as protecting against flooding and potentially dangerous storm surges," said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck in the release. "This Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding will be used to gather data that will help identify areas where wetlands need better protection, allowing for more targeted preservation and restoration efforts."
In addition to monitoring throughout the Great Lakes basin, the team will also evaluate ongoing and future restoration efforts, reported the release. It will assess animal and plant life, including chemical and physical attributes.
The selected wetlands will be sampled for five years, shared the release. A Web-based data portal will be created for the public to access.
Other organizations involved in the project are the University of Minnesota-Duluth, University of Wisconsin campuses of Green Bay and River Falls, Lake Superior State University, University of Notre Dame, Grand Valley State University, University of Windsor, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the US Geological Survey, Environment Canada and Bird Studies Canada, stated the release.
You can find the entire release here.
