$1.92 million awarded for Great Lakes fish and wildlife restoration

We at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are pleased to announce that $1.92 million in 2021 federal funding has been awarded under the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act grant program to restore sustainable populations of fish and wildlife resources, and their habitats, in the Great Lakes Basin. Two regional and six research and restoration grant projects will provide more than $987,713 in non-federal partner match contributions. These projects are partially supported with $921,500 from Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding.

Since 1998, the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act has provided approximately $32.8 million in federal funds to 193 research and restoration and regional projects. Combined with the required matching monies from more than 133 non-federal partners, funding to benefit Great Lakes fish, wildlife and habitats tops $47 million.

Projects funded in fiscal year 2021 include:

Regional projects

• Quantifying abundance, distributional limits, and conflicts with gray wolves in the Great Lakes region, Grand Portage Band, $300,000.
• Evaluating the impact of wetland quality and drought on muskrat populations in the Great Lakes basin, Wildlife Ecology Institute, $340,000.

Research and restoration grant projects

• The influence of prescribed fire season and order on prairie and savanna restoration, Grand Valley State, $61,888.
• Quantifying sources of mortality and behavior of stocked fish across release depths in Lake Ontario: using acoustic telemetry and genomics to inform stocking methods, University of Windsor, $243,019.
• Contributions of different spawning strategies and locations to lake whitefish fisheries in southern Green Bay, University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, $246,695.
• Blazing Brighter: blazing star borer moth habitat restoration in the oak openings, phase II, The Nature Conservancy, $282,000.
• Expanding the tribal stream and fruitbelt partnership in northern Lakes Michigan and Huron, Conservation Resource Alliance, $250,000.
• Lake sturgeon movement patterns, habitat use, and population demographics in the St. Marys River: acquiring knowledge to advance conservation and restoration, Lake Superior State University, $197,456.