Minnesota’s Lake Superior Coastal Program has awarded $502,041 in grants for 13 projects that protect and preserve the coastal resources of Lake Superior.
Minnesota’s Lake Superior Coastal Program has awarded $502,041 in grants for 13 projects that protect and preserve the coastal resources of Lake Superior.
Recipients include:
- Carlton County – $75,000 for right-of-way acquisition along the St. Louis River Trail in Cloquet.
- Minnesota Department of Transportation – $96,392 to restore the historic structures at the Cascade River Wayside near Lutsen.
- Minnesota Department of Natural Resources – $85,000 to improve the Ray Berglund State Wayside near Tofte; $32,000 to construct a floating fishing pier on Lax Lake in the Finland State Forest; and $42,275 to replace the Superior Hiking Trail bridge on the Split Rock River.
- Arrowhead Regional Development Commission – $14,996 for planning and designing enhanced recreational access and parking at the Cascade River near Lutsen.
- City of Silver Bay – $10,000 to develop land use and planning guidelines for the Silver Bay Eco-Park.
- City of Hermantown – $9,630 to create a series of data sets and GIS maps focused on wetlands.
- City of Duluth – $32,492 to survey portions of the city’s storm and sanitary sewer system.
- Lake Superior Maritime Museum Association – $7,600 to create a new exhibit on the shipwrecks of Lake Superior.
- St. Louis River Alliance – $14,900 to host the 2011 Lake Superior Watershed Festival in Duluth.
- Natural Resources Research Institute of the University of Minnesota – $33,759 to create a coastal atlas of Lake Superior’s North Shore and $47,997 to develop a diagnostic tool to assess harm to stream insects from too much sediment.
An additional $25,000 will be awarded in Short-Term Action Request (STAR) grants. These grants of up to $5,000 will fund a variety of coastal education, outreach and resource management projects throughout the coming year.
Funding for the grants comes from the Coastal Zone Management Act and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management. The Governor’s Council on Minnesota’s Coastal Program, a 15-member citizen advisory board, provided critical assistance in project selection.