Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin Management Plans
Get U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Federal Cost-Share Funding
Four Midwest states and the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission have received funding from the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to implement approved aquatic nuisance species management plans. State and tribal agencies from Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin received a combined total of $133,500.
Funding was provided for implementation of three plans approved by the intergovernmental Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force the Ohio and Michigan state plans and the St. Croix River Basin interstate plan. The St. Croix River Basin plan is the first interstate plan to be funded and represents the work of a multi-agency interstate and tribal task force. Agencies to receive funding include the Ohio, Minnesota, and Wisconsin Departments of Natural Resources, Office of the Great Lakes Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission.
Nonindigenous aquatic nuisance species, such as the zebra mussel, ruffe, and round goby, are not native to an area and cause, or have the potential to cause, significant damage to native fishes, fish communities and aquatic habitat. At least 4,000 nonindigenous plants and 2,300 nonindigenous animals are now established in the United States. Biologists consider nonindigenous species invasions second only to habitat destruction as a cause of species decline and endangerment.
Nonindigenous species have a variety of impacts on human activities and the environment. Some choke waterways used for navigation and recreation while others clog intake pipes. Billions of dollars will be spent to control these invaders in the Great Lakes and Midwest in the next 10 years. Nationally, the cost of nonindigenous species prevention and damage control is estimated to exceed $120 billion.
"The federal provision allowing states with management plans to receiving funding was very beneficial. It allowed us to develop a road map on how we wanted to address the many issues involved in aquatic nuisance species control," said Environmental Specialist Mark Coscarelli of the Office of Great Lakes, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. "The program also allowed us to get visibility on the subject, which we had been struggling with in the past. Based upon our completed plan and the increased visibility, the State of Michigan authorized an additional $100,000 to assist in the implementation of our management plan. The promise of federal funding from the Service really began the entire process."
"This program has really been a model of success for grant programs," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Great Lakes-Big Rivers Regional Director William Hartwig. "We are proud that agencies within the region have stepped forward to address the problem of aquatic nuisance species. The agencies all developed excellent plans which will certainly have a positive affect on the environmental quality of the entire region."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov
