"This meeting is an opportunity for people to share information and thoughts on water level fluctuations and fish and wildlife habitat in Tobico Marsh," said Lisa Williams, a biologist at the Services East Lansing Field Office. "We want to use the best available information to plan and implement restoration activities for the marsh."
The Tobico Marsh restoration project is the result of a 1998 Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) settlement. The Service, together with the State of Michigan and the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe (Trustees), negotiated a settlement with General Motors and the cities of Bay City and Saginaw that provided for the cleanup of contaminants and restoration of wildlife habitat in portions of Saginaw Bay and River, including Tobico Marsh.
The goals of NRDA are to restore the habitats and resources to the condition they would have been had the contaminants not been released into the environment, and to compensate the public for the loss of their use or enjoyment of natural resources. The parties responsible for the contamination are required to pay for these activities.
The Trustees are now gathering information about the marsh and its associated water control structures as part of its restoration planning process. The Trustees restoration goal for the marsh is to facilitate natural fluctuations of water levels within the marsh while providing adequate flood protection to riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.
Learn more about riparian (nearby) residences. Other restoration projects for Tobico Marsh, including those that enhance public use of the marsh, will also be considered.
The Bay City State Recreation Area is located at 3582 State Park Drive in Bay City, Mich.
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 94-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 535 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 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 programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our website at http://midwest.fws.gov
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