The final restoration plan outlining how funds will be used to restore natural resources injured by contaminants in the Lower Fox River and Green Bay has been completed and is available to the public.
The plan was developed by the Fox River/Green Bay Natural Resource Trustee Council, comprising the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (representing the federal agencies), Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, Michigan Attorney General and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, which serve as trustees for injured natural resources within the watershed.
The council released a draft Joint Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment for a 30-day public review in October 2002. More than 150 comments and responses to those comments are incorporated in the final document. The Fish and Wildlife Service, in consultation with the authorized representatives of the other trustees, has selected Alternative C of the plan through signing of a Finding of No Significant Impact document.
The Joint Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment describes how the monies from natural resource damage settlements will be used to address natural resource injuries that are the result of past releases of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the environment. Restoration projects outlined in the plan include wetland reestablishment or preservation to provide habitat for fish and wildlife species; aquatic habitat quality improvement projects to restore and enhance aquatic habitat and recreational services; and direct resource restoration projects, such as those designed to improve fish reproduction and improvements to outdoor recreational facilities associated with riverine or coastal habitat recreation, appreciation or education. The restoration project categories outlined in the plan will improve the environmental quality and ecological and human uses of the Lower Fox River and Green Bay environment.
Alternative C provides that natural resource-based restoration projects will be implemented to support the ecological balance of fish, bird and mammal species injured in the Lower Fox River and Green Bay watersheds. Restoration projects will be undertaken in 39 miles of the Lower Fox River, adjacent floodplain and ecologically associated uplands, all of Green Bay and adjacent coastal wetlands, plus habitats encompassing the lands to the headwaters of the tributaries of the Lower Fox River and Green Bay, and adjacent watersheds. The entire watershed, including headwaters and subbasins, needs to be addressed to begin restoring the overall ecology of the Lower Fox River and Green Bay and achieve maximum benefit from those restoration projects implemented.
Copies of the Final Joint Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact are available at the Green Bay Field Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at 2661 Scott Tower Drive, New Franken, Wisconsin, 54229; telephone: 920-866-1726. Copies will be available by June 6 for onsite review at the following libraries:
Appleton Public Library, 225 N. Oneida St., Appleton, Wisconsin
Brown County Library, 515 Pine St., Green Bay, Wisconsin
Door County Library, 104 S. Fourth Ave., Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
Oneida Community Library, 201 Elm St., Oneida, Wisconsin
Oshkosh Public Library, 106 Washington Ave., Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Escanaba Public Library, 400 Ludington St., Escanaba, Michigan
The document is also available on the Internet at http://midwest.fws.gov/nepa
The trustees signed a Memorandum of Agreement establishing a trustee council to implement activities in support of their natural resource trust responsibilities with regards to the release of hazardous substances and resulting injury to natural resources, and the restoration of those resources, in the Lower Fox River and Green Bay environment. The trustees will use recovered damages to plan and implement actions to restore, rehabilitate, replace or acquire the equivalent of natural resources or resource services injured, lost, or destroyed due to the release of PCBs into the environment. The natural resource trustees will coordinate their respective authorities, interests, and responsibilities to benefit the Lower Fox River and Green Bay ecosystem, which provides a common supporting ecosystem for natural resources affected.
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 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 81 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.
