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SOEI awarded $10,000 for CBAP watershed protection and restoration efforts

September 14, 2012

The Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation recently awarded $10,000 to the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute (SOEI) at Northland College for the Chequamegon Bay Area Partnership (CBAP). The money will assist CBAP in efforts to identify watershed protection opportunities, develop restoration plans and conduct outreach to highlight the need for and benefits of watershed restoration work. The foundation allocated grant money from its Four Cedars Environmental Fund in order to support the partnership's work with landowners in the Chequamegon Bay area.

"The Chequamegon Bay Area Partnership has been implementing projects that improve ecosystem management, reduce sediment in our watersheds, and protect public health and wildlife in the Chequamegon Bay region since 2009," said Randy Lehr, Bro Professor of Sustainable Regional Development at Northland College. "This funding will allow the partnership to continue its work on projects that restore and protect the natural resources that are vital to our region's cultural, social and economic health."

The grant from the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation is the fifth grant the SOEI has received in less than two years to support projects coordinated through the Chequamegon Bay Area Partnership. The Wisconsin Coastal Management Program and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have also awarded grant dollars to support CBAP initiatives. More than $1 million in Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grants have funded CBAP shoreline restoration and watershed protection ventures. In addition, members of the partnership have used funds to conduct beach sanitary surveys and replace degraded culverts under roads to open up fish and wildlife corridors in Iron and Ashland counties.