CHICAGO (WHTC-AM/FM, Apr. 22, 2022) – An ongoing effort to protect coast land along the Great Lakes is expanding to Michigan’s West Coast.
The Resilient Coastal Projects initiative, established by the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, would create funding-ready implementation frameworks for priority coastal protection projects, addressing erosion, flooding and damage to public infrastructure. To allay environmentalists, the initiative would use nature-based solutions to create or restore habitat and natural environmental functions.
Organizers who announced this expansion on Thursday say that they want to partner with mayors along the Lake Michigan coastline, from St. Joseph to Petoskey. Although his community isn’t technically on the shore line of the Big Lake, Holland’s Nathan Bocks is expecting to be kept in the loop on this.
“The Lake Michigan shoreline impacts the people of the city of Holland, both in terms of recreation and in a lot of commerce that is coming into Lake Macatawa,” he said on “WHTC Talk of the Town” during a Thursday appearance. “I’ll be interested in seeing more about what it is that they’re looking for.”
A $300,000 grant from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation will provide the seed money for this effort on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, after a similar project began last June along Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan coastline.
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