Great Lakes Restoration Project - Ohio Department of Natural ...

Protecting Indiana’s Coastal ResourcesRestoring Indiana’s fragile Lake Michigan coastal resourcesIndiana’s Lake Michigan coastal region supports an amazing array ofplants and animals and provides recreational retreats for more than twomillion visitors annually.The coastal region is a mixture of sand dunes,rivers and streams, forests, wetlands, cities and towns, industry andagriculture. All have an impact on the health of Lake Michigan.Hoosiers recognize the importance of this Great Lake and are takingsignificant steps to restore and protect threatened coastal resources. InIndiana, the congressional appropriation of $1.75 million through theGreat Lakes Restoration Grants Program leveraged eighteen state andlocal projects that together contributed an additional $560,000 toprotect and restore coastal resources.Native Habitat Restoration. Indiana’s coastal regionsupports many rare and endangered natural communities, includingdune and swale, fens, savannas, and prairies.The degradation of thesenatural communities affects the ecological health of the region.Plant and animal diversity, a critical component of Indiana’s coastalecosystem, is threatened by invasive species that crowd out native plantsand animals.Great Lakes Restoration grants will assist in the acquisition of over 100acres of quality stream and forest habitat.These new parks will buffer astream important for migrating salmon, protect key areas adjacent to anature preserve and establish a new greenway park for a coastal town.Water Quality Improvements. Water quality is one ofthe most important issues facing Northwest Indiana. Lake Michigan isvalued as a drinking and recreational water resource. Although pointsource pollution continues to be reduced, non-point source pollutionis still a challenge. Improving the quality of Lake Michigan starts withmaking improvements in the watershed.The Great Lakes Restoration Program will make possible several waterquality improvement projects in Indiana.These projects will preventbacterial contamination at a public beach, reduce excess sediment in aLake Michigan tributary stream, plan for resource management andpublic access, improve fish and wildlife habitat and manage storm waterrunoff through best management practices.Indiana Great Lakes Restoration grants will restore approximately 400acres of native habitat.These restoration projects will eliminate invasivespecies, re-establish native plant species and implement resourcemanagement principles – such as prescribed burning – that will havesignificant long-term benefits to the Lake Michigan region.Resource and Greenway Protection. Land is valuablein Indiana’s coastal region. Rural areas are quickly becoming developedand forests and greenways are threatened.The protection of coastalforests and greenways along rivers and streams will ensure that publicnatural areas exist for future generations.[4] GREAT LAKES RESTORATION PROJECT