×

Keweenaw Bay’s Point Abbaye project gets $10K UPEC grant

The Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition (UPEC) announced the first award of the UPEC Community Conservation Grant Program.

“The 2016 recipients are proof that this program will make lasting conservation accomplishments” remarked Acting UPEC President Nancy Warren.

Of seven applicants, three finalists were selected and are being awarded $10,000 each to further significant conservation goals in the region. The presentation ceremony will take place at UPEC’s annual Celebrate the UP, being held March 18 and 19 at Ojibwa Community College in Baraga, MI.

The Point Abbaye project on Huron Bay is a conservation initiative by Keweenaw Land Trust to protect Point Abbaye on Huron Bay, a conservation initiative to protect 1500 acres of critical coastal habitats and nearly a mile of Lake Superior shoreline. This project will benefit migratory birds and waterfowl, nearshore aquatic habitats, and native plants, fish and wildlife by permanently protecting habitat and enhancing wildlife migratory corridors. The initiative will protect wetlands, uplands and near-shore ecological communities that play a critical role in maintaining the ecological integrity of greater Huron Bay, its rich and economically important fishery, and other aquatic and terrestrial wildlife. The project will expand access to the Lake Superior shoreline and provide new opportunities for low-impact public recreation, including hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, paddle sports, swimming, berry and mushroom gathering, stargazing, and more. The initiative includes goals for expansion of both water and land trails to connect state, local government and conservancy lands and to protect the dark night sky and wild character of the Abbaye Peninsula that are valued by the community and are assets for eco-tourism.

Program founder and coordinator Jon Saari said “the Community Conservation Grant Program is designed to challenge U.P. communities to promote conservation values within their watershed or local area. In the past, short-sighted actions often degraded the U.P. landscape. Today state and federal environmental regulations as well as the private conservancy movement work to protect natural areas for public benefit and to safeguard significant populations of wildlife, and the ecosystem processes which support them.”

UPEC has been around since 1976, acting as a self-styled watchdog to industry and government. The group wanted to be more proactive with this new grant program, finding community conservationists who want to improve wildlife habitat, as well as a greater public understanding of how natural systems function in their home communities. The grants, up to $10,000 each, are for planning local conservation projects that engage a variety of stakeholders within a community, from recreational and sportsmen’s groups to naturalists, township officials, churches, and schools.

For more information on Celebrate the UP 2016 and the Community Conservation Grant Program, see www.upenvironment.org

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today