Baileys Harbor is one of 50 Wisconsin projects invited as finalists to receive funding under President Obama’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to help protect and restore the waters of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan.
Anclam Beach
The $250,000 grant for Baileys Harbor, if awarded, would address storm water runoff and pollution on seven local public beaches.
“Baileys Harbor has a strong project awaiting final approval from the EPA that would be a great benefit to the area, and the Great Lakes as a whole,” Governor Doyle said. “The Great Lakes are our region’s greatest natural resource, and I want to thank President Obama for his commitment to making the restoration of the Great Lakes a national priority. Wisconsin is defined by the Great Lakes, and one of our greatest responsibilities is to preserve this important freshwater resource for future generations.”
The Baileys Harbor project would take a county‐wide approach to pollution control, offering municipalities a cost-share incentive to increase beach health and water quality. The cleaner beaches would benefit the businesses and families, and strengthen summer tourism in the area by preventing closures. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to announce grant awards later this year.
President Obama made major commitment to this region through his Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The plan will send $475 million to the area in 2010, and hundreds of millions more over the next five years. This is the first large scale effort in generations designed specifically to help the Great Lakes communities, the Great Lakes ecosystem, and the businesses and industries that depend on this incredible resource.
Governor Doyle has served as Chair of the Council of Great Lakes Governors since 2004, leading major efforts to protect, preserve, and improve the Great Lakes for future generations. In February, the Governor joined other Great Lakes Governors and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to release an Action Plan to guide the Obama Administration’s historic efforts to restore the Great Lakes. The Action Plan lays out the most urgent threats facing the Great Lakes and sets out goals, objectives and key actions over the next five years to help restore the Lakes.
Governor Doyle helped make history with the passage of the Great Lakes Compact, ensuring the protection of the world’s largest fresh water basin for generations to come. Under the Governor’s leadership the state has had the greatest environmental accomplishments in decades. In the last seven and a half years, major strides have been made to reduce mercury in our air and water and major water clean up efforts such as the Kinnickinnic and Fox River projects have moved forward. Wisconsin is now a world leader in forest certification, ensuring sustainable management to protect our forests for future generations.
Wisconsin has more than 1,000 miles of shoreline along Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, more than 30 percent of the state’s land area lies within the Great Lakes basin and half of the state’s population lives in the basin.
