MENTOR, OH – This week, Congressman Dave Joyce (OH-14) announced that the U.S. Forest Service is awarding nearly $4.5 million in Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grants to support 27 restoration projects across Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York and Wisconsin. In total, six restoration projects in the Buckeye State received $1,020,647. As Co-Chair of the Great Lakes Task Force and the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, Dave is a fierce advocate for the GLRI and other programs that aim to protect and preserve the Great Lakes and has successfully fought to ensure the GLRI receives appropriate funding every year since coming to Congress in 2013.

“I’m pleased to announce these GLRI grants from the U. S. Forest Service and proud to see over $1 million go directly to restoration projects across the Buckeye State,” said Joyce. “Having lived my entire life here in Northeast Ohio off the coast of Lake Erie, I know how these local efforts help us protect and preserve the Great Lakes while simultaneously investing in our communities. I applaud the U.S. Forest Service for recognizing the importance of these local restoration projects and I look forward to seeing these projects not only enhance the Great Lakes ecosystem, but also provide jobs and promote the health and economic benefits of trees and natural areas in our communities.”

These six Ohio entities received the following GLRI grant awards: Western Reserve Land Conservancy received $110,035, Cleveland Metroparks received $193,500, Chagrin River Watershed Partners received $215,933, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources received $113,711, the Metropolitan Park District of the Toledo Area received $200,000, and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History received $187,468. These projects will:

• plant a combined total of more than 170,620 trees, shrubs and plant plugs;
• intercept more than half a million gallons of rainfall yearly in Ohio’s Central Lake Erie Basin watershed;
• help restore a Cuyahoga River Area of Concern in the Euclid Creek watershed;
• prevent stormwater runoff in high-risk Cleveland neighborhoods; and
• create 44 acres of new forests within the Maumee River watershed in Lake Erie’s western basin.

Since its inception in 2010, the GLRI has helped triple the successful cleanup and delisting of Areas of Concern, restore 50,000 acres of coastal wetlands across the region, reduce phosphorus runoff and the threat of harmful algal blooms, control invasive species, and double farmland acres under nutrient conservation. The U.S. Forest Service is part of a regional, multi-agency working group that uses GLRI grants to target threats to the Great Lakes and accelerate restoration efforts. Working together with the Environmental Protection Agency, the Forest Service has planted over 540,000 trees on nonfederal lands since 2010, helping prevent over 31 million gallons of stormwater runoff per year.

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