$3.6M Available For State Invasive Species Programs

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HARRISON CHARTER TOWNSHIP — The Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program, which is part of a statewide initiative to help prevent and control invasive species, is anticipated to award $3.6 million in grant funding this year.

“These grants offer a great opportunity to expand crucial efforts to battle invasive species in Michigan’s woods and waters,” says Keith Creagh, director of the Department of Natural Resources, which administers the grant.

Launched last year by the Michigan departments of Natural Resources Environmental Quality and Agriculture and Rural Development, the program targets: preventing new introductions of invasive species, monitoring for new invasive species as well as expansions, managing and controlling key colonized species in a strategic manner, and responding to and conducting eradication efforts.

In 2014, the Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program provided more than $4 million to fund nearly 20 projects including the development or expansion of Cooperative Invasive Species Management Areas, which now operate in 66 counties.

 “There is an enormous need to work together to address invasive species in our state, and just as big a willingness by residents, agencies and other stakeholders to get the job done,” says Creagh. “This grant funding will go a long way toward achieving that success.”

Grant requests for 2015 projects can range from $25,000 to $400,000. Proposals for the funding are being accepted now through October 30, and informational workshops will be held in Mackinaw City, (June 25); Munising, (June 26); Hastings, (June 30); and Detroit (July 7).

For more information visit michigan.gov/dnr-grants.