REGION- Two projects impacting Little Traverse Bay and its watershed will receive support totaling $32,500 in grants from the Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation. From its Little Traverse Bay Protection and Restoration Fund, two grants have been awarded to Walloon Lake Association and Conservancy (WLAC) and Charlevoix Antrim Kalkaska Emmet Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (CAKE CISMA). Both projects work to prevent the spread of invasive species within the Little Traverse Bay watershed.
Walloon Lake Association and Conservancy (WLAC) will continue its work to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species in Walloon Lake. With this grant funding, WLAC will install a second permanent boat wash station at Townsend Road, a popular boat launch on Walloon Lake. Use of the station by boaters coming in and out of Walloon Lake prevents the spread of aquatic invasive species by removing plant and animal particles. In 2022, WLAC installed its first boat wash station at Jones Landing.
CAKE CISMA has partnered with North Central Michigan College in Petoskey to create and help implement an invasive species management plan for the college’s 195-acre natural area. As part of the grant program, CAKE CISMA will first inventory existing invasive species within the natural area and using that data, create a five-year invasive species management plan from the data. Additional components of the project will include a service-learning project with North Central students and staff.
Grants from the Little Traverse Bay Protection and Restoration Fund are awarded annually to eligible organizations addressing the priorities outlined in our region’s Little Traverse Bay Watershed Management Plan. In the twelve years since the fund’s inception, over $460,000 has been awarded to organizations controlling and preventing invasive species, managing stormwater runoff, and much more. Overseeing the fund’s grant recommendations is a volunteer committee comprised of Jenni Attie, Frank Ettawageshik, Jim Ford, and Doug Larson.
Since the Community Foundation’s inception over three decades ago, it has awarded $34 million in grants to nonprofits, municipalities and schools working to improve the quality of life for everyone in Emmet County. To learn more, please call the Community Foundation at (231) 348-5820 or visit their website, www.phsacf.org.
