The U.S. Forest Service has awarded more than $3 million in grants to six states, part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Monte Stewart reports on one of those projects in the Ashland area.

The Chequamegon Bay Shoreland Restoration project will plant more than 240 native trees and other vegetation to help ease the impact of an expanded U.S. Highway 2. The DNR will work with the City of Ashland on the project.

U.S. Forest Service Wisconsin Field Representative Barb Tormoehlen says there will be quite a bit of monitoring of the area.

“It’s intended to manage and reduce threats to the forest and ecosystem health of the Wisconsin area, specifically within the Chequamegon Bay.”

The objectives of the Chequamegon Bay project are urban shoreline forest restoration and maintenance, to mitigate storm water run-off from Highway 2, protect soil and water quality and enhance wildlife habitats.

The grant for this project was received back in 2010 from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to do two restoration projects. One is in Memorial Park by The Hotel Chequamegon and another by Bayview Park in Ashland. The first grant will be completed this December, but a new grant from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative will continue this project for another two years. The first grant was for $223,000 and this new grant will be for almost $164,000.

DNR research scientist Mike Meyer says they are planting on extensive stretches of shoreline that had a lot of invasive species.

“We’re transforming them into natural plant communities that are typical of the Chequamegon Bay shoreline. We predict that these new stretches of shoreline will have a more diverse and abundant wildlife mix and that the amount of runoff to Chequamegon Bay from the upland areas, from Highway 2 back, will be reduced by these restorations.”

Meyer says there are plots built into the restoration projects that will allow them to measure the amount of runoff from each rainfall.

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