<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=17qllm_0qvWiiQA00" style="display:none" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=17qllm_0qvWiiQA00" width="1372" height="1029" > The largest habitat-restoration project in the Maumee River’s history began Tuesday. Several federal, state, and local officials joined private industry representatives and members of the public inside the Walbridge Park Shelter House to mark the occasion, which involves restoration and improvements to 63 acres of river island property. <div style="position:relative;width:100%; height:0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" src="https://players.brightcove.net/1146616445001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6345437195112" style="width:100%; height:100%;top:0; left:0; position:absolute"></iframe></div> Though treated as one project, the $13.5 million of work is actually a dual effort aimed at improving two Maumee River islands, Clark Island and Delaware/Horseshoe Island, within view of each other near the park. Last known to be carrying a combined $10 million price tag about a year ago, the cost rose after the design was completed. <nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate> The biggest source of money for the work is coming from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, an $8.15 million allocation made via Gov. Mike DeWine’s H2Ohio program. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is contributing $5.4 million from its Obama-era Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Once completed in the summer of 2025, those two land masses within the river will provide more recreational opportunities for canoeists, kayakers, and other boaters. Expanded wetlands will help filter algae-forming phosphorus runoff from the river. More forms of wildlife are expected to be using the area again, too. The goal is to enhance ecotourism while improving water quality and wildlife habitat, speakers said. Construction began Jan. 8 on a temporary construction causeway to get the project moving. <nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate> “The&nbsp;best part about it is it's restoring much of what was already here,” Joe Cappel, Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority vice president of business development, said upon introducing a diverse group of speakers.&nbsp;“It is the largest known habitat restoration project ever [in the Maumee River.].” Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz noted that Clark Island in particular has eroded severely, some 95 percent of what was there in the 1940s. He jokingly said that the city is happy to grow its footprint in order to tax more land, although the city&nbsp;— as owner of those islands&nbsp;— can’t do that. “This is truly an exciting day for Toledo,” according to the mayor, who said the investments made by the state of Ohio and the U.S. government are akin to&nbsp;“taking what the city began and putting it on steroids.” <nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate> U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) and U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office Director Teresa Seidel were two federal officials who delivered remarks. Ms. Kaptur said it&nbsp;“is absolutely essential to the future of this region” that more emphasis is put on Great Lakes hydrology and climate change. The river projects help achieve that goal, she said. “Today we celebrate a victory, but it helps us widen the telescope of what we have to do,” Ms. Kaptur said. “I think we have the opportunity with this great victory to build on something even bigger.” Ms. Seidel, of southeast Michigan’s&nbsp;West Bloomfield Township, had been director of the water resources division at the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy for seven years before taking over the federal Great Lakes post that had been occupied by Chris Korleski, a former Ohio EPA director. <nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate> The Great Lakes National Program Office director coordinates much of the federal government’s GLRI spending. “Together, our work will result in healthier and revitalized communities, and restore aquatic ecosystems,” she said. Ohio DNR Director Mary Mertz said the dedication is the latest of many she has done in northwest Ohio since Governor DeWine’s H2Ohio program began in 2019. The program has included millions of dollars in incentives for Ohio farmers, many in northwest Ohio, to adapt better management practices aimed at reducing nutrient runoff, and has also committed millions of dollars to new and expanded wetlands to help achieve that goal, she said. “This one is special,” Ms. Mertz said, adding that the project dovetails nicely into the new phase of H2Ohio that is focused on improving rivers.&nbsp;“There are a lot of things in store for rivers.” <nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate> Thomas Winston, the port authority’s president and chief executive officer, said the work complements improvements the federal government required to be made at two Lake Erie tributaries in East Toledo, Duck and Otter creeks. In particular, he noted a $1.8 million wetland on 11 acres that surrounds the&nbsp;Cleveland-Cliffs hot briquette iron plant in East Toledo. The wetland project, in Duck Creek, also was funded by Governor DeWine’s H2Ohio program.&nbsp;Otter Creek was the site of a $12 million environmental dredging operation the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did in 2021 to improve that waterway’s health. “A&nbsp;healthy Maumee River and Lake Erie is important to all residents of this community and helps to improve the quality of life,” Mr. Winston said. <nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate><nbtemplate data-content="eyJhcGlLZXkiOiAiZDgxM2Q5Yzg3NTI3N2IzNWU0YzRmZDM0NTAyMjJkNmQiLCAiZGVzY3JpcHRpb24iOiAiU3Vic2NyaWJlIHRvIFRoZSBCbGFkZSIsICJldmVudCI6ICJtcF9zdWJzY3JpcHRpb25fYnV0dG9uX2NsaWNrX2V2ZW50IiwgInVybCI6ICJodHRwczovL215LnRvbGVkb2JsYWRlLmNvbS9wdXJjaGFzZS8iLCAibWVkaWFJZCI6IDE1ODg3NzQsICJ0aXRsZSI6ICJDb25zdHJ1Y3Rpb24gYmVnaW5zIG9uIGhpc3RvcmljIE1hdW1lZSBSaXZlciBpc2xhbmQgcmVzdG9yYXRpb24gcHJvamVjdCJ9" data-id="MediaPlatformAmplitudeButton"></nbtemplate></div></body>

Mountain View, CA

The largest habitat-restoration project in the Maumee River’s history began Tuesday. Several federal, state, and local officials joined private industry representatives and members of the public inside the Walbridge Park Shelter House to mark the occasion, which involves restoration and improvements to 63 acres of river island property. Though treated as one project, the $13.5 million of work is actually a dual effort aimed at improving two Maumee River islands, Clark Island and Delaware/Horseshoe Island, within view of each other near the park. Last known to be carrying a combined $10 million price tag about a year ago, the cost rose after the design was completed. The biggest source of money for the work is coming from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, an $8.15 million allocation made via Gov. Mike DeWine’s H2Ohio program. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is contributing $5.4 million from its Obama-era Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.