Great Lakes sturgeon-recovery efforts are getting a big boost in the latest round of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grants, which include $92,130 to help fund a proposed, first-ever streamside rearing facility along the Maumee River to cost about $170,000 and be operated by the Toledo Zoo.
Wetland-restoration efforts in western Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair are likewise getting a big infusion of cash, some $559,177 for a regional project to be led by Ducks Unlimited.
The money will be used to help restore fish passage and coastal wetlands, especially in Ohio’s Ottawa County.
Jeff Sailer, the zoo’s executive director, said the project “fits well with the zoo’s mission of inspiring others to join us in caring for animals and conserving the natural world.”
“Humans caused the demise of this species and it is most appropriate that we work together to bring it back,” he said.
The zoo’s sturgeon grant is among $1.58 million the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it is distributing for 2016 fish and wildlife projects in the Great Lakes region.