Proposed cuts would severely affect local conservation efforts
Courtesy photo
As it stands, the proposed 2018 federal budget eliminates all funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. “If approved as written, it would stop federal funding for any and all work to conserve and improve any Great Lakes waters and the tributaries of the Great Lakes, which includes all of the Chain Of Lakes and its tributaries, and all of the Jordan River and its tributaries,” said Antrim Conservation District Manager Thomas Clement.
REGION – Total elimination of all Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding, as formally proposed in the 2018 federal budget released last week by Pres. Donald Trump, would have drastic effects on the work and projects of a number of conservation organizations in both Antrim and Kalkaska counties, according to Antrim Conservation District Manager Thomas Clement.
Launched in 2010, the GLRI directs money to state and local projects to clean up contaminated sediments, restore watershed habitat, combat invasive species and build green infrastructure. It was given standalone authorization in Congress through 2021 in December, less than a month before Trump took office.
According to Clement, the estimated $300 million in lost GLRI funding – part of more than $2.6 billion in cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency – would result in the direct loss of 3,200 jobs from the EPA and its programs, and hundreds more involved in other conservation efforts – including several in northern Michigan.
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