|
|
IL Coastal Management Program |
|
Monthly Newsletter - September 2023 |
|
|
|
|
Welcome new Natural Resource Coordinator, Travis Wood!
Travis Wood recently joined the Illinois Coastal Management Program (CMP) team as a Natural Resource Coordinator. Prior to his new role, Travis conducted stormwater management and wetland regulatory work with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality before moving to Chicago where he worked with the Cook County Department of Environment & Sustainability’s Solid Waste Division.
He received both his B.S. in Biology and Master of Environmental Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University where he focused on wetland and aquatic ecology. Travis is eager to apply his experiences working within Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay watershed to the coastal zone of Lake Michigan. Welcome Travis!
|
|
|
|
Study
Great Lakes microplastics concentrations exceed safe levels for wildlife
"Nearly 90 percent of water samples taken from the Great Lakes over the last ten years exceed safe levels for wildlife. Researchers from the University of Toronto and the Winnipeg-based International Institute for Sustainable Development came to this conclusion after conducting a comprehensive review of microplastics studies.
At the levels surveyed, the researchers say fish and other aquatic wildlife are at risk of ingesting enough microplastics to fill their guts, diluting their regular food and its nutritional value.
In a pair of papers published on August 21, 2023 in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciencesataley and her team argue there may already be measurable risks from microplastics to aquatic wildlife in parts of the Great Lakes."
|
|
|
|
|
|
Report
Cumulative Impact Assessment of Withdrawals, Consumptive Uses and Diversions
The Great Lakes Commission recently released the 2016-2020 report assessing the cumulative impacts of withdrawals, consumptive uses, and diversions of water from the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin.
The report looks at the hydrologic effects of water use for each of the Great Lake and St Lawrence River watersheds.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Great Lakes Now Series
In the latest episode of Great Lakes Now, “Ancient Rocks and Tender Fruit,” come along for a rock hunting adventure along the Great Lakes shoreline, plus a look at how climate change in the Niagara region is creating a need for farmers to find adaptive solutions for water scarcity.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Survey |
|
Smart Great Lakes Data and Information Survey |
|
As the region tries to better collect and share Great Lakes data, the Smart Great Lakes Initiative (SGLi) could use your input.
SGLi aims to better organize the region’s technology ecosystem and network of partners around 10 goals to improve monitoring, data management and analysis; advance research; and spur technological innovation.
Findings of the survey will be summarized and delivered back to survey participants. Take the 10-15 minute survey by Sept. 29.
Questions can be directed to Katie Rousseau, Smart Great Lakes Liaison, at katie@glos.org.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Public Comment |
|
NOAA seeks public comment to inform more equitable climate service delivery |
|
Building on NOAA’s Climate Equity Roundtables, regional pilots and efforts to build a Climate-Ready Nation, this Request For Information will gather critical feedback that will be used to develop an Action Plan designed to:
- Make NOAA’s climate services more accessible, understandable, usable, inclusive of the social and economic impacts of climate change and capable of addressing complex hazards.
- Build capacity for and support users of all disciplines and backgrounds, particularly historically underserved communities and tribal communities, by expanding science literacy and successfully applying climate services to science-based decisions about climate risk and resilience.
The RFI will be open for a 60-day comment period and will close September 21, 2023. NOAA is especially seeking feedback from the public health, affordable housing, food security and economic development sectors, communities with environmental justice concerns, tribal and Indigenous communities and other historically underserved communities that NOAA aims to better and more fully support.
|
|
|
|
Event |
|
Wild Mile Field Trip |
|
Join Chicago Wilderness for an urban adventure in Chicago to Urban Rivers' Wild Mile!
The Wild Mile is the first ever mile-long, wildlife first, floating eco-park in the world. It's located on the North Branch Canal of the Chicago River, a man-made channel along the east side of Goose Island between Chicago Ave and North Ave.
|
|
|
September 8 | 9 a.m. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Webinar |
|
Digital Accessibility and Inclusive Communications: Guidelines for the Water Movement |
|
Join River Network, Water Hub, and Climate Nexus for a conversation about making your content more accessible, inclusive, and welcoming for all communities.
Together they'll share takeaways from the Water Hub’s Digital Accessibility Guide and River Network’s new Inclusive Communications Guide, including graphic design tips, ethical storytelling practices, SEO as an accessibility tool, and more.
|
|
|
September 13 | 2:30 p.m. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lake County Stormwater Management Commission FY24 Grants
Deadline: September 8, 2023
The Lake County Stormwater Management Commission (SMC) is combining the annual Watershed Management Board (WMB) program & the SMC Countywide Illinois EPA Section 319 program grant proposal into a single request for project proposals (RFP) for SMC’s fiscal year 2024.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Walder Biota Awards
Deadline: October 3, 2023
Applications are open now for the 2024 Biota Awards, a program from Walder Foundation that will provide up to $300K in flexible research funding for early-career researchers working in biodiversity.
For the 2024 award year, the program will consider applicants based at institutions in Illinois. The geographic focus of the research is not restricted; however, all projects must have a meaningful connection to the Chicago region.
|
|
|
|
|
|
NOAA Fisheries Restoring Fish Passage through Barrier Removal
Deadline: October 16, 2023
Nearly $175 million in funding is available for fish passage projects under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. This funding will support projects that reopen migratory pathways and restore access to healthy habitat for fish around the country.
In collaboration with NOAA, selected partners will use these funds to implement locally-led removals of dams and other in-stream barriers. Selected projects will assist in sustaining our nation’s fisheries and contributing to the recovery of threatened and endangered species. They may also provide community and economic benefits, such as jobs and climate resilience.
|
|
|
|
|
|
IEPA Green Infrastructure Grant Opportunities
Deadline: October 18, 2023
Illinois EPA's Green Infrastructure Grant Opportunities (GIGO) Program funds projects to construct green infrastructure best management practices (BMPs) that prevent, eliminate, or reduce water quality impairments by decreasing stormwater runoff into Illinois' rivers, streams, and lakes. Projects that implement treatment trains (multiple BMPs in a series) and/or multiple BMPs within the same watershed may be more effective and efficient than a single large green infrastructure BMP.
|
|
|
|
|
|
NOAA Marine Debris Removal & Interception Technology
LOI Deadline: October 27, 2023 & November 15, 2023
The NOAA Marine Debris Program will award up to $28 million across two funding opportunities and through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for projects that remove marine debris to benefit marine and Great Lakes habitats and communities. Funding will be administered through two competitions:
- Fiscal Year 2024 NOAA Marine Debris Removal under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law with Letters of Intent due on October 27, 2023, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Apply here.
- Fiscal Year 2024 NOAA Marine Debris Interception Technologies under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law with Letters of Intent due on November 15, 2023, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Apply here.
|
|
|
|
NOAA Fisheries Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience
Deadline: November 17, 2023
$240 million in funding is available for habitat restoration and coastal resilience. Projects selected through this funding opportunity will have a transformative impact for coastal communities and tribes across the country.
They will help sustain our nation’s fisheries, make significant strides in the recovery of threatened and endangered species, and help protect coastal communities and ecosystems from the impacts of climate change. They will support efforts such as reconnecting rivers to their historic floodplains, outplanting corals to rebuild reefs, building living shorelines that protect coasts from erosion and sea level rise, and more.
|
|
|
|
|
|
NOAA Climate Ready Workforce
LOI Deadline: November 30, 2023
Sea Grant and the NOAA Climate Program Office, with support from the NOAA Office for Coastal Management, seek to establish programs aimed at at placing people across the country into good jobs that advance climate resilience and assisting employers in developing a 21st century workforce that is climate literate, informed by climate resilience, and skilled at addressing consequent challenges.
NOAA will assist communities in coastal and Great Lakes states, territories and tribes so they may form partnerships that train workers and place them into jobs that enhance climate resilience.
|
|
|
|
|
|
U.S. Forest Service Landscape Scale Restoration
LOI Deadline: November 30, 2023
The State and Private Forestry Landscape Scale Restoration (LSR) competitive grant program funds collaborative, science-based restoration of priority rural forest landscapes, leverages public and private resources, and supports State Forest Action Plans.
Program outcomes include: Improve fish and wildlife habitat; improve water quality and watershed function; mitigate invasive plants, insect infestation, and disease; reduce wildfire risk; improve forest ecosystem health; and measure ecological and economic benefits.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What's going on in the Great Lakes this month? Click to read more!
|
|
Climate
|
Examining Effects of Extreme Heat in Chicago’s Black Communities
|
Environmental Justice
|
Hip hop has been a climate voice for 50 years. Why haven’t more people noticed?
|
|
|
Conservation
|
Record year for endangered Great Lakes piping plover nests, fledged chicks
|
Economic Development
|
Long-neglected Port of Chicago hopes to spur economic growth
|
|
|
|
|
Fisheries
|
Copi dokey? Illinoisans getting hooked on renamed invasive carp delicacies at State Fair
|
Policy
|
Federal bill aims to curb plastic pollution in all U.S. waterways
|
|
|
|
|
Share Your Announcement! |
|
Have an event, funding opportunity, or job posting that you'd like us to share? Send us an email and we'll include it in our newsletter next month.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|