The Huron-Clinton Metroparks will soon start work on a new collaborative restoration project at Lake Erie Metropark to improve shoreline and coastal wetland in the park.
The project is possible thanks to a $1.5 million grant from The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
“With that, the Metroparks’ Natural Resources Department will partner with NOAA and The Great Lakes Commission to begin work to naturalize and restore nearly 1,183 feet of hardened shoreline and improve 1.7 acres of coastal wetland at Lake Erie Metropark,” Huron-Clinton Metroparks said.
The three-year project will work to remove the shoreline rip-rap armoring and naturalize it by establishing native vegetation, controlling non-native vegetation and creating low-velocity areas protected from direct waves.
Shallow pools and channels will also be created to promote fish spawning and nursery habitats.
The project will help achieve coastal wetland restoration and softening shoreline priority objectives, set by the St. Clair-Detroit River System Initiative, by improving the habitat for native species of bird, fish and other wildlife and will mitigate shoreline erosion in Michigan’s portion of the Western Lake Erie Basin.