DETROIT -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, announces the award of a construction contract for habitat creation in the St. Louis River near Superior, Wisconsin.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, on behalf of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has awarded a construction contract for more than $1.6 million to Roen Salvage Company from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, for the creation of habitat for the endangered Piping Plover at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources bird sanctuary. Funding for this project is provided by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
"Our partnership with the EPA and collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wisconsin DNR and other local stakeholders has made this project possible,” said Alex Jimenez, project manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District. “This cooperation and shared commitment to the environment will help to restore and improve habitat in the St. Louis River and move it closer to being delisted as an area of concern.”
Construction is scheduled to begin in August 2019 and complete in November 2019. The project site is located in the Duluth, Minn-Superior, Wisconsin Harbor in the Allouez Bay, adjacent to Wisconsin Point Road.
The goal of this project is to restore habitat at the northwestern end of Wisconsin Point. The project will create approximately 14 acres of foraging and nesting area through the beneficial use of dredged sand from the Federal navigation channel and install a predator deterrent perimeter fence. In addition, following the placement and grading of dredge materials in this contract, the Wisconsin DNR will complete habitat restoration work by planting native dune grass and providing long term maintenance of the habitat.
Increasing the availability of suitable nesting and foraging habitat for Piping Plover at this location will contribute to the removal of the ‘Degradation of Fish and Wildlife Populations’ beneficial use impairment in the St. Louis River area of concern.
To learn more about the endangered Piping Plover, visit the U.S. Wish and Wildlife of Wisconsin DNR’s website:
https://www.fws.gov/midWest/GreenBay/endangered/pipl/index.html
https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/EndangeredResources/Animals.asp?mode=detail&SpecCode=ABNNB03070
For any additional information, please contact Emily Schaefer, public affairs specialist, at 313-226-4681 or Alex Jimenez, project manager, at 313-226-6147.
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