The Maumee Corps project is officially underway and on-the-ground! This grant funded project is meant to improve habitats around the Maumee Area of Concern while putting otherwise unemployed workers back to work. Over 1,360 acres of land and approximately 4,000 linear feet of stream bank will be improved. Native plants will be harvested and re-planted, invasive species will be treated and removed, and over 20 seasonal and part-time jobs will be created because of this grant from NOAA.
In order to better manage the project as a whole, Partners for Clean Streams (PCS) has decided to sub-award to The Metroparks of the Toledo Area and The Nature Conservancy (TNC). Both of these agencies will manage workers hired through this grant while PCS still maintains a small group to work at the University of Toledo, Olander Park System, and the Boy Scout’s Camp Miakonda. The Metroparks’ employees have been actively working since December of last year, while TNC and PCS will be getting workers started in April. In fact, a recent article in the Toledo Blade highlights the work now underway at the Metroparks’ through this PCS program.
This new program hasn’t been without its challenges though. Given the large scope of the project and complex permitting and planning needed, PCS has faced multiple delays in developing and implementing the project in the way we had originally intended. Unfortunately because of the delays, the project partners have changed but the workers hired and the measurable improvements made on-the-ground through this grant will eventually exceed the grant expectations. In fact, The Olander Park System has recently stepped in to add hundreds of acres of invasive species treatment, including oak savanna and wet prairie habitat, to further expand the regional, coordinated habitat restoration that will be achieved through this innovative program. Partners for Clean Streams is looking forward to the coming Spring and getting more workers on the ground and active in the Maumee AOC!
