Lake Superior Binational Forum funding stopped

17 Lake Superior Binational Forum funding to end The Lake Superior Binational Forum is saddened to say that future funding used to support our programs that’s been allocated through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will end when the Forum’s current grant expires in early 2015. The Forum has been an active outreach and diverse stakeholder group that’s been working basin wide since its founding in 1991. We have been very fortunate to have been supported by EPA funding since then. GLRI funds are allocated through Congressional budgets and are used to clean up toxic hot spots called Areas of Concern in the Great Lakes, as well as funding restorations of impaired areas to return them to more natural ecosystems. The GLRI initiative has brought $1.6 billion dollars to Great Lakes work since 2010, which is the most robust investment in lakes work for many decades. EPA has told the Forum that in the future, the state agencies and tribes that receive GLRI funds will be responsible for the development of their own outreach and public comment opportunities. The Forum is exploring other options for funding including donations, foundations, memberships, and other means of supporting successful outreach program such as Lake Superior Day, an annual environmental stewardship awards program, an electronic newsletter, weekly radio program, open public meetings, and other projects. Contact us at binationalforum@northland.edu for more information on what you can do to help us move forward with new funding options and program ideas. As a stakeholder group that was given the authority by binational agencies to solicit and gather public input from lake users, we invite you to send comments to EPA on whether you think public stakeholder and outreach forums, such as this one for Lake Superior, are important to you and the lake. Submit comments to: Gina McCarthy Administrator for EPA (Washington DC) mccarthy.gina@epa.gov Environmental Protection Agency Mail Code 1101A 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20460 (202) 564-4700 Dr. Susan Hedman Region 5 Administrator, EPA (Chicago) hedman.susan@epa.gov Environmental Protection Agency 77 West Jackson Boulevard Chicago, IL 60604-3507