The national oceanic and atmospheric administration (NOAA) is providing ongoing funding through the national coastal zone management program to the state of wisconsin to help administer the state's…

The national oceanic and atmospheric administration (NOAA) is providing ongoing funding through the national coastal zone management program to the state of wisconsin to help administer the state's federally approved coastal management program. The national coastal zone management program, under the coastal zone management act, is an important voluntary federal-state partnership that protects, restores, and responsibly develops our nation's coastal communities and resources by balancing economic development, coastal uses, and natural resource protection. NOAA's investment of over $2.5 million for year 1 is leveraging over $2.4 million in state, local, and private funds. These funds will support jobs and provide continued assistance to the wisconsin coastal management program to address many important coastal issues in the state including wetlands protection, habitat restoration, public access, land acquisition, nonpoint source pollution control, land use and community planning, natural hazards, and great lakes education. For example, one project will create a regional waterfront toolkit that will provide examples of case studies, best practices, and templates that local communities can incorporate into their comprehensive plans and updates. The funding also supports ongoing coastal planning, public outreach, restoration, and technical assistance to local governments. The award is also supporting multiple new initiatives such as the university of wisconsin-madison's education campaign to address woodland understory invaders of wisconsin's coastal forests by engaging the public and land managers on invasive species management by using invasive species removal demonstration sites and citizen science monitoring. Another initiative is to ensure that public access projects are more accessible such as a kayak launch in the city of manitowoc and ramp installations at water frontage in milwaukee are ADA accessible. The program is funding 49 projects with a majority being pass-through projects to local governments related to wetlands protection, habitat restoration, public access, land acquisition, nonpoint source pollution control, land use and community planning, natural hazards, and great lakes education, but not limited to: "ashland rails to trail system: waterfront trail repair" will repair a failing and currently hazardous recreational trail with increased green infrastructure designs to make the trail and adjacent shoreline more climate resilient; "stormwater wetland restoration and groundwater investigation at virmond county park" will add acres of great lakes coastal wetlands and improve surface water discharge by providing an area for pollutants to settle; "forecast and outreach of coastal and riverine inundation along the wisconsin coast of green BAY" will create a state of the art hydrodynamic-atmospheric model to improve public preparedness in the case of a flooding emergency; "town of clover comprehensive plan update and future land use map for 2023-2043" will significantly update the current plan that has not been updated since 2013; "door county outreach providing in hmong and spanish" will provide information on water safety, invasive species identification and treatment, and great lakes education in a more equitable way to underserved coastal communities.