May 5, 2005

Eleven organizations have been selected to receive 2005 Volunteer River, Stream, and Creek Cleanup grants totaling $24,610.82 to be awarded by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

Michigan’s Volunteer River, Stream, and Creek Cleanup Program provides small grants in the range of $500 to $5,000 to local units of government to help clean up rivers, streams, and creeks to improve Michigan’s waters. Local units of government often partner with nonprofit organizations or other volunteer groups to carry out the cleanups.

Groups selected to receive funding in 2005 and their projects are: the city of Livonia (Rouge River Rescue); city of Cadillac (Clam River Cleanup); city of Muskegon (Muskegon Clean Streams 2005); Lake Superior State University (Ashmun Creek Cleanup); city of Battle Creek (River Conservation Day); Crawford-Roscommon Conservation District (AuSable River Cleanup); Genesee County Drain Commissioner’s Office (Flint River and Tributaries Cleanup); city of Ann Arbor (Huron River Renaissance Cleanup); Columbia Township (Black River Nature Sanctuary-Dump Collection); Barry Conservation District (10th Thornapple River Cleanup); and the city of Buchanan (McCoy Creek Trail Cleanup).

Volunteer stream cleanup activities include the removal of trash and debris from the water and along the banks and repositioning large woody debris that blocks stream corridors to allow stream passage while maintaining the cover necessary for fish and other aquatic organisms.

Michigan’s VRSCCP began in 1998 and has been funded through various Public Acts. Since 2001, DEQ funds for this program have originated from the sale of the State’s Water Quality Protection license plates (Public Act 74 of 2000). For the first time, the grants will be administered by the Great Lakes Commission, under contract with the DEQ.

Additional information on the VRSCCP is available online at http://www.glc.org/streamclean/ or by contacting John Hummer, Great Lakes Commission, at 734-971-9135.

Editor’s note: DEQ news releases are available on the department’s Internet home page at www.michigan.gov/deq.

Revised May 5, 2005 by Pat Watson