Grant to create Wisconsin Great Lakes Coastal Leadership Academy, bolster state’s ability to identify and address coastal hazards and resilience
MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers, together with the Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA), announced today that the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program (WCMP) has been awarded a $209,894 grant through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Project of Special Merit competition to create the Wisconsin Great Lakes Coastal Leadership Academy. This project will increase the resilience of Wisconsin’s Great Lakes communities to coastal hazards through in-person workshops for local officials, planners, and decision-makers.
“Here in Wisconsin, we are fortunate to have more than 800 miles of Great Lakes shoreline that provide fresh water, recreation, and improve the quality of life for folks all across our state, and now, more than ever, we have a responsibility to be steadfast stewards of this invaluable resource,” said Gov. Evers. “Wisconsin’s coastal communities know firsthand the impacts and benefits of our surrounding Great Lakes, and the Wisconsin Great Lakes Coastal Leadership Academy will allow us to continue strengthening the environmental, cultural, and economic well-being of Wisconsin’s Great Lakes communities.”
An annual survey of Great Lakes local governments by the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative in 2023 found that Great Lakes municipalities anticipate spending millions toward coastal resilience-related projects and hazard preparation in the next decade. To enhance the state’s ability to appropriately and promptly address coastal resilience and hazards while ensuring future investments are strategic and long-lasting, the Wisconsin Great Lakes Coastal Leadership Academy, in partnership with the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, will implement a curriculum focused on coastal hazards and adaptation strategies with in-person workshops that will serve to educate coastal communities about Great Lakes coastal processes, provide strategies for identifying hazards and assessing risk, and initiate actions to address hazards through policy, planning, and on-the-ground implementation.
Unfortunately, President Trump and his administration are threatening to gut funding for NOAA and programs related to climate research and grant programs by cutting funding by about 24 percent, potentially jeopardizing investments to support coastal communities in Wisconsin and across the country.
Gov. Evers and the Evers Administration have made preserving Wisconsin’s Great Lakes coasts a top priority and, for the past six years, have worked to protect and improve the Great Lakes resources and support resiliency in Wisconsin’s coastal communities. Gov. Evers’ 2025-27 Executive Budget continues to prioritize preservation and conservation of Wisconsin’s freshwater resources and coastal communities with investments that aim to help ensure future generations of Wisconsinites will continue to be able to enjoy the state’s vast and vibrant resources. The governor’s budget proposal included: Investments to remove contaminated sediments in Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, and their tributaries;Creating a loan program to help local communities and homeowners affected by shoreline erosion; and Supporting efforts to restore Wisconsin’s wetlands through a tax incentive, among other provisions.Unfortunately, while the investment to remove contaminated sediments in the Great Lakes and their tributaries remain, Republicans on the state’s budget committee voted to gut the remaining provisions from the budget. More on Republican lawmakers’ efforts to gut more than 600 provisions from Gov. Evers’ 2025-27 Executive Budget is available here.
The WCMP is dedicated to preserving and improving access to the natural and historic resources of Wisconsin’s Great Lakes coasts. Since 1978, the program has worked cooperatively with federal, state, regional, local, and Tribal partners to manage the ecological, economic, and aesthetic assets of the Great Lakes coastal areas. Additional information about the WCMP can be found at http://coastal.wisconsin.gov.
An online version of this release is available here.
