Bowling Green State University has received one of five Lake Erie Protection Fund grants awarded Thursday
by the Ohio Lake Erie Commission.
BGSU was awarded $9,860 to collaborate with the United States Coast Guard Ninth District for an expanded
credible data collection program. Funds will be used to support the collection and analysis of winter
season 2012 Lake Erie samples under guidelines of the Ohio Credible Data Program.
Other grants went to the Erie County Health Department (($15,000) to track Harmful Algal Blooms in the
Sandusky Bay throughout 2012; the University of Toledo ($15,000) to analyze the relationship between
recent land use alterations in the Maumee River watershed and fluctuations in the growth and abundance
of yellow perch in the western basin of Lake Erie; the City of Mentor ($15,000) to conduct soil test
borings and subsequently develop a conceptual site plan and preliminary cost estimate that will guide
the installation of a pervious pavement/sustainable landscape system on a portion of the parking lot at
the Great Lakes Mall; and Cleveland State University ($34,983) to continue the third year of a planned
three-year effort in conjunction with the Ohio Water Resources Council to implement the Best Local Land
Use Practices component of the Ohio Balanced Growth Program in the Lake Erie watershed.
The fund was established to help finance research and implementation of projects aimed at protecting,
preserving, and restoring Lake Erie and its watershed. The fund is supported by Ohioans through the
purchase of the "Erie…Our Great Lake" license plates, which displays the Marblehead
Lighthouse, as designed by noted Lake Erie artist Ben Richmond. Fifteen dollars from the sale or renewal
of each plate is invested in the Lake Erie Protection Fund grant program.
Citizens wishing to help fund projects can send donations directly to the Ohio Lake Erie Commission
office at One Maritime Plaza, 4th Floor, Toledo, Ohio 43604. All donations and plate sale proceeds go
toward funding grants.