Green Bay to restore nearly 40 acres of habitat next to bay; total cost estimated at $2.75 million
GREEN BAY — The City Council gave the go-ahead Tuesday to begin implementing a $2.75 million project to turn back time on 37.3 acres of marsh habitat next to the bay of Green Bay.
Dubbed the Tank Farm Marsh Project, the primary project area is just west of the mouth of the Fox River.
Implementation of a five-year plan for the area will be overseen by environmental consulting group GEI Consultants as part of the larger effort to reverse the area's water pollution. Grant money from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will fund the restoration and monitoring of native wildlife.
Here's what's planned and what's hoped to be brought back.
The City Council hired GEI Consultants until March 2029 to oversee the project designed in collaboration with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources since 2022. The $225,000 in total oversight costs will be reimbursed by EPA grant money funneled through the DNR.
Subcontractors will be hired through a bidding process in the second-half of 2025, according to the anticipated timeline, with work at the site expected to begin in mid-2026 with an estimated cost of $2.5 million. Combined with the oversight costs, they equal $2.75 million for the entire project.
The seven goals of the final design laid out in an 87-page report fall under a general umbrella of making a habitat that can support flora and fauna that are native to the area, rid vegetation and animals that aren't, and create a space for the public to enjoy in the process.
Essentially, it aims to bring back the time when the area once known as Atkinson's Marsh, which encompassed what's today Ken Euers Nature Area, was one of the few places in Wisconsin for whooping cranes to breed and where over 250 bird species nested, according to the DNR.
More: Bird not seen in Wisconsin for 178 years spotted in Green Bay nature area
By the project's end, over 43,000 cubic yards of sand and topsoil will have been laid as the foundation of healthy marshland. Sycamores and oaks will intermingle with elderberry shrubs and Virginia bluebells on over 2 acres of hardwood swamp land. Rushes and water lilies, rattlesnake grass and goldenrod will populate over 15 acres of wet meadows and shallow marshland. Heron and bat colonies will have space to settle.
The agreement notes that the project will end March 31, 2029.
Jesse Lin is a reporter covering the community of Green Bay and its surroundings, as well as politics in northeastern Wisconsin. Contact him at 920-834-4250 or jlin@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay to restore marsh habitat with EPA grants through DNR
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