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In: Ashland, Baker City Creek Estuary, climate change in northern Wisconsin, Dave Sletten, Dorothy Tank, FEMA, Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative conference, Karina Heim, Lake Superior Climate Champions Program, Lake Superior Collaborative, Meagan Quaderer, Natalie Chin, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science, Sara Hudson, Statewide Hazard Mitigation Committee, Thompson's Creek, Tony Janisch, Washburn, Wisconsin Northwest Region Emergency Managers Meeting

Members of the Lake Superior Climate Champions Program take a field trip to an eroded area in northern Wisconsin. Pictured left to right are Dave Sletten, Matt Hudson and Tony Janisch. Image credit: Karina Heim, Lake Superior Reserve

It’s official: 2023 was the hottest since we’ve been keeping records, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This can trigger extreme weather events such as storms and flooding. Northern Wisconsin is not immune from the impacts of climate change and communities are taking action.

Leaders in several northern Wisconsin counties and cities were chosen to participate in a Lake Superior Climate Champions Program organized by Wisconsin Sea Grant and the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve in 2023. The program provided funding and guidance to two teams to work on goals of their choosing that addressed climate change.

Members of the Washburn/Ashland Climate Champions team attend a coastal resilience adaptation workshop organized by the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science. Pictured left to right are Danielle Shannon, Sara Hudson, Tony Janisch, Bree Schabert, Matias Valero and Jessica Jacobson. Image credit: Karina Heim, Lake Superior Reserve

The first team from the cities of Washburn and Ashland included Tony Janisch, Washburn assistant city administrator, and Sara Hudson, Ashland park and recreation director and city forester. Their project involved creating the outline of a coastal adaptation plan for their cities that focused on flood resilience and climate adaptation. They also developed a project priorities list, connected with other communities at a climate-focused annual conference by the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative in Chicago and brought a coastal resilience adaptation workshop to the region in collaboration with the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science and the Lake Superior Collaborative.

During a webinar, Janisch described how the contacts he made during the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative Conference helped him find funding for a long-standing problem in Washburn.

“We have some significant coastal erosion at one of our parks in the city. I had spent three years trying to find funding to start the work. I was connected with someone and then was able to get some FEMA funding. So, we have an engineer now doing design work for how to solve the problem,” Janisch said.

Another erosion project Janisch found possible funding sources for involves Thompson’s Creek, which runs underneath a local highway and along another road. “There was some erosion going on with one of the creek bends that’s eating away at one of our side roads. It’s very possible that it could start eroding the right-of-way on the highway itself,” Janisch said.

Hudson said the champions program, “…Opened up a couple projects that have been on the back burner in my mind. And then also just creating more of a living shoreline along our Baker City Creek Estuary and along the ore dock shoreline that is there. It’s been a really good process.”

The second team included emergency managers from Ashland, Bayfield, Douglas and Iron counties. These are Dorothy Tank (retired from Ashland County), Dave Sletten (Douglas County), Stacy Ofstad (Iron County) and Meagan Quaderer (Bayfield County) Their project focused on developing a digital form to record road maintenance activities for Great Lakes coastal counties in Wisconsin and beyond.

Quaderer said that development of the road maintenance form was timely. “This spring, the region had a lot of flooding and a lot of [road] damage. So, we actually had a real-world application of the document, especially in Bayfield County.”

The team presented the form at a Wisconsin Northwest Region Emergency Managers Meeting and it garnered their interest as well as that of representatives from Minnesota. The team was asked to present the form again to the Statewide Hazard Mitigation Committee. Those members saw the overwhelming value of the tool.

“I think it’s something that will be used here within our four counties but also hopefully, within both states,” Sletten said.

Tank said the form has already been used in Ashland County for a number of federally declared disasters. “It was not only approved at the state level, but by FEMA. It contained all the information they wanted,” she said.

The Climate Champions Program was facilitated by Karina Heim with the Reserve and Natalie Chin with Sea Grant. They recently released the call for applications for this year. Apply at this link: https://go.wisc.edu/0385yk. The deadline is March 15.

For more general information, visit: https://go.wisc.edu/am468e.

The post Northern Wisconsin communities benefit from climate change program first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Original Article

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/northern-wisconsin-communities-benefit-from-climate-change-program/

Marie Zhuikov

On:
In: Climate change, flooding, Great Lakes coastal counties in Wisconsin, Karina Heim, Lake Superior Climate Champions Program, Lake Superior Reserve, Public Health, stormwater management, workshop planning

A program for community leaders in northern Wisconsin who are looking for ways to address climate change is available through Wisconsin Sea Grant and the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve. 

The Lake Superior Climate Champions Program began provides a yearlong opportunity for community teams to work on a goal of their choosing that addresses climate change, with a minimum of $2,500 in funding, guidance from Sea Grant and Reserve staff members and the chance to connect with other communities working on climate challenges. The program completed its first successful cohort last year and is seeking applicants for a new round of support in 2024.

Wisconsin Sea Grant’s Natalie Chin discusses climate change impacts with Climate Champions teams in 2023. Image credit: Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve

Participating teams of two to four people must be from one of the four coastal counties (Douglas, Bayfield, Ashland or Iron) and may include representatives from multiple jurisdictions. The teams can include community members in decision-making roles, such as tribal or county government staff, elected officials, members of local boards and committees or regional intergovernmental committees.

“All across Lake Superior’s coastal communities, we feel the impacts of climate change firsthand,” said Karina Heim, coastal training program coordinator with the Lake Superior Reserve. “Finding time and the capacity to address climate issues can be a challenge for local leaders. Our Climate Champions Program offers dedicated, yearlong support for climate work.”

Teams who want to participate need to apply online by March 15 at: https://go.wisc.edu/0385yk. Teams will be selected by April and the program will begin in May.

The previous year’s projects included creating the outline of a coastal adaptation plan for Washburn and Ashland, Wisconsin, that focused on flood resilience, climate adaptation and a project priorities list; also, emergency managers from Ashland, Bayfield, Douglas and Iron counties developed an online form to record road maintenance activities for Great Lakes coastal counties in Wisconsin.

Applicants are encouraged to seek support for a new climate resilience effort that is relevant to their community. This could include developing a new resource or tool, initiating an assessment, bringing people together in dialog or developing a specific climate plan.

Other possible project examples include: finding and using an assessment or planning tool to prepare for climate challenges (flooding, public health, etc.), planning a workshop or a facilitated process that allows for climate change learning and dialog and incorporating climate change considerations into an existing project or process, such as land-use planning or stormwater management.

For more information, visit: https://go.wisc.edu/am468e.

The post Applications open for community climate support program first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Original Article

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/applications-open-for-community-climate-support-program/

Marie Zhuikov

On:
In: Climate change, climate change project funding, Karina Heim, Lake Superior Climate Champions Program, Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve

A culvert washout in Superior, Wisconsin, during a flood in 2012. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

A new program for community leaders in northern Wisconsin who are looking for ways to address climate change is available through Wisconsin Sea Grant and the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve.

The Lake Superior Climate Champions Program provides a yearlong opportunity for community teams to work on a goal of their choosing that addresses climate change, with a minimum of $2,500 in funding, guidance from Sea Grant and Reserve staff members and the chance to connect with other communities working on climate challenges.

Participating teams of two to four people must be from one of the four coastal counties (Douglas, Bayfield, Ashland or Iron). The teams should include community members in decision-making roles, such as tribal or county government staff, elected officials, members of local boards and committees or regional intergovernmental committees.

“All across Lake Superior’s coastal communities, we feel the impacts of climate change firsthand,” said Karina Heim, coastal training program coordinator with the Lake Superior Reserve. “Finding time and the capacity to address climate issues can be a challenge for local leaders. Our Climate Champions Program offers dedicated support for climate work.”

Teams who want to participate need to apply online by Aug. 1 at: bit.ly/39Zovej. Two teams will be selected for 2022 and the program will begin in the fall.

Examples of projects include: finding and using an assessment or planning tool to prepare for climate challenges (flooding, public health, etc.), planning a workshop or a facilitated process that allows for climate change learning and dialog and incorporating climate change considerations into an existing project or process, such as land-use planning or stormwater management.

For more information, visit lakesuperiornerr.org/focus-areas/coastal-leadership/lake-superior-climate-champions/.

The post Lake Superior Climate Champions Program Available for Communities first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Original Article

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/lake-superior-climate-champions-program-available-for-communities/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lake-superior-climate-champions-program-available-for-communities

Marie Zhuikov