Great Lakes, Parking Lots and Trees

On March 27, 2017 I wrote a piece titled “Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Restores What?” in which I detailed what the GLRIS goals, major focus of the fund and why it was created.  To remind you the according to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative’s website:

These actions will build on restoration and protection work carried out under the first GLRI Action Plan, with a major focus on:

• Cleaning up Great Lakes Areas of Concern
• Preventing and controlling invasive species
• Reducing nutrient runoff that contributes to harmful/nuisance algal blooms
• Restoring habitat to protect native species

We now discover from a Michigan Capitol Confidential News article that the great city of Detroit received $1 million dollars from the GLRI fund for two projects.

What were the two projects that Detroit received $1 million dollars from a fund that was created to clean up the Great Lakes, prevent and control invasive species, reduce nutrient run off and restore habitat to protect native species?  Well of course that would be to:

turn 40 publicly owned vacant lots into green space consisting of meadows, trees and other vegetation. And it would also install drainage ditches and porous pavement on roadways and developed sites near the Recovery Park area, about 3 miles north of downtown

People question if our government is out of control or is spending taxpayer money intended for one purpose for an entirely different purpose then the goal of a program.

I hope this changes their mind.

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