Officials: Pointe Mouillee a success story

From: Monroe News

Pointe Mouillee State Game Area is in Berlin Township, tucked along the Lake Erie shoreline.

If you have an interest in wildlife, hunting, birding or fishing in southeast Michigan, it’s probably a site you’ve visited over the years.

The reason: It’s considered the largest fresh water marsh restoration project in North America, with about 5,200 acres dedicated to wildlife and water quality.

“This place is pretty spectacular,” Gildo Tori, senior director of regional policy at Ducks Unlimited, said Friday morning.

U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, was the guest of honor Friday at the site as Tori and other local wildlife officials and volunteers showed him some of the restoration and habitat improvements that have taken place in recent years.

“It’s just incredible the continuity of care out here,” the congressman said as the tour wrapped up.

Three federal programs are considered important funding sources for Pointe Mouillee: The North American Wetlands Conservation Act, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and America’s Conservation Enhancement Act.

“I applaud you for your efforts,” Walberg said as the group concluded its reports and split up into a vehicle convoy for a driving tour.

About a dozen people were part of the event, many of them representing Ducks Unlimited or the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Walberg has been a frequent visitor to Pointe Mouillee.

For him, Friday was a chance to catch up on long term projects and also to see how things worked out this year under the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ staffing complications throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

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