Tony Swader, Trust Land Administrator for the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, has been appointed to the Governor’s Council on Minnesota’s Lake Superior Coastal Program. He joins Matthew Brown and Jim Erickson from Cook County on the council. All of the Cook County appointments end April 2, 2023, but the Governor can approve longer membership terms to the council if he chooses to do so.
The Governor’s council consists of 15 people from Carlton, Cook, Lake, and St. Louis Counties as well as three at-large citizens living outside of the area that have a passion for Lake Superior.
Minnesota’s Coastal Program works to help communities preserve, protect, develop, and where possible, restore or enhance coastal areas on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior.
Appointees to the Governor’s council recommend coastal priorities to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), review and make recommendations to the DNR on select programs for funding. They also review the coastal programs’ annual budget, and every two years, make recommendations to the DNR commissioner for program priorities, to recommend projects, and help local communities receive funding to help them protect their coastal areas.
Over the last 19 years, the Governor’s Council on Minnesota’s Lake Superior Coastal Program has helped award more than $18 million in pass-through grants that helped fund more than 600 projects.
Managed by Amber Westerbur, the coastal boundary includes 31 local units of government and runs 189 miles along the Lake Superior coast. The program is a voluntary federal-state partnership that brings federal dollars into Minnesota for the Lake Superior Coastal area.
Members on the council serve without pay, but can be reimbursed for “some reasonable expenses incurred as a direct result of attending meetings.”
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