Cedarville residents Linda Hudson and Leroy Pieri are writing a grant under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, an Environmental Protection Agency project funded by $475 million in federal funds, to remove invasive weeds and chemical and phosphoric enriched sediment near the shores Lake Huron in the Les Cheneaux Island region.

Clark Township trustees agreed that changes spurring underwater weed growth are negatively effecting the fish populations and habitat, passing a resolution at the board's Thursday, January 21, meeting to support the grant request.

The grant would likely be for between $500,000 and $750,000, with an upper limit of $1 million.

If the grant is received, it would pay for hiring local contractors to harvest invasive weeds and to dredge sediment from the bottom of the bays near Hessel and Cedarville.

The grant would also provide funding for signs instructing boaters to clean their boats to help stop the spread of invasive species like Eurasian milfoil, phragmites, purple loosestrife, hybrid cattails, and other plants not native to the area. It may also pay for the introduction of weevils in strategic areas, which have proven to slow the spread of such invasive species.

Weed growth has choked some of these areas, causing problems for boaters.

"We are primarily focusing on the damage that has been done in the past and cleaning that up," Mrs. Hudson said.