A Great Lakes wetland monitoring program is aiding efforts to clean up a polluted hotspot in Wisconsin

A program to monitor coastal wetlands across the Great Lakes is helping support efforts to clean up one of the most polluted hotspots in the region.

The Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Monitoring Program has been monitoring the health of more than 1,000 wetlands in the region since 2011. Crews collect data from around 200 wetlands each year to evaluate water quality and the state of breeding birds, fish and amphibians. More than 400,000 acres of coastal wetland habitats have been assessed, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The program and researchers with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay have been working closely with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to develop a strategy for measuring priority populations and habitats for fish and wildlife in lower Green Bay, according to Erin Giese. She’s a principal investigator for the program, and she’s also a senior researcher at the Cofrin Center for Biodiversity at UW-Green Bay...