MARQUETTE — The Michigan Department of Natural Resources on Tuesday announced that more than $4 million in grant funding will be awarded to 23 communities throughout the state to boost recreational boating.

The funding is made possible through the DNR Parks and Recreation Division’s waterways grant program, which began in 1949 with the goal of expanding the harbor system along the Great Lakes and boating access sites throughout Michigan.

The system now includes more than 1,300 state-sponsored boating access sites, 19 state-managed harbors and 63 local state-sponsored harbors of refuge along the Great Lakes.

The city of Marquette’s Presque Isle Marina will receive a grant of $262,100, with a community match for this amount, for the $524,200 project that includes pier removal and site improvements.

The Big Bay Harbor master plan will receive $30,000, with a community share of $30,000, for the $60,000 project.

Preliminary engineering for the city of Munising’s municipal boating access site was awarded $15,500, with a community share of the same amount for the $31,000 project.

Schoolcraft Township’s Big Traverse Marina in Houghton County will receive a grant of $232,750, with a community share of $12,250, for the $245,000 project.

Other Upper Peninsula projects include upgrades to the Waucedah Township boating access site in Dickinson County, with the grant and community share amounts of $93,250 each to go toward the $186,500 total.

Grant and community share amounts of $60,000 each will go toward marina improvements for the village of L’Anse that will include pier replacement and barrier wall construction.

“Water and boating are at the heart of Michigan,” said Ron Olson, DNR Parks and Recreation Division chief, in a news release. “We have residents who live on the water, those who travel all over the state to boat and visitors who come here from around the world because it’s the Great Lakes State.

“Michigan offers outdoor recreational opportunities and picturesque views not found anywhere else, and so it’s of utmost importance that the DNR helps invest and fund Michigan’s harbors and boating access sites for the benefit of all.”

Local units of government and state colleges and universities are eligible to apply for grant assistance for recreational boating improvements and development at grant-in-aid harbors and public boating access sites.

The grant-in-aid program provides matching funding to help support quality recreational boating infrastructure.

Communities are asked to match 50% of required funds.

In 2020, when lake levels were at record highs, many facilities had emergency needs, the DNR said. As a result, the waterways grant program was strongly focused on assisting communities that had emergency infrastructure needs. However, with lake levels receding this year, the grants were able to focus on more typical infrastructure improvements, such as engineering studies, design and infrastructure improvements.

This year, projects in Marquette, Alger, Dickinson, Houghton, Baraga, Alpena, Berrien, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Emmet, Huron, Leelanau, Manistee, Mason and Wayne counties were approved for grants, which include emergency seawall replacement, skid pier replacement and overall marina improvements.

The grants are funded through the Michigan State Waterways Fund, a restricted fund derived primarily from boat registration fees and a portion of Michigan’s gas tax that supports the construction, operation and maintenance of public recreational boating facilities.

Applications for the next round of Waterways grant funding are due April 1.

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.