REGIONAL— The St. Louis County Board has given preliminary approval to distribute $692,850 in state funding for nine projects that focus on preventing the introduction of Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) or limiting their spread in lakes and rivers in St. Louis County. Commissioners unanimously approved the list of projects during their Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday in Duluth.
 The approved projects and funding include:
$394,250 to the North St. Louis Soil and Water Conservation District to manage watercraft inspections, decontaminations, and public education on more than two dozen lakes, including: Bassett, Bear Island, Big Bear, Birch, Buhl Pit, Burntside, Cadotte, Crane, Eagles Nest 2, Eagles Nest 3, Ely, Embarrass, Gilbert-Pit, Indian, Johnson, Kabetogama, Little Sturgeon, One Pine, Pelican, Perch, Salo, Shagawa, Side Lake, Sturgeon, Vermilion, Whiteface Reservoir, Whitewater, and White Iron lakes. 
$97,000 to Wildlife Forever for marketing efforts for their Clean Drain Dry Initiative campaign aimed at public awareness and education, and behavioral change.
$35,500 to the Vermilion Lake Association for continued watercraft inspections and cleaning; public awareness and education; management of existing infestation, habitat evaluation and threat assessment; early detection, response efforts and population management; and partnership development.
$20,100 to the Burntside Lake Association for educational outreach to boaters and smelt netters, to build early detection capabilities, partnership development and - new this year - develop a Lake Stewardship Program.
$10,000 to Minnesota North College-Vermilion to create a program that monitors AIS and water quality within Shagawa and Fall lakes.
Final approval of the funding is expected during the board meeting set for Feb. 24, in Cotton.
 Each year, through the AIS Prevention Aid Program, the Legislature allocates funding to counties to be used to prevent the introduction or limit the spread of AIS. Through an application and proposal process, St. Louis County has sought out organizations to address AIS issues with multi-disciplinary, integrated solutions based on science, related to natural resources sustainability, and social and economic concerns. Since 2014, when the AIS Prevention Aid Program started, St. Louis County has distributed more than $7.5 million to fund projects that address one or more of the seven categories and associated actions outlined in the St. Louis County AIS Prevention Plan.
The amount of funding received from the state is based on a formula that factors each county’s share of watercraft trailer launches and watercraft trailer parking spaces. Of Minnesota’s 87 counties, St. Louis County has the second highest number of watercraft trailer launches, with 171, and the highest number of watercraft trailer parking spaces, with 1,444.