REGIONAL— The St. Louis County Board has given preliminary approval to distribute $709,992 in state dollars earmarked for the fight against aquatic invasive species, or AIS.
 The approved projects and funding in northern St. Louis County include:
• $401,861 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: Bear Island, Birch, Burntside, Crane, Eagles Nest 2, Eagles Nest 3, Embarrass, Johnson, Kabetogama, Little Sturgeon, One Pine, Pelican, Salo, Shagawa, Side Lake, Sturgeon, Vermilion, and White Iron lakes. 
$111,000 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, habitat evaluation and threat assessment, early detection, and partnership development.
•$20,100 to Burntside Lake Association for educational outreach to boaters and smelt netters, to build early detection capabilities, and partnership development.
• $10,000 to Minnesota North College - Vermilion to create a program that monitors AIS and water quality within Shagawa Lake.
Final approval of the funding is expected during the board meeting on Feb. 25, in Virginia.
 Each year, through the AIS Prevention Aid Program, the state 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.