SYMPOSIUM PRESENTER TITLE: Restoration efforts through the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) Program ABSTRACT: Since the 1950s, the Lower Fox River system has been contaminated by the release of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from paper mills, paper recyclers, public treatment works, and other sources. Through the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) program, certain trustees are authorized to act on behalf of the public to assess and recover natural resource damages, and to plan and implement actions to restore, replace, or acquire the equivalent of resources or resource services injured or lost as a result of a release of a hazardous substance. To address the injury from the release of PCBs into the Lower Fox River and Green Bay, the following natural resource trustees formed a Trustee Council: The US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Oneida Nation, and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (together, Trustees). Over the course of the NRDAR process, the Trustees have recovered $106 M in settlement dollars from responsible parties. The Trustees implement restoration projects that focus on preservation and restoration of natural resources in aquatic, nearshore, and riparian habitats, as well as upland habitat associated with wetlands and tributaries within and around the Fox River and Green Bay area. This presentation will provide an overview of the national NRDAR program and the cumulative impact the Fox River case has had on restoring the Green Bay since restoration began in 2002. It will also provide partners with information on how to implement restoration projects supported by NRDAR settlement dollars in the future. Conservation partners have been paramount to the success of this program and natural resource recovery in the Green Bay. BIO: Trina Soyk serves as the Trustee Council Coordinator for the Fox River/Green Bay Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR), working to maintain close working relationships with federal, state, and tribal co-trustees and a wide network of partners to implement restoration projects across the landscape.