Traverse City, Mich. (AP) - President Barack Obama has appointed a Great Lakes czar to oversee the administration's initiative to restore the Lakes' environment.
 
Cameron Davis, president of the Chicago-based environmentalist group Alliance for the Great Lakes, will head the effort. The alliance announced the appointment Wednesday.
 
The restoration program is expected to cost more than $20 billion.
 
Davis will coordinate efforts of about a dozen federal agencies working on the Great Lakes project, which deals with issues such as invasive species, polluted harbors, sewage overflows and degraded wildlife habitat.
 
Obama promised during his campaign last year to create such a position. His proposed 2010 budget seeks $475 million in new spending on the lakes.