SOGL Unveils $12M in Grants for Great Lakes

The Sustain Our Great Lakes (SOGL) partners yesterday announced 31 projects selected by the program to receive nearly $12 million in grant funding for ecological restoration in the Great Lakes basin.

With a focus on improving the quality and connectivity of stream, wetland and coastal habitats, this investment will help protect, restore and enhance the ecological integrity of the Great Lakes and surrounding region.

Grant recipients will match the new grant funding with an additional $11 million, for a total on-the-ground impact of $23 million. Sustain Our Great Lakes is a public–private partnership that supports habitat restoration throughout the Great Lakes basin.

Administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), the program receives funding and other support from ArcelorMittal, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S.D.A. Forest Service, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A significant portion of program funding is provided by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a federal program designed to protect, restore and enhance the Great Lakes ecosystem.

Since 2006, Sustain Our Great Lakes has awarded 226 grants worth $49.1 million, which has leveraged $49.3 million in matching contributions, for a total investment of $98.4 million.

“This program is the premier public–private partnership and is getting results for the lakes that we all love,” said Cameron Davis, who as senior advisor counsels EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy in coordinating 16 federal and bi-national agencies in implementing the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Collectively, the 31 new ecological restoration projects funded by Sustain Our Great Lakes in 2014 will:

• Restore and enhance more than 1,700 acres of wetlands and associated uplands;
• Restore fish passage and improve habitat along nearly 300 stream miles;
• Control invasive species on more than 16,000 acres.

The following grants will be made to conservation organizations and public agencies in seven states and one Canadian province.

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September 10, 2014