$14.8 Million in New Grants for Great Lakes Restoration

WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Sustain Our Great Lakes partnership today announced $14.8 million in competitive grant funding for 48 projects that will restore key habitats for wildlife, improve water quality and enhance urban greenspace throughout the Great Lakes basin. The grants will leverage approximately $18.3 million in additional project support from grantees, generating a total on-the-ground conservation impact of $33.1 million.

Sustain Our Great Lakes is a public–private partnership that supports habitat restoration throughout the Great Lakes basin and advances the objectives of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a federal program designed to protect, restore and enhance the Great Lakes ecosystem. Administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), the program receives funding and other support from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Cleveland-Cliffs, General Mills, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the USDA Forest Service. This year, the program received additional support from the Bezos Earth Fund. The grants awarded today represent the largest single grant slate ever awarded by the SOGL program, an achievement that is due to the continued, strong support of program partners and a historic investment from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

“Sustain Our Great Lakes is a model public-private partnership that demonstrates the strength of collaboration,” said Chris Korleski, director for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes National Program Office. “We are able to leverage Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funds to increase the investment in communities for on-the-ground projects that reduce stormwater runoff, restore habitat, and reduce sedimentation and nutrient runoff. Working with federal and non-governmental partners, corporate and nonprofit partners, and grant…