Blue Fish Canada
Amount: $2,000
Project Title: Engage, Recruit, Equip and Advance Great Lakes Fish Health
Project Description: Blue Fish Canada will engage indigenous fishers and recreational anglers across the Great Lakes, recruiting and training volunteers to engage in advocacy and developing campaigns meant to strengthen the Great Lakes and their biodiversity, focusing on public and private sector policies, regulations and practices, increasing public outreach and strengthening communication.
Bridges//Puentes Justice Collective of the Southeast
Amount: $2,800
Project Title: Water Heroes: Finding and Fighting Lead in Our Homes
Project Description: To combat local lead contamination in Southeast Chicago’s drinking water, Bridges//Puentes will produce educational coloring books to students to teach them and their families about lead contamination, develop teacher training materials, and host community workshops to empower families to push for drinking water improvements.
Cayuga Lake Watershed Network Inc
Amount: $3,900
Project Title: Finger Lakes Education Day on Harmful Algal Blooms
Project Description: Cayuga Lake Watershed Network will host a harmful algal bloom day to bring together scientists, leaders, and community members to provide state legislators and agency officials with educational formation about the root causes of harmful algal blooms and mitigation strategies.
Citizens for a Safe & Clean Lake Superior
Amount: $1,500
Project Title: Extractive Industry Monitoring in Lake Superior’s Watershed
Project Description: Citizens for a Safe & Clean Lake Superior will monitor mining activity in the Upper Peninsula including analyzing permit applications, government grant proposals, and other activities from existing and proposed mines and will mobilize the public when activities pose risks.
Cole Lead Safe & Healthy Homes
Amount: $3,600
Project Title: Lead Safe and Healthy Homes Outreach and Education Program
Project Description: The Coalition on Lead Emergency will host a five day training and canvas blitz with parents and children affected by lead poisoning. Training will consist of education, canvas training, handing out lead filters, going door to door with parents, and getting other parents involved.
Environment North
Amount: $5,000
Project Title: Impact Assessment for Proposed Transportation of High Level Nuclear Waste
Project Description: Concerned about the safety of the transportation, temporary shallow storage, and eventual unmonitored abandonment of 7.2 million used waste nuclear fuel bundles on Lake Superior and with an upcoming Impact Assessment and licensing process, Environment North will mobilize the public to advocate for the adoption of the Proximity Principle.
Friends of the North Pikes Creek Wetlands, Inc.
Amount: $1,500
Project Title: Engaging the Community in Forest Improvement to Protect Lake Superior
Project Description: Friends of the North Pikes Creek Wetlands will engage the community in their five year project to protect their local headwaters from emerald ash borer infestation.
Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, Inc.(GARD)
Amount: $1,500
Project Title: Community Assessment and Action Toward Greening Gary’s Shoreline
Project Description: In the heavily industrialized shoreline of Gary, Indiana, Gary Advocates for Responsible Development will work with the community to implement green infrastructure to mitigate climate change and industrial impacts on groundwater and stormwater runoff and revitalize abandoned properties.
Great Lakes Water Protector Network
Amount: $2,000
Project Title: Expansion of the 2025 Pipe Out Paddle Up Event
Project Description: Great Lakes Water Protector Network will host a Pipe Out Paddle Up event to engage and educate the public on the dangers of a local pipeline, promote oversight, and share information about the pipeline.
Lake Erie Waterkeeper
Amount: $3,000
Project Title: Correcting Concentrated Animal Feeding Numbers
Project Description: Seeking to reduce phosphorus runoff from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO), Lake Erie Waterkeeper wishes to update satellite studies to count animal units in counties in Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana, to better show the amount of manure runoff occurring and push to adjust permits accordingly.
Michigan Hydro Relicensing Coalition
Amount: $5,000
Project Title: River Restoration Through Hydropower Planning
Project Description: As 13 aging hydropower projects are currently under review to determine their future, Michigan Hydro Relicensing Coalition aims to engage in the planning process, advocating for the health of rivers and protecting the environment through improving water quality, maintenance commitments, and potential dam removal.
Native American Educational Technologies, Inc.
Amount: $3,600
Project Title: Strengthening Community Networking to Protect Water
Project Description: Native American Educational Technologies will host events to address plans for a local pipeline reroute, strengthen relationships, and build advocacy.
Northwatch
Amount: $4,000
Project Title: Making Connections for Water Protection Along Lake Huron’s Nuclear North Shore
Project Description: Northwatch will engage community members and local tribes to advocate for improved management of nuclear storage and radioactive waste on Lake Huron and to impact regulators’ priority setting in an upcoming review.
Save Our Water (SOH2O)
Amount: $2,000
Project Title: Advocacy and Education of Groundwater Standards for PFAS
Project Description: Save Our Water will build resources to support per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances groundwater standards in the State of Wisconsin and strengthen community groups protecting groundwater.
Talking Rivers, Inc.
Amount: $2,800
Project Title: Listening to Nature Toolkit and Advocacy
Project Description: Talking Rivers will use funding to finalize, share, and implement their Listening to Nature Toolkit, serving as a resource for Great Lakes nonprofits to help organizations better consider ecosystems and watersheds in the decision-making process and understand how to incorporate the rights of nature in their work.
WaterLegacy
Amount: $5,000
Project Title: Preventing Mine Permit Reissuance
Project Description: With the threat of a rebranded copper-nickel mine reviving their permit and resurging on the shore of Lake Superior, WaterLegacy is organizing to promote advocacy to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to deny permits and block transfers of any existing permits.
Williams County Alliance
Amount: $2,760
Project Title: St. Joseph River Watershed Monitoring Project
Project Description: With confined cattle operations in the area expanding, Williams County Alliance will gather evidence on the water quality of the St Joseph River and its tributaries to show legislators that there is a need for added regulations and permitting requirements.
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