Center for Biological Diversity
Grant Amount: $15000
Project Title: Legal Information, Review & Services related to Mining Laws, regulations & activities in MN.
Project Description: Marc Fink, employee of the Center for Biological Diversity will provide legal information, review and services relating to mining laws, regulations and activities in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan as outlined in the grant proposal. Related information will be shared through appropriate networks, including the Freshwater Future mining collaboration.
Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association
Grant Amount: $2500
Project Title: Pilot Project: Citizen Stream Monitoring
Project Description: Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association will build citizen teams and fund education in sampling and testing techniques on streams with documented concerns, pay for NELAC (National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Conference) approved testing for analyses of concern and help to mobilize citizen activities for corrective actions. This monitoring program is intended to identify correctible point sources of this contamination.
Save the Oak Ridges Moraine Coalition
Grant Amount: $2000
Project Title: Mobilizing Citizens to Improve Regulations for Fill Operations and Contaminates Soil
Project Description: Citizens groups dealing with their local soil dumps have recently banded together as the Ontario Soil Regulation Task Force (OSRTF) and, with STORM, have identified seven problem areas in various practices, statutes, regulations, and agencies. Freshwater Future funding will support 1) STORM�s work with (OSRTF) to create a strategic plan to enable it to mobilize its volunteers to deal with each of the seven problem areas, and 2) Provide advocacy materials, including highlighting the bylaw weaknesses, for citizens to have the necessary tools to educate their municipalities.
Save Our Sky Blue Waters
Grant Amount: $3000
Project Title: Legal Research and Ananlysis of Proposed Permits for NorthMet Mine
Project Description: In collaboration with Save Lake Superior Association, Save Our Sky Blue Waters will utilize funds to pay for legal research, writing and travel to examine proposed permits for PolyMet’s proposed NorthMet mine when they are released for public review, and prepare a high-quality legal analysis and comments to the agencies, advocating for changes to the permits to make them more protective, or for outright denial of the permits.
Bad River Youth Outdoors
Grant Amount: $3000
Project Title: Protect Our Wild Rice (POWR): Tribal youth watershed monitoring, stewardship and advocacy project, summer 2014
Project Description: In the Protect Our Wild Rice (POWR) project, Bad River tribal youth will further their skills, initiated in the BRYO program pilot of 2013, learning to steward and advocate for their waterways and wild rice beds. Field work will be in the Bad River watershed of northern Wisconsin, which is partly on the Bad River reservation and partly in the Ceded Territory of the Lake Superior Ojibwe. Youth will participate in service learning, help to conduct trainings, and present their findings to their community and to the general public. Policy makers will be a target of this advocacy, to continue efforts to highlight cultural ties to waterscapes and landscapes, and assert Treaty Rights for food and water sovereignty. If BRYO ends programming in the future, any equipment purchased with these funds should go to the Bad River Watershed Association.
Bad River Watershed Association
Grant Amount: $3000
Project Title: Building Outreach and Educational Capacity of the Bad River Watershed Association
Project Description: The Bad River Watershed Association (BRWA) will use funding to expand public knowledge, inside and outside of the basin, of the proposed open pit mine in the watershed headwaters and to promote our advocacy for maintaining high water quality. The originally proposed events are The Wisconsin Wetlands Association conference, February 18-20, 2014; and Canoecopia, March 7-9, 2014. However, these events may change per BRWA request, pending approval by the Freshwater Future Project Grant management team. BRWA will submit a call for papers to present at the events, and set up a booth to attract visitors for conversation.
Highway J Citizens Group
Grant Amount: $2500
Project Title: Grassroots Initiative to Stop an Environmentally-Destructive Road Expansion Project in Wisconsin.
Project Description: Highway J Citizens Group will utilize funds to support their current legal battle regarding WisDOT’s most recent attempts to expand Highway 164, which is antcipated to continue through 2014 and be resolved later that year. In addition, HJCG will continue working to obtain a complete clean-up of worsening groundwater contamination problems in the Ackerville area caused by two nearby leaking landfills. These ongoing environmental efforts will include: 1) Publicly persuading the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to make this long-overdue contamination clean-up a top priority, and 2) Taking legal action if the agency appeals do not achieve prompt, positive results.
Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition
Grant Amount: $1250
Project Title: Lake Simcoe Greenlands project: increasing forest and wetland cover in Oro-Medonte
Project Description: The RLSC will prepare maps that show significant woodlands, wetlands, streams and rivers, and rural settlement areas. The information is available from governments, and funds will help hire a cartographer to add layers to the map to paint the picture of what is now protected, versus what we are trying to achieve. RLSC will also prepare, print and present educational material and maps to educate people about the value and opportunity to protect more green space in Oro-Medonte, as part of the overall goal to increase forest and wetland protection in the Lake Simcoe watershed and to improve the environmental health of the lake and area.
Maurice & Jane Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice
Grant Amount: $3500
Project Title: Protecting the Natural Resources of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula from Public Corruption
Project Description: Attorney Jana Mathieu, via the Sugar Law Center, will do work related to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit (FOIA) against the Northern Michigan Geologic Repository Association (“NMGRA”). This suit seeks information that is directly related to the DEQ’s regulation of Rio Tinto’s Eagle mine, which is located in the Yellow Dog Watershed.
ACUTE
Grant Amount: $2500
Project Title: Largest TCE Plum in the Nation: Community Engagement
Project Description: ACUTE will re-activate their proven community engagement model to empower community stakeholders regarding a large groundwater plume of trichloroethylene (TCE) and to build a consensus to address it. The plume is roughly 13 trillion gallons, one of the largest in the U.S. ACUTE will again engage community stakeholders and involve Freshwater Future, Michigan Technological University, the University of Detroit-Mercy, Dow Chemical Co., community organizations, homeowners, local government, private citizens, advocacy groups and regulatory authorities.
Kalamazoo River Cleanup Coalition
Grant Amount: $1500
Project Title: Paper City PCBs
Project Description: KRCC will convene several public meetings in the few months prior to the EPA issuing a Record of Decision (proposed for Sept. 2013) in order to advocate for the total PCB removal option at the Allied site. They will use the Freshwater Future Project Grant funds to pay for renting meeting venues, printing, postage, advertising and promotional materials advocating for the total removal option, and increasing public awareness of the PCB cleanup issue.
WaterLegacy
Grant Amount: $3500
Project Title: Sulfide Mining Civic Advocacy
Project Description: WaterLegacy will conduct technical analysis and citizen engagement in preparation for and at the time of the release of a key environmental review document — the supplemental draft environmental impact statement (SDEIS) — for Minnesota’s first proposed copper-nickel sulfide mine. The PolyMet NorthMet SDEIS, along with thousands of pages of documents, is expected to be released during the summer of 2013. Rigorous analysis of these documents and large-scale mobilization and coaching of citizens to comment and testify about this new proposal are critical to protecting Minnesota clean water from the proposed PolyMet open pit sulfide mine, waste rock piles, and tailings dumps. WaterLegacy will work in collaboration with tribes and environmental allies and combine 1) legal and scientific analysis of key PolyMet technical documents, 2) grassroots organizing to mobilize citizens concerned about protecting clean water from sulfide mining and 3) coaching, mentoring, and engagement of citizens, particularly Northeastern Minnesota citizens, to increase their effective self-advocacy to prevent impacts of sulfide mining on lakes, streams, rivers, and drinking water in the St. Louis River watershed and Lake Superior Basin.
Native American Educational Technologies (NAET)
Grant Amount: $3500
Project Title: Expanding the Indigenous Voice Advocating for Our Mother Earth
Project Description: Native American Educational Technologies, Inc. will inform, educate and activate decision-makers locally and statewide through advocacy journalism by providing live TV and Internet broadcasts to help stop the sulfide mine and anticipated racial backlash, while protecting the aquatic habitat that is central to the continued existence of the Chippewa Tribe and our non-Native neighbors. Native volunteers will use professional recording equipment to crisscross the entire state, from the State Capitol in Madison to Lake Superior, to provide an alternative source of information regarding the mine.
Leelanau Forum
Grant Amount: $1500
Project Title: Northport Waste Water Treatment Plant Groundwater Discharge Challenge
Project Description: The Leelanau Forum will retain a hydrologist with expertise in groundwater analysis and modeling to provide additional analysis and expert testimony based on the groundwater testing results to advance their advocacy goals regarding their concerns over construction of a wastewater treatment project that alleged pollution to the groundwater, the adjacent Northport Creek, Millpond and Grand Traverse Bay that will likely occur from the discharge of wastewater volume into the ground via rapid infiltration basins.
Rogue River Watershed Council
Grant Amount: $350
Project Title: Citizen outreach through mailing
Project Description: Grant funds will cover printing and mailing 400 postcards with survey information to property owners.
Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve
Grant Amount: $500
Project Title: Travel assistace
Project Description: Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve requests funds to help cover costs to attend the Great Lakes Sulfide Mining Summit in Chicago at the end of February 2013.
Save the Wild UP
Grant Amount: $500
Project Title: Advocacy through reaching mailing list
Project Description: Save the Wild UP recently added to their contact list through advocacy efforts. In order to reach their members, and continue to communicate, they asked for assistance to help expand their mailing budget.
TC 350
Grant Amount: $750
Project Title: Support for Oil & Water Don’t Mix: A Rally for the Great Lakes
Project Description: TC350 is hosting an event in St Ignace, MI featuring Bill McKibben. Costs involve fees and insurance to use the venue, beyond the capapcity of TC350.
Center for Biological Diversity
Grant Amount: $5000
Project Title: Assistance in Defense of the Clean Water Act
Project Description: Funds through this grant are granted to Center for Biological Diversity to support Laura Gauger’s work and to help pay for legal expenses in defense of the Clean Water Act, related to the Ladysmith, WI mine.
Grant Amount: $4650
Project Title: Climate Change and Beach Conservation
Project Description: The Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation will undertake a project to increase the resiliency of dune ecosystems to climate change impacts by educating beach managers, and municipal and community leaders in coastal communities about the vulnerability of this coastal type to climate change and the need for beach management practices that promote conservation. The project will also identify and plan dune restoration activities at two beach sites on Lake Huron; work with local schools to educate students on the need for dune conservation; and involve students in restoration activities.
Grant Amount: $2500
Project Title: Improving Climate Change Resiliency through Shoreline Naturalization in the Ottawa Valley
Project Description: Increases in air temperature, rainfall, extreme rainfall events and drought will negatively affect our creeks and rivers especially the vulnerable urban waterways which suffer from channelization, loss of vegetation and pollution. Natural shorelines rich in native plants help protect and improve the resiliency of our waterways by shading the water, increasing ground water infiltration and slowing runoff. Rideau Valley Conservation Foundation will restore urban shorelines by planting seedlings and potted stock with community volunteers. By engaging community members and completing projects in highly visible places, we will help raise awareness about the importance of natural shorelines and the effects of climate change.
Grant Amount: $5000
Project Title: Adapting to Climate Change: Implementation of Municipal Conference Recommendations on Floodplain Risks
Project Description: Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership, Inc. will partner with the NEW Wilderness Alliance to engage residents of the urban floodplain of the Fox River in Green Bay, Wisconsin in advocacy for policies and best management practices to reduce neighborhood vulnerability to flooding from climate induced storms.
Grant Amount: $5000
Project Title: Engaging Citizens in Civic Action to Promote Climate Resiliency for Duluth Streams
Project Description: The Izaak Walton League of America, W.J. McCabe Chapter will partner with the St. Louis River Alliance to engage community groups and individuals in advocating for climate resiliency in the recovery and restoration of Duluth’s streams. This project will prepare citizens to effectively advocate for permanent change in the way the City of Duluth protects, manages, and restores its streams and ensures resiliency to climate change by providing information and tools to support citizen efforts to insure that climate adaptation is included in local decision making and plans for stream recovery.
Grant Amount: $5000
Project Title: Engaging Citizens in Civic Action to Ensure Climate Resiliency for Duluth Streams
Project Description: The St. Louis River Alliance will partner with the W.J. McCabe Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America to engage community groups and individuals in advocating for climate resiliency in the recovery and restoration of Duluth’s streams. This project will prepare citizens to effectively advocate for permanent change in how the City of Duluth protects, manages, and restores its streams and ensures their resiliency to climate change by providing information and tools to support citizen efforts to insure that climate adaptation is included in local decision making and plans for stream recovery.
Grant Amount: $5000
Project Title: Using Local Hazard Mitigation Plans to Leverage Funds fir Wetland Restoration
Project Description: Wisconsin Wetlands Association will research, write, and distribute an outreach tool on use of local hazard mitigation plans to leverage funding and community support for wetland and floodplain restoration, particularly in urban areas. The objective of this project is to encourage greater collaboration between local hazard and emergency managers, floodplain managers, land use planners, and wetland and wildlife conservation managers on wetland protection and restoration projects that will improve community resilience to climate related flooding.
Grant Amount: $4500
Project Title: Climate Change Adaptation Measures for the Great Lakes Basin
Project Description: The Forum for Leadership on Water will work to reduce climate change induced phosphorus loading to the Grand River watershed in the Lake Erie Basin by evaluating the impact of climate change on phosphorus loading in the Basin, and then working with the Grand River Conservation Authority to present their findings and work with the Authority to identify Best Management Practices (BMPs) and policies to reduce those impacts at the municipal and watershed levels. FLOW will also work with the Province of Ontario to encourage funding and implementation of a phosphorus reduction strategy using the Great Lakes Protection Act and community funding mechanisms.
Stafford House Inc
Grant Amount: $3500
Project Title: Belmont Community Gardening Project
Project Description: Stafford House’s project will enhance youth participation in maintaining the community garden by providing the space with a garden scape structure that would create a space for children in the neighborhood to learn how plants grow, how they use water, why they need water and how to maintain them. Residents, block club members, nonprofit partners and volunteers will come together to build the garden scape to complement the new watering and irrigation system being installed this spring. In addition to planting and sharing fresh vegetabels, residents use the garden as a shared space for picnics, gatherings, and community building. Small children will be able to socialize while learning how to care for the house and garden.
Nature Abounds
Grant Amount: $4000
Project Title: Climate Change Ambassadors for the Lake Erie and Lake Ontario Watershed Basins
Project Description: Nature Abounds will expand our Climate Change Ambassador Project to additional locations within the Lake Erie basin and also to the Lake Ontario Watershed Basin. We will recruit, train, and engage adult volunteers as advocates in their communities (target states of OH, PA, NY) for planning and adaptation due to climate changes happening now and expected for the future. Volunteers will engage in outreach from garden shops to garden clubs, from local officials to community influential, and to the media, presenting them with climate change information and advocating for planning and adaptation with climate change in mind. We will work with volunteers to identify the community members influential in their area to approach about climate change in relating to planning and adaptation and help them identify adaptation projects. Nature Abounds will do trainings as well as webinars, and conference calls.
New Image Lifeskills Academy, Inc
Grant Amount: $5000
Project Title: Purple Oasis Garden Environmental Irrigation System
Project Description: New Image Life Skills Academy will install a water retention and irrigation system to collect runoff and provide a water source for gardens and a greenhouse at the site. A zone irrigation system will provide needed water without waste. A solar panel will be installed on the straw bale greenhouse. We will engage the youth in the community to volunteer at the garden and join in our education programs about food and the environment.
Middle Grand River Organization of Watersheds
Grant Amount: $5000
Project Title: Reforestation of the Looking Glass River Corridor and Middle Grand River Watershed
Project Description: Middle Grand River Organization of Watersheds (MGROW) will reestablish a healthy riparian buffer and corridor along the Looking Glass River. This effort will help reduce the impact of climate change, provide shade cover, reduce polluted runoff and stabilize infiltration areas. Through this project MGROW will empower local grassroots groups to have a voice with local governments and offer input related to land use planning in their community. With MGROW’s assistance, they will be in a better position to discuss with local governments that climate change is impacting their local water resources.
Brule River Preservation
Grant Amount: $4000
Project Title: Brule River Stewardship and Adaptation Initiative
Project Description: Brule River Preservation will use a special opportunity presented by the assessment of wetland services within the Lake Superior Basin of Douglas County by the Lake Superior National Estuary Research Reserve. We will use this forum to work with county and town officials as they consider the issues of wetland protection, restoration, and mitigation and advocate for climate adaptation as a key component or consideration. We will work with the Department of Natural Resources, Brule River State forest, Brule River Sportsmen’s Club, Village of Lake Nebagamon, and the Townships of Brule and Highland to promote a watershed perspective in all decision making regarding climate adaptation, hydrologic connectivity, beaver control, and large wood debris. We will advocate for the need for monitoring water temperature of the Brule River and its tributaries and promote climate adaptation and watershed resiliency.
Blacks in Green
Grant Amount: $5000
Project Title: West Woodlawn Botanic Garden & Village Farm
Project Description: BIG;s (Blacks In Green) West Woodlawn Botanic Garden & Village Farm project aims to train, pay and support our neighbors in the art and science of land stewardship within the square mile of their walkable village; Our plan is to imagine and help implement a network of gardens of all kinds: kitchen, backyard, school, church, community, indoor, outdoor, food, flowers, commercial and their related food enterprises and markets. Through these efforts, we aim to learn the methods of food security and begin exploring how to increase household income via Green-Village-Building. We will collect information to answer the following questions: how many households can we feed?; how many businesses/jobs can we create?; how many neighbors could we train?; and how many gallons of stormwater can we convert? We are starting with a modest goal in 2013, The Year of the Backyard Garden, we will foster, mentor, support cultivation of 10 sustainable backyard gardens to help reduce basement flooding, produce beautiful flowers and healthy food.
River Raisin Institute
Grant Amount: $4600
Project Title: Baby Elephant and Climate Change for Monroe County Students
Project Description: River Raisin Institute will extend the transformational learning process with Monroe County students and teachers through our Baby Elephant project to focus the 2014 program on climate change impacts and adaptation strategies for resilient communities. We will provide curriculum resources and encourage schools to implement a climate adaptation or mitigation project as part of the program. River Raisin Institute will organize two public gathering times – – the Monroe County Earth Day Expo (April 2014) and at the Monroe County Fair Parade (August 2014) to show-off the elephants and the climate projects implemented at the schools. Students will learn about Resilient Monroe a multi-jurisdictional effort to plan for climate change, as well as share their projects with Resilient Monroe leaders.
Kalamazoo Nature Center
Grant Amount: $5000
Project Title: Climate Adaptation Strategy, Action Plan, and Demonstration Project for Kalamazoo, MI
Project Description: Kalamazoo Nature Center will coordinate the development of a climate action plan for our community with the engagement of the public, local business leaders, city officials, leaders from Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo College, and local non-profit sector leaders. In October 2013 members of the Kalamazoo community will gather for a series of events culminating in a visit by Bill McKibben and the Kalamazoo Area Wild Ones conference with 150 members, Biodiversity: Addressing the challenge of climate change. We will hold a series of meetings to engage members of different sectors of our community to invest and commit to the development of the plan. The plan that we will develop will also focus on designing ways to reduce greenhouse gas emission from transit, homes, and businesses in Kalamazoo and involving members of these organizations in the development of the plan. In addition, we will implement a climate adaptation project at Portage Creek urban park to demonstrate the need for both adaptation and mitigation.
environmentERIE
Grant Amount: $3000
Project Title: Climate Adaptation Week: Building Resilient Communities
Project Description: Environment Erie will work with several partners to sponsor Climate Adaptation Week: Building Resilient Communities in October 2013. Three different workshops will be offered including: 1) directed at communities and citizens to learn about how their work and communities may be vulnerable to climate change and potential solutions to reduce impacts through adaptation strategies; 2) directed at scientific community to learn about why it is important to include climate change perspective in research; and 3) directed at municipal officials,engineers, community planners and others involved in managing stormwater and protecting water quality to learn how using sustainable design and low impact development can help meet new stormwater regulations.
Cayuga Lake Watershed Network
Grant Amount: $3000
Project Title: Six Mile Creek & Our Communities, Preparing for Climate Change
Project Description: Using Freshwater Future’s Great Lakes Climate Change Adaptation Toolkit to guide adaptive healing, we will hold a weekend event to celebrate and educate about the vulnerability of Six Mile Creek’s uses and values to climate change and related ills, including invasive species, gas drilling and fracking, and over-development. All the watersheds contributing to Cayuga Lake are of equal ecological value, but Six Mile Creek has numerous layers of human use and occupance that make it a centerpiece for outreach about adapting to climate change. Four towns and the City of Ithaca benefit from its waters and gorge on its way to Cayuga Lake: Its headwaters are in Dryden and Danby; it flows through Caroline and the Town of Ithaca, and provides the City of Ithaca with its water supply. The beautiful creek gorge is a centerpiece for recreational activity and a site for serenity, plunging downhill through the heart of Tompkins County. The Network, Level Green Institute and other partners will provide the first local FWF-guided adaptive healing climate change workshop, speakers, solar powered stage with performers, refreshments, linking of the towns from headwaters to lake, and Headwaters Expedition from bottom to top of the watershed.
Detroit Contemporary
Grant Amount: $5000
Project Title: Water Collecting & Water Art
Project Description: Detroit Contemporary will re-route our rooftop and rainwater drainage pipes along the side of our building and into a water-collecting rain barrel. We will be assisting in stormwater management and be able to water our outdoor Community Garden with the saved water. In addition, we will add a Water Show to our exhibition season. As an art gallery already building an audience of advocacy with past shows titled, For Farm’s Sake: A Farmer’s Exhibition and the Political Poster Show for the People, we believe in encouraging Michigan artists to express themselves and their relationship with water through art. This artistic endeavor will help Detroit, Michigan and its citizens identify stronger with waters. The Great Lake State will in turn resonate a greater pride and concern in taking care of its sacred natural resource.
Eden Gardens Block Club
Grant Amount: $3400
Project Title: Eden Gardens’ Garden- Turning Vacant Lots into an Eco Friendly Environment
Project Description: Eden Gardens Block Club is in the early stages of developing a community garden. Our plans are to help change the lives of people in the community by providing fresh vegetables, and using rain gardens to capture rain to help water the garden. Making rain gardens will capture waste water and help change the appearance of the many vacant lots by replacing weeds and garbage with flowers and vegetables. We will also use these as demonstration sites to teach residents how to plant these on their own lots and improve their understanding of how their daily actions affect the environments, including contributing to water pollution and climate change.
Greater Woodward Community Development Corporation
Grant Amount: $4966
Project Title: Oakland Avenue Garden Solar Enhancement Project
Project Description: Our North End Detroit community lacks security of food, water, and jobs. With the installation of a solar array on the Oakland Avenue Garden & Farmer’s Market will greatly benefit this existing garden which has operated for five years, by 1) extending the growing season by 2 months, enabling the garden to produce more food for the Emergency Food Pantry; 2) addressing issues of extreme weather providing power to operate fans in hot months and provide heat in cooler months; 3) capture and move rain water from the cistern to the garden; 4) beginning an education process on grassroots solutions to climate issues; 5) transitioning off of the electric grid and utilize solar energy for all garden functions; and 6) creating meaningful work for our residents by using community members trained in solar installation.
Neighbors Building Brightmoor
Grant Amount: $4734
Project Title: Rain Water Catchment and Rain Garden Project
Project Description: Neighbors Building Brightmoor’s two-ponged project will result in the construction of rainwater catchment systems consisting of a number of roofed and un-roofed structures that will catch and channel rain water into a series of large holding tanks for watering three neighborhood gardens through the use of drip tape or watering cans. We will also construct a large rain garden next to one of our neighborhood gardens in order to help resolve a storm water flooding problem, redirection the water away from the city sewer system and sinking into the nearby soil.
Voices for Earth Justice
Grant Amount: $4400
Project Title: Garden Demonstration and Education in Brightmoor, Detroit
Project Description: Voices for Earth Justice will build a large rain garden in front of our environmental education center in northwest Detroit (Brightmoor area), called Hope House. Voices for Earth Justice will use the rain garden as an educational tool to demonstrate low-impact solutions to community stormwater problems in Brightmoor. We will conduct community tours, and educational presentations to promote rain gardens as a way to adapt to climate change. In addition, Voices for Earth Justice will assist with the building of more rain gardens in Brightmoor in the next year.
Grand Rapids Whitewater
Grant Amount: $18293.10
Project Title: Understanding Habitat Conditions and Populations of Snuffbox Mussels in the Grand River
Project Description: The Grand Rapids Restoration project will transform the urbanized reach of the Grand River through Grand Rapids, MI from a uniform channel, with a series of dams over 100 years old, into the dynamic river system it once was. As an initial step to achieve this, GRWW has hired Ecological Specialists, Inc., to investigate the current population and distribution of the endangered freshwater snuffbox mussel (Epioblasma triquetra). This funding will be used to analyze the data recently collected and to complete a comprehensive report that can be used to guide habitat restoration efforts and satisfy permit requirements.
Kalamazoo Nature Center
Grant Amount: $7312.90
Project Title: Building Bridges: Moving Wetland Restoration Forward with Community Power
Project Description: A 1500 acre wetland restoration funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is nearly complete. HOW funds will be used to examine Floristic Quality Analysis (FQA) data collected to determine restoration impacts and apply toward future restoration work. HOW funds will also be used to cover staff time in securing 2014 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grant awards for new restoration work.
The Stewardship Network
Grant Amount: $15000
Project Title: Exploring Wild Rice Restoration in Saginaw Bay � A Pilot Project
Project Description: Wild Rice historically occurred in and around Saginaw Bay and is a significant coastal wetland type that provided critical habitat for waterfowl species and other wildlife. It is also culturally and spiritually important to the Anishinaabe people. Wild rice has significant challenges throughout the Bay, including pressures from climate change, decreasing water levels, and impacts of invasive species. This unique pilot project will begin the process of returning Wild Rice by addressing invasive phragmites. This project will further leverage this opportunity by educating the public about wild rice and identifying locations for future wild rice restoration.
Clinton River Watershed Council
Grant Amount: $15000
Project Title: Building Green Infrastructure Capacity in the Clinton River Watershed and Lake St. Clair
Project Description: Storm water is the greatest pollutant in the Clinton River Watershed. Without Significant advancement in runoff reduction, aquatic habitat will continue to be degraded into the future. Implementation of green infrastructure (GI) for storm water management is moving slowly in southeast Michigan. This project will coordinate with our Water Towns initiative to work with local communities to identify barriers to GI implementation, develop preliminary concepts for GI project opportunities, qualify runoff reduction benefits of those projects in high-visibility location, and identify project for a future federal grant (i.e. GLRI) implementation project.
Milwaukee Riverkeeper
Grant Amount: $15000
Project Title: Removing Impediments to Fish Passage in the Menomonee River
Project Description: Over the past two years, we have been identifying and mapping any impediments or barriers to fish passage in the Menomonee River and its tributaries, with a long-term goal of allowing fish to swim freely upstream and access spawning habitat. Now that we have identified and prioritized impediments, we seek funding to develop our GLRI proposal for removing them. We will also seek opportunities to enhance aquatic habitat by reconnecting floodplains and wetland habitat to streams.
St. Louis River Alliance
Grant Amount: $14394
Project Title: St. Louis River Area of Concern Project Support
Project Description: The St. Louis River Alliance (SLRA) seeks support to hire a part time employee for one year to perform administrative tasks that associated with its five-year project to restore piping plover in the St. Louis River AOC funded by the USFWS. The SLRA also seeks support for two outreach tools that will expand its efforts to educate and engage the public to the piping plover project. This will include producing and distributing an e newsletter for one year as well as designing and producing a table top informational display that will be used in outreach events.
Friends of the Detroit River
Grant Amount: $15000
Project Title: Support for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Summer and Fall Request for Applications
Project Description: The Detroit River AOC PAC recently asked FDR to respond to the to the U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office Great Lakes Restoration Initiative July 15th 2013 Request for Applications (RFA) in the category of Invasive Species Prevention and Control. This HOW grant would provide funds to cover FDR staff labor and expenses associated with preparation of the application along with the same costs associated with a GLRI RFA anticipated to be released in the fall of 2013. Detailed information is provided in this funding request for the Summer GLRI application. Although categories for the Fall GLRI RFA are unknown, FDR anticipates submitting a habitat restoration project on Belle Isle involving Lake Okonoka to further strengthen previous and proposed work on the island’s east end.
East Algoma Stewardship Council
Grant Amount: $787.50
Project Description: Develop a Transition Plan that will review modification and implementation of a strategic plan.
LakeDance
Grant Amount: $1800
Project Description: Develop a Strategic Plan development.
Environment Erie
Grant Amount: $2500
Project Description: Consulting to lead a process to determine a new structure for NWPAGE and develop a communications strategy and implementation plan for the resulting entity.
Raven Hill Discovery Center
Grant Amount: $1500
Project Description: Develop a Staff Succession Plan.
Blacks in Green
Grant Amount: $: 3375
Project Description: Blacks in Green has been awarded consultation services with Freshwater Future to assist Blacks in Green as they continue to grow the capacity of the organization.
Muskoka Conservancy
Grant Amount: $3375
Ecolibrium3
Grant Amount: $2250
Project Description: Assist with the development of a strategy to diversify funding
Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation
Grant Amount: $1968.75
East Algoma Stewardship Council
Grant Amount: $1912.5
Project Description: East Algoma Stewardship Council has been awarded consultation services with Freshwater Future to: Develop a Transition Plan that will review their current challenges and opportunities to determine how they will function and what goals and objectives from the Strategic Plan will be maintained or modified.
Kalamazoo Nature Center
Grant Amount: $1875
Project Description:
Kalamazoo Nature Center has been awarded consultation services with Freshwater Future to plan climate adaptation projects.
Centre for Sustainable Watersheds
Grant Amount: $1125
Project Description: Centre for Sustainable Watersheds has been awarded consultation services.
West Grand Boulevard Collaborative
Grant Amount: $2250
Highway J Citizens Group
Grant Amount: $1125
Project Description: We will strategize on how to engage other entities also concerned about fiscal responsibility, as well as develop a communication strategy once the issue strategy is developed.
Bad River Youth Outdoors
Grant Amount: $1687.50
Project Description: Development of plans for fundraising, communications, and advocacy for the organization.
Nature Abounds
Grant Amount: $1125
Project Description: Leadership consulting & training.
River Network
Grant Amount: $475
Project Description: Consulting.
American Friends of Canadian Land Trusts
Grant Amount: $500
Project Description: Outreach & research
Sustainable Eastern Ontario
Grant Amount: $2500
Project Description: Strategic planning.
Laura Gauger
Grant Amount: $1500
Project Description: Assistance in developing a fundraising campaign.
The Climate Charity Foundation
Grant Amount: $3300
Project Description: Assistance to New Non-profit Organization
Blacks in Green
Grant Amount: $3000
Project Description: Capacity growth planning
Centre for Sustainable Watersheds
Grant Amount: $1700
Project Description: Development of a strategic and fundraising plan.
Ladies of the Lake Conservation Association
Grant Amount: $1500
Project Description: Insight Services to develop a strategic plan
Eden Gardens Block Club
Grant Amount: $1125
Project Description: Fundraising planning.
Great Lakes Commons Map
Grant Amount: $1050
Project Description: Consulting to facilitate visioning, strategic planning and program development with Great Lakes Commons Map.
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