GLFT Grant Library

This program promotes a watershed approach to freshwater stewardship, helping students understand their connection to water in the region, and the need to preserve and protect our natural resources.

This program was designed to create and maintain a strong coalition of community partners to work with students and teachers grades 6-12 to inspire lifelong environmental stewardship, with a focus on the Grand River Watershed in Kent county.

GRAND learning Network is a network team from MSU that works with teacher leaders who take part in advanced professional development in PBE, Great Lakes content, and school change. They coach other teachers involved in Summer Institutes, foundational PD, and school-community stewardship.

This project developed a Great Lakes aquatic habitat database and classification framework that integrates key habitat components to address loca, lake-wide, and basin-wide restoration and management needs. It covers the entire Great Lakes basin, but focuses on coastal and nearshore systems. The tool provides managers with an essential capability to link, map, and prioritize restoration projects in the Great Lakes system and deliver the first consistent geographic framework to integrate and track monitoring, assessment, indicator development, ecological forecasting, and restoration activities across the Great Lakes.

The goal of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition (HOW)  was to improve the health of the Great Lakes by addressing historic stresses and preparing new challenges. This project used the GLFT funds to award grants ranging from $8-15,000. It gave local and state non-profit organizations in four priority areas across the Great Lakes regions seed money and capacity building grants to help them successfully implement the components of the Great Lakes

This project funded the construction of an all-metal removable boat ramp that has enhanced tribal and recreational fishing opportunities in the northern tip of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. The ramp portion is 16’ wide and 50’ long. It is constructed of a metal grid over a rigid frame. It is mounted on tires for easier installation and extraction. There are skid piers on each side that are 5’ wide and 32’ long. The ramp is in use and provides easier access to Lake Michigan for as many as five different fishing boats. A vault toilet also installed on site to improve usability. The project achieved its primary goal of providing a superior boat ramp.

A 3-day regional conference in Detroit, Kalamazoo, and Midland, each involving 40-50 students and focusing on Great Lakes Water resources. Students will examine water use from various perspectives and identify policies and programs that protect water resources. Forty of these students will be selected to attend a 4-day Youth Policy Summit, where they will interact with experts, learn about conflict resolution, and develop consensus-based recommendations for policies and projects.

This grant provided support and expertise to organizations in Michigan to assist with the development of Michigan's Environmental Literacy Plan.

Project addressed threats to the health of the Great Lakes, including Asian carp and other aquatic invasive species from the Mississippi River watershed via the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS). The project team worked with stakeholders to develop separation alternatives that stop the open flow of water between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River watershed via the CAWS and maintain or enhance the system’s benefits through investments in flood management, water quality, and transportation.

Traverse City, in partnership with Grant Traverse County and other community stakeholders, received grant funding to remove the Brown Bridge Dam on the Boardman River in Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula.

Pier Michigan is a collaborative project between MUCC and the GLFT to create a web-based initiative designed to increase public awareness and use of pier fishing opportunities. Shore-based fishing access in Michigan is plentiful, but until now, no clearinghouse has been available with all the information an angler needs to be successful, including fish species present and site amenities.  Through Pier Michigan, the Great Lakes Fishery Trust will continue to increase the impact it has on recreational fishing in Michigan by exposing an increasing number of people to the recreational opportunities provided by our Great Lakes fishery assets.

This project improved Great Lakes health by setting up a small grants program in order to implement restoration strategies with the help of local organizations.

The Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources (IJNR) offered a "refresher training" program, that expanded the issue-based knowledge of experienced journalists about major ecological and natural resource challenges facing Lake Michigan and the four other Great Lakes.

GLLA prepares diverse groups of leaders to become active, effective stewards of Michigan's natural resources and advocates for strategies that support sustainability.

This project funded the engineering of a biocide treatment system developed specifically for Great Lakes shipping needs on a specific ship with the largest pumping capacities in a timely manner to inform the USCG rulemaking process.

Explore the Shores is the implementation of a vital component of Manistee County's visioning process: providing more recreational access to the Great Lakes fishery for people of all ages and abilities. The project was built on four themes: 1) water stewardship; 2) the life cycles of native and non-native migratory fish species; 3) "teach a person to fish;" and 4) the importance of universal access to citizens’ quality of life and economic well-being.

Explore the Shores is the implementation of a vital component of Manistee County's visioning process--providing increased recreational access to the Great Lakes fishery for people of all ages and abilities. The project was built on four themes: 1) water stewardship; 2) the life cycles of native and non-native migratory fish species; 3) "teach a person to fish;" and 4) the importance of universal access to our quality of life and economic well-being.

LSSU’s Aquatic Research Lab (ARL) has experienced tremendous growth in fisheries research and education over the past decade. However, the facility can no longer meet current demands. This proposal seeks funding to help enhance the ARL’s facilities to address demands for timely fish disease information and fisheries research in the upper Great Lakes. The requested funding is part of a larger project to expand classroom space, outreach, and enhance rearing and analytical testing facilities.

This Implementation Plan describes the proposed activities for the new Grand Traverse Regional Hub for Place-Based Education as part of the Great Lakes Fishery Trust's Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative. The Implementation Plan incorporates the needs and capacities of a variety of academic and community partners in the region that are eager to incorporate sustained professional development for teachers, school-community partnerships and place-based education into their work…with an ultimate goal of Great Lakes stewardsh

The GLFT partially funded the construction of a 740-foot-long dock that connects to a 200-foot fishing pier. The project provides accessible shore-based fishing opportunities on the Detroit river and is located at the gateway to the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. In addition to fishing access, there was need of a new dock for the Michigan Sea Grant’s Great Lakes school ship on the Detroit River and western Lake Erie. The school ship will dock at the refuge gateway to make use of the river and refuge as a living laboratory for children. School children from all Detroit Metropolitan Area communities will come regularly to the refuge gateway for day-long field trips aboard the school ship. The SEMCOG/Metropolitan Affairs Coalition estimates at least 9,000 individual fishing trips to the dock each year. 

Explore the Shores is the implementation of a vital component of Manistee County's visioning process: providing increased recreational access to the Great Lakes fishery for people of all ages and abilities. The project is built on four themes: 1) water stewardship; 2) the life cycles of native and non-native migratory fish species; 3) "teach a person to fish;" and 4) the importance of universal access to our quality of life and economic well-being.

This project developed a plan to expand an environmental news service operated by the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism at Michigan State University. Through this effort, the project team  developed and evaluated strategies to garner greater support from Great Lakes funders, and enhance partnerships with news organizations to distribute content. The project team also examined  funding models and structures of other nonprofit news services.

MUCC’s Institute for Conservation Education (ICE) increased awareness and understanding of the biological, economic, and social science supporting natural resources management decisions to ultimately motivate citizens of all ages to move from education to active and dedicated stewardship of Michigan’s natural resources.

The Flint Area Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative helped students learn about local community issues. Place-based education was used as the tool to help teachers and students feel more empowered to enact local changes.

This project increased environmental stewardship within the Grand River Watershed in Kent County through education in school settings and community-school partnerships. It worked with community organizations to create a systemic and comprehensive “hub” aimed at promoting and addressing community engagement to further develop environmental stewardship in Kent County.

This project implemented a regionally developed vision, direction, and strategic plan to establish and launch a regional network of partners and programming in support of place-based or community-based education programming in Northeast Michigan. Programming to serve and support Great Lakes stewardship education and project opportunities with school and community partners in Cheboygan-Otsego-Presque Isle and Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District was also developed.

The purpose of this project was to secure the purchase of 128 acres of the Arcadia Marsh, a Great Lakes coastal emergent wetland, near Arcadia, MI.

The goal of Muskegon Area ISD Continuation Grant was, through K-12 Place-Based Education, to foster stewardship of Great Lakes, Implement communications plan, and institutionalize place-based education as key research-based instructional method

This project allowed students and teachers to work with community partners and take environmental action using informed decisions concerning the stewardship of their local watershed.

Ongoing support for The Environment Report for their ongoing work to provide information to individuals in Michigan and thoughout the Nation about Great Lakes ecology issues. This grant will provide support for this unique service that combines the distinctive powers of public radio and the internet with a passion and dedication to create a better balance with the natural world.

This grant was used to increase forest cover in the watershed (identified by previous GLFT-funded research as a priority action to protect the long-term health of the Muskegon River), support educational programming, provide base operating support, and produce a sustainability plan for the organization.

The goal of the project was to develop students as citizen stewards able to understand and promote healthy ecological and social systems affecting the Great Lakes basin and their communities through community-based learning projects. This was accomplished by bringing schools and community partners together.

The GLFT provided funding to the HeadWaters Land Conservancy (HWLC) to identify priority parcels for conservation within the Au Sable watershed and support landowner outreach efforts leading to new conservation easements. Through the GLFT’s support, the HWLC placed easements on seven properties representing 507 acres of land and 15,896 feet of waterfront.

Using genetic and age composition data, Michigan State University's Department of Fisheries and Wildlife developed new methods for identifying stock and cohort contribution to admixed, open-water fisheries. This innovation improves the ability to evaluate stock-specific recruitment from routine assessment or harvest data. The usefulness and performance of this new method were demonstrated with simulations and applications to Great Lakes stocks of lake sturgeon, lake trout, and walleye, which range in longevity, aging uncertainty and geographic scale of movements.

Thiamine Deficiency Complex (TDC), caused by thiaminase in the diet, adversely affects reproduction in Great Lakes lake trout, resulting in fry mortality. Thiaminase in prey may come from thiaminase-producing bacteria or may be produced de novo by the fish themselves. Preliminary data indicate that thiaminase-producing bacteria Paenibacillus thiaminolyticus are undetectable in some alewife with high thiaminase activity. Oregon State University used genetic and biochemical approaches to determine if alewife produce thiaminase de novo.

This study encompassed molecular, histological, and microbiological analyses of preserved Diporeia collected from the Great Lakes over three decades. Microorganisms and parasites will be identified and quantified. Quantitative analysis was combined the results obtained on disease status and prevailing environmental conditions during sampling in a system of analysis. The study helped developed a better understanding to the mechanism(s) that led to Diporeia decline in the Laurentian Great Lakes.

Despite agency actions (regulations, outreach programs) in Ontario and Michigan to halt the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS) and viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) in the Great Lakes basin, live baitfish are thought to be a growing vector for these problems. Mail surveys of anglers and bait industry individuals were used to learn why live baitfish continue to be illegally dumped in the basin's waters despite management efforts to stop this practice. Results are being used to strengthen management programs.

This grant money was used for the transfer of the Calhoun County conservation easement.

The Nature Conservancy received funding from the GLFT to support fee acquisition of 179 acres, including 2,750 feet of Lake Michigan shoreline, along the garden peninsula. The acquisition represents Phase III of a four-phase, multi-partner effort to protect 1,153 acres of coastal wetland and adjoining upland habitat.

Large scale mortality of fish due to Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) has resulted in an urgent need to contain the pathogen and inhibit its rapid spread to all Great Lakes and inland waters. This project’s goal was to promote development of an effective chemical delivery system to treat ballast water, which helps stop the spread of this pathogen and help prevent the introduction of new invasive species and fish diseases to the Great Lakes.

The 2007 Consent Decree, signed by five tribal nations, the State of Michigan and the United States, recognized tribal rights for hunting, fishing, and gathering within the inland portion of the 1836 Treaty of Washington ceded territory. Tribal rights for the Great Lakes had been established prior to this agreement, which contained similarities and differences in institutional structure. The 2007 Inland Decree recognized the tribes may need to conduct biological assessments and restoration—as well as reclamation and enhancement activities—and specific provisions were developed recognizing this need.

When the 2007 Consent Decree was signed, and since that time, leaders of the respective agencies  recognized that an opportunity existed to collaborate to achieve outcomes that would protect the fishery resource within the treaty area in a mutually beneficial manner. Grant funding from the Great Lakes Fishery Trust  enabled the project team to work with the respective agencies to develop strategies for collaboration on assessment and restoration activities.