GLFT Grant Library

The purpose of this project was to develop engineering plans and a cost estimate for the renovation/rehabilitation of the Boat Club Pier to improve fishing access at Belle Isle Park in Detroit, Michigan.  The scope for design of the project also included parking lot improvements, bridge replacement, lighting, walkway construction and the filling of dilapidated swimming pools to ensure safe access to the pier.  The project officially kicked off in 2015.  The final engineering documents for the pier were developed and delivered to the DNR in December, 2016.  A final cost estimate was also developed to guide future fundraising efforts for implementation of the construction phase of the project.

The project removed the final (culvert) barrier in the North Branch of the White River. Fifteen river miles were opened, making the North Branch navigable for the first time since the logging era. A timber bridge spanning the bankfull width was installed and the river has returned to its natural channel.

Funded in part by the Great Lakes Fishery Trust, the Barrier Removal Collaborative Suite (BRCS) is a collaborative web platform that contains interactive mapping; standardized and current water, barrier, and invasive species data sets; and mechanisms for users to post comments, preferences, priorities, data, and plans. The platform allows users to share their views on water barriers and tributaries, comment on individual posts, create topics to discuss, and form shared interest groups to collaborate on barriers. The BRCS can also serve as a decision support tool that allows users to draw on the tool’s maps, save their individual project plans, as well as import plans created by other users in the BRCS. The main goal of the tool is to allow stakeholders to work in a cooperative online environment and provide a decision support tool based on the best available data. The project team integrated a survey mechanism into the BRCS that allows users to rank important areas and reach a consensus around those areas. Using data from the survey mechanism, the BRCS creates a grid heat map that shows the amount of agreement or disagreement around a particular area. These areas are designated as “Consensus Levels”. The tool is available for use here: http://brcs.seasketch.org/

The Grand Rapids Public Museum "Classroom with a Current" program provided an opportunity for thousands of students to experience inquiry-based learning with a focus on the Great Lakes. Programs were designed to provide information that assisted students in becoming (1) active and effective stewards of the Great Lakes and (2) advocates for strategies that support the long-term sustainability of the Great Lakes fisheries. Programming included new museum-based field trip programs, summer camp experiences, an after-school program, and a youth watershed team. The highest level of engagement was through the summer camp experiences and field trip-based programs.

The project is complete. During the grant period, the Vernal Pool Patrol, a statewide citizen science- and place-based vernal pool mapping and monitoring program, was adapted for K-12 educators and students, primarily at the upper elementary, middle and high school levels, to get involved with the program. A total of 18 teachers/educators and over 740 upper elementary, middle, and high school students from 13 different schools across northern Michigan were trained and participated in the Vernal Pool Patrol pilot program between 2015 and 2017. Over 25 community partners also assisted the teachers and students and participated in the pilot program. All the teachers who participated in the program and the evaluation said that they would recommend the program to other teachers. The teachers also said that the students enjoyed and were highly engaged in the program. A web-based platform (i.e., Google form) was developed for students to enter, view, and download their vernal pool monitoring data as well as data collected by students monitoring other vernal pools in the project area. The Vernal Pool Patrol pilot program provided additional information on vernal pools and increased our knowledge and understanding of their status, distribution, and ecology in Michigan. At least 20 new vernal pools were identified, mapped, and monitored by the educators and students. Fairy shrimp, which only live in vernal pools, was found by the students in at least eight of the vernal pools that were monitored, including perhaps the first documentation of fairy shrimp in a wooded dune and swale natural community. The program resulted in significant increases in awareness and understanding of vernal pools and an increase in attitudes towards stewardship. It resulted in new collaborations with a number of teachers, students, and community partners, including the GLSI, and stronger and expanded existing partnerships for MNFI in the project area.

The Watershed Academy engaged and supported students from Northern Michigan high schools in water quality monitoring experiences. Students were provided with tools and knowledge to collect water quality data and assess stream health in the local watershed to foster an attitude of stewardship. Watershed Academy students worked in small groups to become experts and share their findings with classmates, school and community. Data collected at stream sites was entered into a database used to inform and prepare communities to tackle tough management issues such as invasive species management, habitat restoration and water quality in the future.

This proposal included the three following tasks: A) Compile and summarize appropriate and available datasets; B) Identify the classification framework to be used and develop fish habitat classification; and C) Conduct Nearshore and Coastal Habitat Condition Assessment. The research team decided to divide the assessment into two parts, a Coastal and a Nearshore Assessment, in part due to the different types of data that were available and in part due to data availability and sharing constraints. The two assessments are conducted on different parts of the coastal and nearshore zones: Coastal includes habitat from 0-3 m deep and the Nearshore extends from 3 to 30 m deep (15 m in Lake Erie). The two teams coordinated throughout the project and identified a broad assessment approach that both teams followed (Fig. 1); however, due to different spatial scales and data types, the teams used zone-specific analytical approaches and fish metrics. In general, we also agreed that abundance data were preferred if possible. 

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes (HOW) Coalition is improving the health of the Great Lakes through their project “Growing and Sustaining Great Lakes Restoration Successes” which addresses historic threats to the Lakes through on the ground restoration work. The project will provide capacity building grants to local and state non-profit organizations in eight priority areas across the Great Lakes region to help them successfully implement restoration projects through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI)

The project will support the Chicago Area Waterway System Advisory Committee in evaluating technical issues necessary to reach consensus on a long-term solution for preventing the movement of Asian carp and other aquatic invasive species between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River. The committee is working to reach consensus on a solution to this challenge and requires support from technical experts to evaluate issues related to water quality, flooding, transportation and AIS risk reduction. 

The Goundswell Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative Hub developed and implemented a web-based application to guide and assist educators through the process of high-quality place-based education knowledge acquisition. The application, Student 2 Steward is located at www.student2steward.com.

Ozaukee County completed a large-scale habitat restoration project on Ulao Creek, which is a tributary to the Milwaukee River. The project team restored multiple stream reaches for maximum ecological productivity by remeandering 1,769 feet of stream channel, reconnecting 140 acres of 100 year floodplains and 14.3 acres of wetlands, as well as installing fish habitat structures.

This project will remove the Pucker Street dam, the most significant impairment affecting aquatic species connectivity and sediment transport on the Dowagiac River in southwest Michigan. The project will result in improved and safer access for fishing and also reconnect over 159 miles of the Dowagiac River system and 11,000 acres of wetlands to the St. Joseph River. Several fish species will benefit including salmon, steelhead, walleye, smallmouth bass and suckers.

The GLFT granted the DNR $500,000 dollars to replace the R/V Chinook that operates on Lake Huron. A new vessel will ensure continuation of long-term monitoring efforts, increase vessel efficiency, and improve surveys for inter-lake comparisons. The vessel will collaborate with other state, federal, tribal, and provincial partner agencies on predator and prey fish stock assessments. GLFT partnership with the DNR in this venture will help to ensure the continued health of a muti-species fishery worth an estimated $74 million annually. 

The final report for this project will become available after grant is officially completed in 2017.

The GLFT has granted funding for a pilot project to support the development of next generation teachers and schools to advance PBE through scholarship, cross-curricular connections, and exploration of best practices for PBE in teacher training (hereby referred to as “the Next Generation strategy”). Through development of instructional techniques and support for handson learning of PBE pedagogy with pre-service teachers, this Innovation grant will support scholarship and research to advance the understanding of what is required to effectively teach students seeking to enter the teaching profession how to enact practices that are consistent with the principles of PBE. In addition, the project will advance the Hub’s goal of deepening teacher engagement and expanding teacher participation in PBE projects within school buildings currently participating in the Discovering Place (DP) hub. Finally, because the outcome is to encourage the next generation of teachers to value PBE and to develop the skills and dispositions requisite for PBE, the project will align with the 2017 GLSI goals of making PBE a central instructional strategy that is rigorous and developing, and would support long-term sustainability of PBE pedagogy. 

The Michigan Place-Based Leadership Network (MPBLN) project will support educational leaders who value the principles of Place-Based Education (PBE). Current policy and practice environments make it challenging for leaders, especially those that serve students in poverty, to create and sustain educational environments that support PBE. Leaders face significant time constraints for the planning and reflection needed to implement PBE projects. Additionally they are often isolated and have limited opportunities to share knowledge and resources with each other. The proposed leadership network (MPBLN) supports a real need of leaders that are committed to helping their students become stewards of their environment.

As part of the largest dam removal effort in Michigan’s history, the second of three dams was removed on the Boardman River, a state-designated Natural River and Blue Ribbon trout stream in northern Michigan. The Boardman Dam Removal Project is a signature effort that will ultimately reconnect 160 miles of prime fishery habitat, removing three dams and modifying a fourth to block invasives and provide fish passage to and from the Great Lakes.

The goal of the 125 member Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes (HOW) Coalition is to improve the health of the Great Lakes by addressing historic threats and preparing for new challenges. HOW’s “Restoring the Great Lakes: One Project at a Time” project will provide capacity building grants to local and state non-profit organizations in eight priority areas across the Great Lakes region to help them successfully implement restoration projects through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI).

The Classroom with a Current Project engaged and supported a team of local high school students to design concepts for a new experiential watershed education exhibit or facility at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. The students’ concepts will inform a major museum redesign of existing natural history and interpretive exhibits to provide more comprehensive watershed and fisheries education opportunities for the West Michigan community to increase awareness, understanding and advocacy of the Great Lakes.

The project will determine the optimal environmental temperatures for juvenile lake sturgeon to be reared at, as well as the growth rate of these fish at 5 different water temperatures, including 3 replicates per water temperature regime. This will allow managers to construct growth models to model production programs, project size at stocking and project feed rates for the overall program and feed rates to feed at varying water temperatures.

This grant funded the Muskegon Environmental Research & Education Society to develop a business plan for the organization and improvements at the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve, including describing the organization's mission, values, history, and current programming; the community need for the organization and improvements at the preserve; a market and competition analysis; and a strategic, financial, governance, personnel, and development plan for the organization and future programing and improvements.

The Parks and Recreation Division of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, in partnership with the Marketing and Outreach Division and the Michigan Historic Center will construct interactive interpretive exhibits at the newly restored Ludington Beach House for the purposes of inspiring and engaging visitors to get involved with Great Lakes fish conservation and Great Lakes fishing recreation.

This grant award will help fund the construction cost of two fishing platforms to be integrated into a new marina complex at Peshawbestown, Leelanau County Michigan. This directly supports GLFT’s goal of increasing tribal and public access to fishing on the Great Lakes (Lake Michigan) and will include the advantages of sufficient parking, walkways and restrooms. This is an active fishing area, with a longtime fishing heritage, and the platforms allow anglers to reach viable deep waters via casts

This project improved angler access at Holland State Park by removing physical barriers and paving a walkway along the channel between Lake Macatawa and Lake Michigan.

The grant was used to complete the design, preliminary engineering, studies and construction drawings and details to build an approx. 550 foot, universally accessible fishing pier at the mouth of the Boardman River on Grand Traverse Bay. The pier will provide unique, outstanding access for people of all ages, needs and abilities to fish for migratory and other species, and to learn about the Great Lakes, the importance of stewardship and the value, challenges and opportunities involving the fishery.

The Sault Tribe developed a tribal fishing access and mooring facility on the north shore of Lake Michigan, near Epoufette, MI. The project expanded and improved a long-existing commercial fishing access and dock facility that was in disrepair and unusable for commercial fishing vessels. The project provided: mooring for large commercial boats; launch capabilities for commercial, enforcement, biological, and recreational vessels; and parking.

The GLFT has awarded funding to The Superior Watershed Partnership (SWP) to establish a GLSI Base  Hub.  Becoming a Hub will build on and expand SWP’s successful youth conservation and innovative  environmental  education  programs, thus facilitating establishment of sustainable place-based education  (PBE) in its primary service regions and allowing expansion into the greater SWP mission area

Muskegon Area ISD Continuation Grant 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.

The GLFT provided funding 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 is accomplished by bringing schools and community partners together.

This grant was funded under the GLFT's Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative (GLSI). It builds on a capacity-building grant provided earlier by the GLFT. The grant funded a planning process for a GLSI hub to serve six counties in northeastern lower Michigan. The process resulted in an implementation plan for the hub, which was successfully submitted to the GLFT for funding.

The goal of this project was to promote a watershed approach to freshwater stewardship and help students understand their connection to water in the region and the need to preserve and protect our natural resources.

The Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education focused its Great Lakes stewardship efforts in the five western counties of Michigan's Upper Peninsula: Houghton, Baraga, Keweenaw, Gogebic, and Ontonagon. The Center worked closely with the other five math/science centers in the Upper Peninsula to share strategies, resources, and professional development opportunities in order to facilitate their future engagement in this effort.

This proposal sought to increase environmental stewardship of the Grand River Watershed in Kent County through education within school settings and community-school partnerships. It utilized place-based education, academic service learning, and the strengths of Kent County's community organizations in creating a systemic, comprehensive and transparent Hub aimed at promoting and addressing community engagement in the Grand River Watershed and developing environmental stewardship 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 focused on two themes: 1) Interconnectedness of community, land, and water, and 2) community, water and land can all be recovered and transformed.

Funding support from the GLFT improved fish habitat and water quality on an impaired tributary to Kids Creek in the Grand Traverse Bay watershed. The Watershed Center worked with the Munson Medical Center to daylight a section of creek on the hospital's new Cancer Center campus by replacing underground culverts and channelized ditches with a natural meandering channel, replacing two street culverts with open bottom bridge structures, installing in-stream habitat and establishing a riparian buffer and floodplain.

This project remediated a failing dam and a four-barrel culvert crossing in Mineral Springs Creek. The stream is heavily manipulated and multiple fish passage projects are underway downstream of the dam site. Project activities reconnected 1.02 stream miles and 25.3 acres of high-quality wetland habitat to Lake Michigan, directly benefiting seasonal spawning runs of northern pike, suckers and red horse, Chinook salmon, Coho salmon, and steelhead.

The GLFT provided funding support to Oceana County to replace two perched, collapsing culverts on Cleveland Road at its crossing of Brayton Creek. The culverts prevented passage for resident and migratory species in the White River watershed. The failing culverts were replaced with timber bridge spanning the bankfull width.

The goal of the project was to complete a large scale fish passage and stream habitat improvement and restoration project on the Monomonee River within the Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern. The project removed five manmade barriers to fish in Milwaukee county, WI. The five channel locations were modified through bioengineering to restore natural hydraulic function and to improve habitat by mimicking the pool and riffle sequences of the natural river system.

The project restored fish passage to Haynes Creek, as well as another nearby unnamed tributary to the Black River in Alcona County by replacing the perched culverts at the Beaton and Quick Road crossings on Haynes Creek and the crossing on Poor Farm Road.