Restoring the Great Lakes: Success Stories from the 2014 Field Season

Over the past five years the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has blossomed from a line item in the President’s budget into a rich mosaic of conservation actions taking place across the Great Lakes basin. We’re excited to say, this is only the beginning. Bringing tangible environmental change to the Great Lakes is a marathon and with the assistance of GLRI our staff and our partners are off to a strong start.

Through our 2014 inter-agency agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received more than $49 million to support new and ongoing Great Lakes projects. In total, we have received more than $230 million over the past five years. As always, we are proud to share our accomplishments with you. The 2014 edition of Restoring the Great Lakes focuses on the progress of projects, as well as highlighting a few new projects to keep your eye on.

For our readers who live, work and play on or around the Great Lakes, you already know how precious a resource the Great Lakes are to our country. To our friends who live in distant places, and who may not have had a chance to experience the wonder of the Great Lakes, please know that our work may still touch your life in unexpected ways. The songbird chirping by your window or waterfowl swimming in your local pond is a testament to our migratory bird habitat work in the Great Lakes. It reminds us that we live in an interconnected world where the results of conservation actions happening thousands of miles away may still find their way into our lives.

We invite you out to our national wildlife refuges and national fish hatcheries to learn more about the work that we do and the people who make it happen. Our GLRI supported projects in the Great Lakes reflect the passion and hard work of our staff. Come witness it for yourself.