The McKnight Foundation in Minneapolis has announced third-quarter grants totaling $28.9 million to seventy-nine nonprofit organizations.

Six grants totaling $935,000 were awarded to organizations working to restore and protect floodplains and wetlands in the ten-state Mississippi River corridor. Recipients include Ducks Unlimited, which was awarded $300,000 to advance conservation and wetland restoration in the upper Mississippi River states; the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, which will receive $200,000 for general operating support; Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund, which was awarded $160,000 to analyze and clarify legal issues surrounding restoration efforts in the Mississippi River basin and coastal Louisiana; River Network, which will receive $120,000 in support of the Mississippi River Collaborative; Bayou Grace Community Services, which was awarded $80,000 to mobilize residents of rural southern Louisiana to advocate for the environmental health of their communities; and the Trust for Coastal Stewardship, which will receive $75,000 for its ongoing efforts to accelerate coastal restoration in Louisiana.

"The health of the floodplains and wetlands along the Mississippi River has a direct impact on the resilience of the river itself," said McKnight Foundation board chair Ted Staryk. "We are fortunate to work with organizations like these, employing innovative strategies to protect all twenty-three hundred miles of this vital national treasure."

For a complete list of the foundation's third-quarter grants, visit the McKnight Foundation Web site.