Sustain Our Great Lakes (SOGL), a program administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, has announced grants totaling $7.48 million in support of twenty-three ecological restoration projects.

The grants will support projects that sustain, restore, and protect fish, wildlife, and habitats in the Great Lakes basin, with a focus on coastal wetland restoration efforts, efforts to improve the quality and connectivity of streams and riparian habitat, and green stormwater infrastructure projects. To that end, the grants will support projects to reopen 162 miles of river for fish passage; restore three miles of stream and riparian habitat; remove or bypass 29 barriers to aquatic organism passage; control invasive species on more than 1,422 acres; and add more than 46.4 million gallons of stormwater storage. Approximately $12 million in additional project support will be leveraged by grantees, for a total on-the-ground conservation impact of more than $19.5 million.

Funded through a public-private partnership, the program also receives support from ArcelorMittal and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a federal program designed to protect, restore, and enhance the Great Lakes ecosystem. Since 2006, SOGL has awarded nearly three hundred grants totaling more than $67 million and leveraged an additional $77 million in matching contributions, for a total conservation investment of more than $144 million.

"The Sustain Our Great Lakes partnership shows that we are stronger and more impactful when the public and private sectors work together to meet conservation challenges," said NFWF executive director and CEO Jeff Trandahl. "Through the awards announced today, Sustain Our Great Lakes will continue to invest in critical restoration activities throughout the basin to protect and preserve this resource for both wildlife and people."