HOW Coalition Newsletter
December 9, 2024
Let's get the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2024 passed!
You can contact your Representative by emailing your Representative and/or their staff (online directory). You can also contact them via that Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-312.
Read the HOW Coalition’s release on the Senate passage
Main message:
Federal Great Lakes restoration investments are producing ecological and economic results. But serious threats remain. The House must continue supporting our communities by passing the Senate version of the GLRI Act of 2024 to protect our drinking water, public health, jobs, and quality of life. Cuts will only make problems worse and more expensive to solve.
Talking points:
- Federal investments to protect and restore the Great Lakes are delivering results in communities around the region.
- Provide an example in your local community if you can. (Find success stories from your state on our website.)
- Restoration investments, according to a 2018 analysis, are creating a greater than 3-to-1 return on investment in local communities driving new real estate/commercial development and a resurgence in water-based outdoor recreation. All boosting tourism, housing options, and home values.
- These benefits are helping attract and retain young people to the region.
- Restoration investments can also address impacts from our changing climate through nature-based infrastructure and habitat improvement projects, helping reduce flooding and other serious threats.
- Despite this progress, serious threats remain.
- Provide a local example.
- Toxic algal blooms continue to foul drinking water and hurt the recreation economy.
- The region is still plagued with fish consumption advisories, toxic contamination, beach closures and drinking water advisories.
- The effectiveness of Great Lakes restoration, the ability to provide clean and affordable water, and the ability to help communities prepare for the impacts of climate change depends on robust federal investment and partnership.
- The GLRI works best when it supplements rather than supplants funding for other Great Lakes programs. We advocate for funding all Great Lakes programs, which when combined with the GLRI, are helping us:
- Clean up contaminated sediments
- Restore wildlife
- Stop invasive species
- Control agricultural runoff
- Engage communities in solutions to clean water
- Restoration projects will only become more difficult and expensive to solve the longer we wait.
- The Great Lakes region is facing a web of compounding crises impacting the health of people and communities. We’ve seen the direct result of the lack of action on climate change and an underinvestment in resilient infrastructure as Great Lakes communities face disastrous impacts from flooding, transportation shutdowns, and sewage overflows. With climate change pushing our current infrastructure past its limits, the time to act is now and we are encouraged by the progress being made by critical investments made through the Inflation Reduction Act.
Please reach out to myself or any HOW Coalition staff if you have questions.
And share out this editorial piece published in the Minnesota Star Tribune about the Act and the importance of the GLRI!
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Great Lakes Policy Updates
- Coalition Celebrates Approval of an Improved EPA Great Lakes Action Plan: We are excited to share that the EPA’s new five-year Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan has been approved! The action plan, which will run through fiscal years 2025-2029, guides the EPA oversight of federal funds allocated by the U.S. Congress through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). The updated plan now centers people alongside wildlife and habitat needs and will be more responsive to changes in the climate.
We are thrilled to see that the majority of the comments and recommendations provided by the Coalition and our members and partners were integrated into this new plan, and we want to extend a big thank you to you all for your work towards this important milestone.
- Post-Election Outlook: Important Great Lakes Work Remains for Congress: The dust is settling after the 2024 elections and Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition staff are assessing what the elections will mean for our work in pursuit of our goals to restore and protect the Great Lakes and ensure that every community has access to clean and affordable drinking water.
In the meantime, there’s a lot of work left to do before Congress adjourns at the end of December, and we are pursuing two key priorities: reauthorizing the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and passing a budget that supports our broader Great Lakes and clean water goals.
Funding Opportunities
- Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research Summits and Working Groups (full announcement): Funding is available to support three (3) summits or working groups (up to $20,000 ea.). Summits are 2–3-day meetings of 20-30 experts from academia, NGOs, government agencies, and businesses that summarize the state of knowledge and recommend future research priorities on problems in the Great Lakes that span decadal timescales. Working groups convene smaller groups (8-12) for up to one week to make detailed progress on more narrow Great Lakes issues with solutions on time scales of months to years. Deadline: January 31, 2025
- Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research ECO Support (full announcement): Funding is available to support two (2) undergraduate or graduate students ($8,000 ea.) who incorporate an engagement, career training, or outreach component into their research. Deadline: January 31, 2025
- Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research Seed Funding (full announcement): Funding (up to $12,000 ea.) is available for Regional Consortium members to initiate research on emerging issues and respond to emergencies in the Great Lakes. We broadened the former rapid fund program beyond its focus on emergency response to encompass work on emerging issues and research directions, to help provide the foundation for new research initiatives. Deadline: no deadline
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Communications
- Conference on Great Lakes Research Call for Abstracts: The 68th Annual Conference on Great Lakes Research will be held June 2–6, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as a hybrid event. The International Association for Great Lakes Research welcomes abstract submissions for both oral and poster presentations. Both types may be given in person or virtually. All abstracts must be submitted online by Monday, December 16, 2024.
- Wisconsin Agency Issues First Round of Permits for Enbridge Line 5 Reroute Around Reservation: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials announced they have issued construction permits with more than 200 conditions for the Line 5 oil pipeline reroute around the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s reservation. The energy company still needs discharge permits from the DNR as well as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and must complete the project by November 14, 2027.
- Canada Boosting Local Environmental Projects with Federal Funding: Sault Ste. Marie Member of Parliament Terry Sheehan announced $747,000 in funding to several Indigenous-led organizations, as well as Algoma University. The funding will support the study and preservation of species habitats and water conservation to improve the health of the Great Lakes and the St. Mary’s River.
- Michigan Lawmakers Attempting to Prevent Canadian Nuclear Storage Site: U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), along with U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and U.S. Rep. John James (R-Mich.), sent a letter to the authors of the 2025 national defense bill. The letter urged lawmakers to include Kildee’s bipartisan amendment opposing the permanent storage of nuclear waste in the Great Lakes basin in the final bill.
- After Decades, Lake Trout Restored to Sustainable Levels in Lake Superior: Lake Superior’s top predator fish is at a sustainable population. The lake trout population has recovered to the point it no longer has to be stocked. The fish had dropped to extremely low levels due to overfishing and the invasive sea lamprey.
Webinars and Conferences
- Great Lakes Panel on Aquatic Nuisance Species Fall Meeting (December 10-11): The meeting will feature a plenary session on regional AIS coordination through GLRI interjurisdictional projects and a special session on regional Hydrilla response. Hydrilla is an invasive plant that grows rapidly and can choke local waters where it takes hold. This meeting will be hybrid, with both in-person and virtual attendance options.
- Environmental Polling Consortium Quarterly Community Poll Briefing (December 11): This briefing will feature important lessons and takeaways for environmental advocates from post-election polling.
- Young Professionals Virtual Mixer (December 18): Join the Great Lakes Young Professionals Network for this annual year-end virtual mixer for the Great Lakes community to connect with old colleagues, meet someone new, and reflect on the year’s accomplishments. Attendees will participate in multiple rounds of small group networking.
- Community-Centered Solutions for Green Gentrification and Displacement (January 9): This webinar will review the recently published resource “Community-Centered Solutions for Green Gentrification and Displacement, An Equitable Development Toolkit.” Speakers from River Network will outline historical context, common barriers, and some suggested practices for incorporating equity and equitable development into urban waters work. The webinar will also highlight a case study example as well as additional resources and training opportunities.
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Job Openings
- Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research Postdoctoral Fellowships (full announcement): Up to three (3) one-year postdoctoral fellowships ($90,000 ea.) are available for projects that directly address one of CIGLR’s 4 research themes. We will also consider applications for up to 2-year fellowships ($180,000). Postdocs must be co-advised by a CIGLR consortium member and a NOAA GLERL or CIGLR Research Institute research scientist. Deadline: January 31, 2025
- Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research Graduate Research Fellowships (full announcement): Three (3) graduate fellowships ($40,000 ea.) are available for projects that directly address one of CIGLR’s 4 research themes. Students must be co-advised by a faculty member from the CIGLR consortium and a NOAA GLERL or CIGLR Research Institute research scientist. Deadline: January 31, 2025
If you want to highlight any of your organization’s activities in this bi-weekly newsletter or on the Coalition's social media, please email our Senior Communications Coordinator, Lindsey, at [email protected]
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