Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative was launched in 2010 to accelerate efforts to protect and restore the largest system of fresh surface water in the world — the Great Lakes.

During FY15 -19, federal agencies will continue to use Great Lakes Restoration Initiative resources to strategically target the biggest threats to the Great Lakes ecosystem and to accelerate progress toward long term goals for this important ecosystem.

GLRI Action Plan II summarizes the actions that federal agencies plan to implement during FY15-19.

These actions will build on restoration and protection work carried out under the first GLRI Action Plan, with a major focus on:

  • Cleaning up Great Lakes Areas of Concern
  • Preventing and controlling invasive species
  • Reducing nutrient runoff that contributes to harmful/nuisance algal blooms
  • Restoring habitat to protect native species

action plan button

Find a GLRI Project

Use the map below to find GLRI project information. Or, see a list of all GLRI projects.
(Note: the points on the map show the actual location of the project and/or the location of the entity managing the project.)

Highlights

Cover of the GLRI Report to Congress

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative FY 2015 Report to Congress

A new Report to Congress and the President provides an overview of progress during FY 2015 for each focus area: improving water quality, cleaning up contaminated shoreline, protecting and restoring native habitat and species, and preventing and controlling invasive species in the Great Lakes.

GLRI Report to Congress FY 2015(PDF, 37 pp)

Science in the Great Lakes Mapper website

Celebrating Blue Butterflies on the Great Lakes

Pollinators are vital to healthy ecosystems. Eighty percent of flowering plants require pollination by animals to successfully reproduce and produce seeds and fruits. In the Great Lakes states, there is a unique opportunity to help pollinators while contributing to the overall health of the great lakes.

Karner Blue Butterflies

Ogden

Eagle Marsh berm blocks Asian carp pathway to Great Lakes

Asian carp have one less pathway to the Great Lakes, thanks to a recently completed project. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Natural Resource Conservation Service and local partners built a 1.7-mile berm averaging 7.5 ft high at Eagle Marsh Nature Preserve in Fort Wayne, Ind. It cuts off a major Asian carp pathway to the Lake Erie watershed in Ohio. The project cost some $4.4 million, about half of which came from the GLRI.

Completed Eagle Marsh Berm