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Home New Grant Will Fund Habitat Restoration in Galien River Watershed

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Photo of Galien River by Mark Piper, 2024

National Fish & Wildlife Foundation Awards Grant to Chikaming Open Lands and Partners for Habitat Restoration in Galien River Watershed

November 8, 2024

The Sustain Our Great Lakes Program announced on September 30, 2024 that Chikaming Open Lands, along with its partners, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy, was the recipient of a 3-year, $260,000 grant from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation.

Led by Chikaming Open Lands, the partners will use the funding to enhance habitat throughout the Galien River watershed by controlling invasive species, re-introducing disturbance regimes, and re-establishing native plants across 15 protected natural areas to benefit various insect pollinators, migratory and resident birds, reptiles and amphibians, and other wildlife species. The partners will continue management activities across approximately 438 acres and expand restoration work over nearly 1,100 more acres including priority wetland habitat.

 “These activities will benefit not only resident and migratory wildlife populations, but also the local community by preserving scenic landscapes, improving water quality, and reducing the economic impact caused by invasive species,” said executive director Ryan Postema. “Moreover, they will help safeguard the Great Lakes basin from continued spread of invasive species.”

Sustain Our Great Lakes is a public–private partnership that supports habitat restoration throughout the Great Lakes basin and advances the objectives of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a federal program designed to protect, restore and enhance the Great Lakes ecosystem. Administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the program receives funding and other support from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Caerus Foundation, Cleveland-Cliffs, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the USDA Forest Service.

Chikaming Open Lands is the local land conservancy dedicated to preserving the open spaces and natural rural character of Berrien County. Chikaming Open Lands works to protect and restore native plant and animal habitat, improve water quality, and permanently preserve ecologically significant forests, prairies and wetlands, as well as prime farmland and other open spaces in our community. Chikaming Open Lands has been instrumental in protecting and preserving more than 2,200 acres since its founding in 1999.