Removing impervious surfaces and impediments to fish passage in Euclid Creek will contribute to improving the local ecosystem, removing the Cuyahoga River as toxic hotspot, and restoring Lake Erie.

Building spawning beds in two Lake Ontario bays are helping native fish species as well as threatened lake sturgeon recover.

Restoring natural areas with native plants will help the city of Grand Marais absorb storm water and reduce flooding and runoff pollution into Lake Superior.

Planting over 200 trees is cooling neighborhoods thereby protecting public health, as well as soaking up rain water to mitigate flooding in communities.

Restoring wetlands in northwest Indiana helps reverse loss of vulnerable marsh birds, supports clean water and engages the community in the area’s beautification.

Analysis of fish from Lake Michigan for toxic PFOS will aid in more accurate fish consumption advisories, protecting human health.

The St. Louis River is known as an “Area of Concern” (AOC)–one the most environmentally degraded areas in the Great Lakes region. Cleanup is estimated to be completed by 2030 as a result of a funding influx from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. To learn more about the importance of St. Louis River AOC cleanup work in his area of the river—Munger Landing—we spoke to Mike Casey, a local advocate.

The Great Lakes region has 43 Areas of Concern (AOCs). Each AOC has a group of community members who provide their expertise to discussions of cleanup and their time to related volunteer activities. To learn more about this important form of public engagement, we spoke to activist and organizer with Sierra Club Michigan, Erma Leaphart.