About GLRI

• Why Save the Great Lakes
• GLRI History
• Operating Principles
• Focus Areas

Project Spotlight

Fish Passage Program Awards $580,000 in 2012

Restoring the Great Lakes
(2.5 MB PDF)

Welcome to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Homepage!

2012 marks the third year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is a proud federal partner with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the implementation the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI).

Comprised of more than 10,000 miles of coastline and 30,000 islands, the Great Lakes provide drinking water, transportation, power and recreational opportunities to the 30 million citizens who call the Great Lakes basin "home." As the largest group of fresh water lakes on Earth, the Great Lakes hold 95 percent of the United States' surface fresh water. An important economic resource, the Great Lakes also provide over 1.5 million jobs and $62 billion in wages to American citizens.

Unfortunately, years of environmental degradation has left the Great Lakes in need of immediate on-the-ground action to save this precious resource for generations to come. GLRI is a driver for environmental action in the Great Lakes and represents a collaborative effort on behalf of the U.S. EPA and 15 other federal agencies to address the most significant environmental problems in the Great Lakes.

Through an interagency agreement with the U.S. EPA, the Service has been allocated approximately $43.5 million in FY 2012 to implement GLRI priority programs, projects and activities to protect, restore, and maintain the Great Lakes ecosystem. Nearly $9 million of this GLRI funding will be used to implement action items from the Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework to stop Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes.

Building upon our 2010 and 2011 GLRI success stories, use this website to explore our 2012 project highlights.

Please visit the Great Lakes Accountability System to learn more about other federal agencies' GLRI projects!