2024 Request for Proposals
The Lake Conservation Grant’s FY2024 Request for Proposals is now closed. Please sign up to receive the MGLP Newsletter for notification of the FY2025 Request for Proposals expected in Fall 2023.
We request project proposals for funding from the Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership (MGLP) 2024 Lake Conservation Grant. The MGLP is one of twenty partnerships that span the nation under the umbrella of the National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP). The MGLP area of focus is glacial lakes and their watersheds (see service area below). Nine Midwestern states, federal agencies including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Forest Service, tribal governments, and private natural resource entities including The Nature Conservancy, have been integral partners in the development and operation of the MGLP.
We support conservation projects that work toward meeting the goals and objectives set forth in the MGLP Strategic Plan to benefit glacial lake fish habitats, which include addressing the chemical, physical, and biological components of the habitats that fishes found in glacial lakes use throughout their lives. We have directed funding toward a wide range of aquatic conservation projects that benefit imperiled, endangered, and recreational fish species and their habitats. We typically fund 3-5 projects annually between $30,000 and $100,000, but larger projects will be considered for funding up to a maximum of the approximately $360,000 expected for distribution. Projects have been successfully implemented because contributions and capabilities of many partners have been combined to accomplish project goals that none of the partnering entities could accomplish on their own.
Projects considered for funding must align with the goals and objectives of the MGLP and can range in scale from projects that affect one or more sites, lakes, or watersheds. Projects should address the processes that cause fish habitat impairments as opposed to managing or treating the symptoms of those causes. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- projects that implement or demonstrate new approaches
- watershed-level nutrient control projects;
- water quality and erosion control measures;
- native vegetation or wetland rehabilitation;
- natural riparian or in-lake habitat restoration and protection;
- barrier removal for improved native fish passage;
- fish population or watershed assessments needed for project evaluation;
- habitat assessment, prioritization and planning for future habitat projects;
- evaluating current and future habitat conditions;
- projects addressing climate change adaptation or mitigation through fish habitat;
- projects training biologists and managers on inland lake fish habitat management tools and approaches; and
- community outreach and education on the importance of and how to better conserve glacial lake fish habitat.
In addition to conducting independent outreach and/or education, successful applicants will be expected to work with the MGLP to coordinate media and public outreach to raise the profile of MGLP-funded projects.
If you have a lake conservation project aligned with the goals and objectives of the MGLP and need financial assistance, we encourage you to submit a proposal for project funding in a future cycle.
Past application documents
Past projects
2023
Decisions for the fiscal year 2023 grant cycle are pending. The decisions can be finalized once the federal government, which is currently funded by a continuing resolution, receives a full fiscal year 2023 budget.
2022
- Assessing relationships between fisheries and aquatic vegetation to improve lake habitat management (MGLP Region; $60,155)
- Shoreline habitat restoration projects (MN; $75,000)
- Identifying and prioritizing lakes of biological significance (MN; $37,646)
- Lake Goguac stormwater diversion (MI; $75,000)
- Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership operations (MGLP Region; $76,436)
2021
- Crooked Lake Basin Landowner Outreach (MN; $30,000)
- Quantifying multi-scale drivers of hypolimnetic oxygen to inform management of Cisco habitat (MN & MI; $58,505)
- Citizens Protecting and Maintaining iconic Chain of Lakes fisheries (MN; $97,122.10)
- Stearns County Shoreline Habitat Restoration (MN; $75,000)
- Lake Goguac stormwater diversion (MI; $75,000)
- Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership Operations (MGLP Region; $47,886)
2020
- Assessing and conserving high-quality Michigan lakes for Cisco and Walleye (MI; $86,357)
- Systems-level perspectives on fish habitat: capacity building workshops with lake associations across the Midwest (MGLP Region; $56,043)
- MGLP Database Management (MGLP Region; $40,000)
2019
- Prairie Lake and Lizzie Lake fish passage (MN; $30,000.00)
- Pickerel Lake shoreline restoration project (SD; $30,000.00 )
- Nutrient and sediment loads entering Lake Wawasee: A scientific approach to assess lake restoration strategies (IN; $15,000.00)
- MGLP Database Management (MGLP Region; $40,501)
2018
- Promoting Bioengineering Options for Erosion Control on Michigan Inland Lakes ($22,500)
- Lake Carlos fish passage project (MN; $30,000)
- Assessment of oxythermal habitat of Cisco in Minnesota lakes for prioritizing habitat protection efforts ($47,750)
- Assessment of critical thermal fish habitat in Midwest Glacial Lakes Fish Habitat Partnership lakes: Phase II (MGLP Region; $30,000)
- Reconnecting Mason Creek to Duck Lake Restoration Project (MI; $50,000)
- MGLP Database Management (MGLP Region; $17,495)
2017
- Crane Lake Fish Passage (MN; $25,000)
- Stearns County Shoreline Habitat Restoration Project (MN; $63,000)
- Eagle Lake Nearshore Habitat Restoration & Septic System Discharge Mitigation with Native Vegetation (MI; $35,300)
- Growing degree day assessment in the MGLP (MGLP Region; $22,881)
2016
- Habitat Assessment and Prioritization for Cisco and Walleye Lakes in the Midwest Glacial Lakes Fish Habitat Partnership (MGLP Region; $40,000)
- Michigan Shoreland Stewards: Partnering to Protect our Inland Lakes through Outreach and Education ($11,256)
2014
- Island Protection Projects on Webster and Loon Lakes (IN; $25,000)
- Knutson Dam Modernization Project Cass Lake (MN; $25,000)
- Partnering with MGLP to Restore Habitat in St. Croix Headwaters Watershed Lakes (WI; $9,163)
2013
- Phase II Assessment for MGLP using Science to Evaluate Lake Health and Fish Potential in Lakes (MGLP Region; $18,875)
- Protecting the Unique Sinkhole Lakes in the Pigeon River Country State Forest (MI; $20,504)
- Healthy Shorelines Initiative in the Upper Tippecanoe River Watershed (IN, $25,000)
2012
- Greenbelt Workshops for Lakefront Property Owners in Northern Michigan ($17,200)
- Near Shore Woody Habitat Restoration Long Lake, Chippewa County (WI; $13,756)
2011
- Strategic fish habitat conservation directed through GIS modeling (MGLP Region)
- Human Disturbance Index Development for Glacial Lakes Based on Dock Frequency (MGLP Region)
- Large Woody Habitat Rehabilitation Project in the Northern Lakes and Forest Ecoregion of Wisconsin ($18,571)
- Protection for Sensitive Fish Habitats in Cass County, Minnesota ($28,571)
2010
- Lakescaping Demonstration Projects in Eastern South Dakota ($21,429)
2008
- Using GIS to prioritize fish habitat conservation for the Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership (MGLP Region; $71,429)