Wisconsin

American Bird Conservancy
Enhancing Lake Michigan Coastal and Riparian Habitats for Migratory Birds (WI)
Restore and enhance wetland, forested and riparian habitats to benefit a variety of migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, landbirds, waterbirds and pollinator species. Project will expand on-going restoration at eight coastal preserves located along the Lake Michigan flyway in Wisconsin, in partnership with municipal and non-profit partners, to benefit declining and imperiled bird, pollinator and plant species.
$330,000

Association of State Floodplain Managers
Strengthening Coastal Communities Resilience in the Great Lakes Region (multiple states)
Engage coastal shoreline communities in the Great Lakes region in a formal scenario-based process to identify local flood vulnerabilities and to convene complementary regional capacity building workshops to help participating communities prioritize strategies and projects that address identified vulnerabilities. Project will give coastal communities a better understanding of local coastal resilience issues and how to incorporate nature-based solution into plans, and build regional collaboration.
$260,851

City of Milwaukee
Rehabilitating a Bioretention Facility to Improve Water Quality in the Menomonee River (WI)
Rehabilitate a 17-year old 1-acre bioretention facility, test the performance of several pilot soil amendments, and plant pollinator-friendly plants in the tributary to the Menomonee River in Milwaukee. Project will improve water quality by mitigating stormwater runoff and restoring on-site sediment filtration, and provide valuable feedback in designing future bioretention facilities.
$350,000

Farmers for Sustainable Food
Supporting Farmer-Led Efforts to Implement Regenerative Agriculture and Enhance Sustainability (WI)
Increase capacity for local conservation professionals to assist farmers in developing regenerative plans to improve the environmental impact of current farm management. Project will determine regenerative practices to reduce soil, phosphorus and nitrogen loss to local water resources with 12 farms, including eight dairy and four crop.
$153,509

Clean Wisconsin
Increasing Nature-based Infrastructure throughout Milwaukee’s 30th Street Corridor (WI)
Work with residents to install small-scale nature-based infrastructure practices such as rain barrels, rain gardens, and trees on homes and community areas by partnering with underserved neighborhoods in Milwaukee’s 30th St. Corridor. Project will facilitate leadership roles for community members to develop solutions for reducing stormwater runoff pollution and flood risk while improving pollinator habitat and strengthening engagement to implement community-driven plans for climate resilience.
$200,000

Glacierland Resource Conservation and Development Council
Collaborative Invasive Species Control and Native Restoration in Wisconsin’s Great Lakes Basin
Implement a regional landscape-level approach to managing phragmites and Japanese knotweed on ecologically sensitive communities including Lake Michigan and Lake Winnebago shorelines and coastal wetlands, inland waterways and connecting wetlands and roadside ditches. Project will continue and expand control efforts and will restore 859 acres and retreat 550 acres to improve ecosystem services for the native plants and animals that depends on them.
$375,000

GrassWorks
Accelerating Conservation Practices and Regenerative Agriculture on Working Lands (WI)
Engage producers in conservation and regenerative agriculture principles through partner-coordinated outreach such as workshops, peer to peer learning, and on-farm technical assistance. Project will coordinate partners to assist with the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices on 14,400 acres to reduce sediment and phosphorous losses along with improved soil health, water quality and biodiversity.
$349,807

Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative
Facilitating Development of Coastal Resilience Projects for Great Lakes Shoreline Communities
Enable communities to develop implementation of projects that prevent or minimize impacts in coastal areas and facilitating collaboration on coastal resilience needs and opportunities. Project will work with coastal communities to assess critical coastal resilience needs; identify solutions for mitigating risks to community infrastructure; assess project feasibility; outline project development needs and funding; and provide direction on next steps to implement coastal resilience projects.
$380,000

Ice Age Trail Alliance
Habitat Improvement for Karner Blue Butterfly, Rusty Patched Bumble Bee, and Other Pollinators (WI)
Restore and improve pollinator habitat for the monarch butterfly, Karner blue butterfly, rusty patched bumble bee, regal fritillary, and other pollinators on public lands and private working lands in Wisconsin. Project will improve 1,800 acres, restore 900 acres, harvest 230 pounds of milkweed seed, and support private landowners by hosting workshops, developing conservation plans, and conducting outreach.
$175,000

Mequon Nature Preserve
Facilitating Biodiversity and Education at Mequon Nature Preserve through Wetland Restoration (WI)
Restore agricultural fields to historic wetlands and prairies, control non-native, invasive plant species threatening high-quality native habitat, and educate Milwaukee Metropolitan youth at Mequon Nature Preserve. Project will restore roughly 10 acres of wetland and 25 acres of upland habitat, reduce the coverage invasive plant species across 358 acres, engage various local school groups in restoration and monitoring, and increase stormwater storage.
$160,946

Michigan State University
Farmer Woodland Owner Technical Assistance to Enhance Agroforestry and Woodland Management (MI, OH WI)
Support integrated agricultural and farmer woodland and agroforestry management through collaborative extension programs that connect farmers with resource professionals to support ecosystem service markets, woodland management, agroforestry, and tree-planting practices. Project will help farmers navigate strategies for innovative uses of trees and forests to improve farm viability and increase water quality and social benefits.
$169,273

Milwaukee Board of School Directors dba Milwaukee Public Schools
Constructing Green Stormwater Infrastructure on Milwaukee Schoolyards (WI)
Conduct removal of over 4 acres of asphalt and replace with bioswales, 264 stormwater trees, native plantings, and other nature-based infrastructure. Project will engage students and community members and result in over 758,000 gallons of stormwater captured annually.
$600,000

Milwaukee Environmental Consortium
Lincoln Creek Greenway Restoration Project (WI)
Build resiliency and reconnect communities through engagement with nature, and incorporate recreational and educational environmental programming. Project will impact a 6-mile, 20-acre parcel by expanding on existing efforts in prairie and riparian restoration, trail building and cultivating environmental stewardship.
$36,000

Milwaukee Water Commons
Renewing Urban Canopy to Improve Community Health and Climate Resiliency (WI)
Collaborate with partners to implement an urban canopy renewal program in the vulnerable Sherman Park neighborhood to plant at least 250 trees, maintain at-risk trees, and plant whips in nearby riparian areas of the Milwaukee River watershed. Project will add 45,000 gallons of stormwater storage annually, and build community engagement for long-term equity environmental, health, and economic benefits and climate resiliency.
$340,000

National Audubon Society
Improving Grazing Practices to Benefit Grassland Birds in the Upper Mississippi River Region (IA, MO, WI)
Increase capacity for the Audubon Conservation Ranching program to accelerate voluntary, on-the-ground adoption of managed grazing practices to benefit birds, biodiversity, and soil health on working lands in priority areas of Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin. Project will improve grazing practices across 12,590 acres to benefit wildlife of tallgrass prairie ecosystems including focal grassland birds such as the bobolink, Henslow’s sparrow, and upland sandpiper.
$398,198

Ozaukee County
Mineral Springs Creek Resiliency and Habitat Restoration (WI)
Restore a degraded stream and riparian corridor, aquatic connectivity, and protect critical infrastructure through use of ecological restoration to improve resiliency on Mineral Springs Creek. Project will re-grade and plant the ravine corridor for resiliency and raise the stream bed elevation with rocky substrate to stabilize the stream during flood events, protecting infrastructure, improving aquatic organism passage, and enhancing in-stream and riparian habitat for native fish and wildlife.
$404,500

Root-Pike Watershed Initiative Network
Improving Wetland Habitat and Stormwater Storage in Shagbark Recreational Area (WI)
Restore the Shagbark Recreational Area in Kenosha, an underserved Lake Michigan watershed, by replacing under-performing, mowed turf grass with climate resilient and native-species boosting vegetation. Project will improve management of 44 acres to support habitat for endangered species such as the monarch butterfly, rusty-patched bumble bee, Blanding’s turtle, increase stormwater storage, and develop outdoor classroom activities.
$117,810

Root-Pike Watershed Initiative Network
Restoring Wetlands for Wildlife, Aquatic Species, and Improving Water Quality in the Root River (WI)
Reconstruct 850 feet of the ditched and eroded East Branch of the Root River in Milwaukee County to provide increased connectivity wetlands, repair detached floodplain conditions, and create microhabitat features for macroinvertebrates, forage fish populations, threatened mussel species, northern pike, and pollinators such as the rusty-patched bumblebee. Project will restore hydrology, improve water quality, and increase diverse habitat conditions for species to thrive in microhabitat features.
$200,479

The Conservation Fund
Conserve Threatened Forest and Forested Wetland Habitat in the Pelican River Forest (WI)
Acquire 69,000 acres of privately owned forest and wetland habitat in the Pelican River Forest in Wisconsin to permanently protect habitat while securing public access and sustainable forest management. Project will protect valuable habitat for wolves, northern goshawks, cerulean warblers and other key species, creating a land bridge between adjacent protected forest lands.
$600,000

Trout Unlimited
Reconnecting and Monitoring Climate Resilient Brook Trout Habitat in Northeast Wisconsin
Remove or replace at least 10 aquatic organism passage (AOP) barriers in watersheds on or adjacent to the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest and contribute to existing programs monitoring brook trout population dynamics and movement. Project will reconnect at least 45 miles of coldwater habitat to expand resilient brook trout habitat in northeast Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan watershed and build partnerships between Tribes, communities, non-profits, and agencies to increase AOP design adoption.
$409,307

Urban Ecology Center
Improving Habitat Through Community Engagement in Milwaukee’s Primary Environmental Corridor (WI)
Remove invasive species, plant native species, and enhance pollinator habitat through community engagement in Milwaukee’s Rotary Centennial Arboretum. Project will remove 100 ash trees to mitigate emerald ash borer, plant trees to improve diversity, and complete a 4-acre prescribed burn to manage invasive species.
$31,500

Urban Ecology Center
Restoring Reclaimed Urban Parks and Access to Green Space Across Milwaukee (WI)
Engage neighborhood volunteers to help maintain three public parks in Milwaukee as an urban oasis with diverse native plant communities by removing invasive species and planting plugs of native species. Project will increase biodiversity of new prairie, oak savanna, wetland, ephemeral ponds and a variety of forest ecosystems and facilitate environmental education and community access to green space.
$213,095

Visit Sheboygan STEAM
Transforming an Urban Lot into an Educational Community Greenspace in Sheboygan (WI)
Transform a degraded asphalt parking lot in downtown Sheboygan, on the Sheboygan River, into a educational community greenspace with nature-based infrastructure, restored wildlife habitat, and integrated public access features. Project will turn an urban space with 200 feet of riverfront shoreline into an recreational area with public access to greenspace, provide canopy in an urban heat island, and add approximately 764,700 gallons of stormwater storage annually.
$211,471

Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory
Improving Bird Habitat, Water Quality and Research (WI)
Plant native plants, install rain gardens, educate community members, and expand the Motus Wildlife Tracking System in Lake Michigan communities of Wisconsin. Project will plant approximately 4,400 trees and support bird and pollinator habitat, water quality, research infrastructure, and community needs by implementing multi-faceted projects at eighteen locations near the Lake Michigan Coast.
$231,150

Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory
Protecting Lake Michigan through Community Engagement, Restoration and Education (WI)
Improve the watersheds of four Lake Michigan tributaries through restoration and pollinator garden, rain garden and tree plantings, while improving capacity for long-term stewardship with applied workshops, trainings and citizen science monitoring. Project will restore 6.3 acres, engage over 2,000 people in learning programs, work with 300 volunteers, 250 students and 12 interns in citizen science and restoration activities, and install 30 educational signs.
$47,756

Woodland Dunes Nature Center and Preserve
Enhancing Stream Function and Wetlands to Improve Water Quality at Woodland Dunes (WI)
Implement stream and wetland enhancements including remeandering of the linear channel at Forget Me Not Creek, a channelized and degraded tributary to Lake Michigan that flows through the Woodland Dunes Preserve. Project will enhance aquatic and wetland habitats, increase native species diversity, reduce sediment loading, and improve water quality at Woodland Dunes and in downstream Lake Michigan.
$235,000