In 2004, the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration (GLRC) was created by a U.S. Presidential Executive Order recognizing the Great Lakes as a national treasure and calling for the creation of a “regional collaboration of national significance.”

The GLRC created a unique partnership of stakeholders who worked together to develop a strategic plan for the conservation of the Great Lakes ecosystem. This strategic plan seeks to achieve a common goal of restoring and protecting the Great Lakes ecosystem for this and future generations.

To advance the goals of the GLRC’s strategic plan, several federal agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration partnered with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to form what is now called the Sustain Our Great Lakes grants program. ArcelorMittal joined this partnership as the sole private sponsor in 2007.

The initiation of this public-private partnership marked an important step toward restoring the ecological integrity of the Great Lakes Basin.

The Sustain Our Great Lakes program supports conservation work throughout the Great Lakes basin through a grants program administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and funded by ArcelorMittal and the federal agency partners.

Find out more about this effective public-private partnership and the organizations that are behind it.