U.S. Senate Introduces Vital Bipartisan Legislation to Fund Great Lakes Restoration
Red-tailed Hawk. Photo: Jamie Burning/Audubon Photography Awards
Attributable to Marnie Urso, National Audubon Society, Great Lakes
(February 11, 2025) – “Great Lakes birds and communities are safer thanks to restoration efforts across the region, but significant threats persist. We must remain steadfast in protecting and restoring the Great Lakes which provide drinking water for 40 million people and habitat for millions of birds. Today, the U.S. Senate introduced the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2025, which would continue vital federal investment that birds and communities depend on. The legislation was introduced in the U.S. House in January.
Audubon Great Lakes thanks Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) for introducing this bill, and for working in a bipartisan manner to bring the federal investment needed to solve the biggest threats facing the Great Lakes.
More than half of all Great Lakes wetlands have disappeared, and climate change is expected to make it more difficult for birds to find reliable habitat in and around our region. Thanks to support from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Audubon Great Lakes and partners have helped to restore and conserve more than 10,000 acres of wetland habitat for vulnerable marsh birds, like the Least Bittern and Pied-billed Grebe in places like Allouez Bay in the St. Louis River Estuary region of Wisconsin and Minnesota, Wigwam Bay State Wildlife Area in Michigan’s Saginaw Bay region, and Powderhorn Forest Preserve in Illinois’ Calumet region.
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2025 is needed to reauthorize federal funding for another five years, at $500 million annually. Extending this program will allow important projects like these, to continue in communities across the Great Lakes region.
Protecting bird habitat is also important for our economy. Ninety-six million Americans engage in birdwatching, contributing $100 billion to the U.S. economy annually. Researchers at the University of Michigan also found that the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative generates a greater than 3-to-1 return on investment.
We urge Congress to move swiftly to pass the bipartisan Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2025 and extend the federal program before funding expires.
We thank all the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2025 sponsors in the Senate to date: Todd Young (R-IN), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Bernie Moreno (R-OH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jon Husted (R-OH), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tina Smith (D-MN), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), John Fetterman (D-PA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Jon Husted (R-OH).
The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow. Audubon works throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. State programs, nature centers, chapters, and partners give Audubon an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire, and unite diverse communities in conservation action. A nonprofit conservation organization since 1905, Audubon believes in a world in which people and wildlife thrive.
Learn more at www.audubon.org and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @audubonsociety.