By Finn Mills
Pre-proposal submissions for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ yearly fisheries habitat grants are now being accepted.
Each year, the DNR allocates $1.5 million in fisheries habitat grants to governments and nonprofit organizations around the state.
To receive a grant, applicants must submit a pre-proposal with such information as location, budget estimate, project scale and benefits, and must consult with a local fisheries biologist, according to Chip Kosloski, a program manager at the DNR.
Applicants are encouraged to choose projects from the DNR’ priority habitat conservation project list. Those applicants will have “an even stronger preference” over those that don’t, according to a press release from the DNR.
Priority projects include shoreline softening around Lake Charlevoix, watershed conservation on Southeast Michigan lakes and dam removal around the Boardman River.
If a pre-proposal gets approved, applicants will be invited to submit a full application that requires more detail and confirms that they have secured all project partners and matching funds.
Successful applicants will be announced May 2026 and work will begin “upon execution of [the] grant agreement,” according to the DNR’s fisheries habitat grants handbook.
Fisheries Habitat Grant funding has supported surveys of aquatic plants, such as these pondweeds, to better understand fish habitat in inland lakes and the effects of herbicide treatments on those lakes. Credit: Ryan Marshik
Projects typically take a year to a year and a half to complete, but can be given extensions of “up to a year at a time,” Kosloski noted.
In the past, there have been an average of 35 applications per year, an average of 13 of which received grants, according to Kosloski.
In 2023, among the projects that were awarded grants were the habitat restoration of Portage Creek at Milham Park in Kalamazoo County, which received $75,000, the Kalamazoo River restoration project in Calhoun County, which received $156,000, and the Duplain Township dam removal engineering and redesign in Clinton County, which received $225,000.
Pre-proposals are due by Nov. 19.
Finn Mills writes for Capital News Service.