When the
Living Lakes Initiative was launched three years ago, we knew additional staff would be needed to achieve such an ambitious landscape goal of conserving 400 shallow lakes and large marshes in 10 years. To deliver our comprehensive strategy of restoring, managing, protecting and monitoring these resources, we would need to assemble a multi-disciplinary team. The immediate challenge became, where were we going to find the financial resources to pay for this team?
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Within Minnesota and Iowa, we are fortunate to have a philanthropic community of private foundations concerned about wetlands, water quality and wildlife habitat. Through the highly competitive grant application process, DU has received $925,000 in grants from the Bush, McKnight, Athwin, Rahr, and Carl and Verna Schmidt Foundations. While each foundation has its own priorities, they all support DU’s science-based approach to conserving shallow lakes and their watersheds.
Many of these grants span several years, which allows us time to plan, identify and leverage new revenue sources so this momentum can be carried forward.
As a result of these significant and generous grants, DU has been able to increase its staff to gain more expertise and capacity to work more closely with landowners and our conservation partners and ultimately help conserve this critical habitat. We truly appreciate the dedication and commitment of these foundations to helping bring our shallow lakes back to life. More on Living Lakes