The Great Lakes are “great” for many reasons: they hold 20% of the world’s surface freshwater, provide drinking water to more than 40 million people, support millions of jobs in fishing, shipping, tourism, and recreation, drive a regional economy worth trillions of dollars, and are home to thousands of species of plants and animals. The Great Lakes are essentially the backbone of an entire region, yet they were not always treated as such. By the 1960s, the damage was impossible to ignore. The Great Lakes faced a wide range of issues, and people knew a major change was needed. Despite this recognition, policy lagged behind. Finally, in 2010, the Great Lakes got what they deserved: the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, or the GLRI.

The GLRI is widely considered one of the most successful and most well-regarded conservation programs in the United States, funneling over $5.49 billion in federal funds into thousands of projects across the Great Lakes watershed. The GLRI protects and restores the world’s largest surface freshwater ecosystem, yielding innumerable environmental, economic, public health, and recreational benefits. The GLRI’s journey from concept to implementation is the result of decades of strategic, coordinated efforts. This study is the first in-depth analysis of the GLRI’s history and lessons learned, bringing together the stories of key actors who contributed to the program’s creation and durability. Primary and secondary document analysis, as well as in-depth perspectives from 82 interviews, are utilized to provide a comprehensive overview of the GLRI’s history, drawing key lessons for the future of Great Lakes restoration and other restoration efforts around the world. Overall, the formation, implementation, and evolution of the GLRI came about through eight converging forces:

1. Mobilizing Cultural & Regional Identity
2. Laying Legislative & Federal Groundwork
3. Convening & Planning
4. Modeling Success from Other Initiatives
5. Building a Broad & Diverse Coalition of Allies
6. Communicating Clear & Compelling Messages
7. Leveraging Intra-Governmental Collaboration & Coordination
8. Capitalizing on Political Opportunity

Enduring environmental initiatives are rarely a product of isolated actions or political opportunities. Rather, they are a result of a sustained convergence of culture, advocacy, leadership, strategy, and funding. Although the Great Lakes region has unique characteristics that helped elevate Great Lakes restoration to a national priority, there are many highly transferable strategies within the GLRI’s history that can be applied to a diverse array of regions.

All interviews and collected materials will be archived at the University of Michigan’s Bentley Historical Library, creating the first permanent and comprehensive record of the GLRI. This project marks the first phase of a larger initiative to analyze the history of GLRI and document the importance of this program.