The Great Lakes Protection Fund is an environmental endowment established by the Governors of the Great Lakes states in 1989. Since then, thirty three governors have been Members of this private corporation that helps them explore and test new ways to accomplish their shared vision for an increasingly healthy and valuable Great Lakes. In recent years, the Governors presented Congress with nine priority areas that helped to guide the U.S. government’s work of addressing the restoration and protection needs of the Great Lakes region. They are:  

• Ensure the sustainable use of our water resources while confirming that the States retain authority over water use and diversions of Great Lakes waters.
• Promote programs to protect human health against adverse effects of pollution in the Great Lakes ecosystem.
• Control pollution from diffuse sources into water, land and air.
• Continue to reduce the introduction of persistent bioaccumulative toxics into the Great Lakes ecosystem.
• Stop the introduction and spread of non-native aquatic invasive species.
• Enhance fish and wildlife by restoring and protecting coastal wetlands, fish and wildlife habitats.
• Restore to environmental health the Areas of Concern identified by the International Joint Commission as needing remediation.
• Standardize and enhance the methods by which information is collected, recorded and shared within the region.
• Adopt sustainable use practices that protect environmental resources and may enhance the recreational and commercial value of our Great Lakes.

The Great Lakes Protection Fund supports these priorities by discovering new ways to accomplish them more efficiently and effectively. The Fund’s Board of Directors maintains funding guidelines to help link the Governors' priorities to the ongoing discovery of new and better solutions for the Great Lakes.

Although diverse challenges and opportunities arise throughout the region, the Governors of the Great Lakes states have asked the Fund’s Board to keep innovations in sustainable water management as a top Fund priority. Accordingly, the Fund will always support the Governors’ shared vision of this region as a laboratory where we test new ways to improve the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of the region’s waters, making the Great Lakes more valuable and the states more prosperous.