What is Lake Huron Forever? Lake Huron Forever is a cross-border partnership working to protect water quality and ensure healthy, sustainable communities around Lake Huron — forever. Launched in 2019 by shoreline community foundations and conservation partners from the United States and Canada, this initiative brings together communities on both sides of the lake with one common goal: the long-term protection of Lake Huron’s natural resources and the well-being of the people who call this region home.
What Makes Lake Huron Forever Unique? While many initiatives focus on large-scale policy or top-down solutions, Lake Huron Forever works differently. This is community-led conservation with lake-wide impact, and it is built on a multi-national partnership that spans U.S. and Canadian communities, as well as Tribal and First Nations communities whose cultural and traditional stewardship practices are central to this work. Lake Huron Forever is a space where past and present ways of caring for the land and water can be centered, explored and shared across cultures and nations. Each participating community develops its own pledge — a roadmap tailored to local values, priorities and challenges — whether that’s curbing stormwater runoff, protecting natural areas or engaging residents in stewardship. From Bay City, Michigan to Goderich, Ontario, these communities are taking action in ways that make sense for them while contributing to the health of the entire lake. This work is powered by collaboration. Nonprofits, local governments, community foundations and Tribal and First Nations partners from both countries share resources, technical expertise and lessons learned. Together, they’re proving that communities are stronger when they work across borders.
Why it Matters Our communities and Lake Huron are interconnected. Clean water supports thriving economies, healthy ecosystems, and quality of life for residents and visitors alike. Protecting water quality means protecting the places where families gather, where wildlife thrives and where future generations will build their lives. Lake Huron Forever recognizes that local action, when coordinated across the lake, creates lasting change. From hosting rain barrel workshops to installing large-scale green infrastructure, from protecting coastal habitats to engaging the next generation in climate action — Lake Huron Forever communities are turning their pledges into projects that will benefit the lake for generations to come.
Now is the time to take action. Forever starts today.
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Meet the Lake Huron Forever Pledge Communities 1 - The City of Alpena is restoring the natural dune shoreline at Miche-ke-wis Park and partnering with Huron Pines on additional projects to help protect Lake Huron and the city’s drinking water.
7 - Bay City is advancing its Lake Huron Forever Pledge by restoring Middleground Island with native wildflowers, updating local ordinances to protect water quality and exploring incentives for green stormwater infrastructure on private properties.
2 - Charter Township of Alpena partnered with Huron Pines and the Northeast Michigan Council of Governments (NEMCOG) to 8 - Goderich, Ontario is planting trees, installing public water bottle map important wetlands and lakeshore features, and develop a new filling stations and organizing volunteer beach cleanups as the first Master Plan chapter to guide future conservation and zoning decisions. Canadian community to take the Lake Huron Forever Pledge. 3 - Alpena County is expanding outdoor recreation opportunities while prioritizing invasive species management and stewardship of public parks to benefit both people and nature. 4 - Alcona Community Schools is empowering the next generation of conservation leaders through student-led stewardship projects at Harrisville Harbor and their school forest that protect water quality and promote biodiversity. 5 - Oscoda Township is advancing improvements at the AuSable River Scenic Preserve while partnering to restore dunes at Oscoda Beach Park and manage invasive species. 6 - The City of Au Gres, the first community to take the Lake Huron Forever Pledge, installed rain gardens and bioswales with Huron Pines and Au Gres-Sims School to capture and filter stormwater. Now, Au Gres is developing an innovative funding program to sustain their long-term maintenance, a model that will be replicated in other communities.
Additional Lake Huron Forever Active Projects: A - Master Rain Gardener Program, Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe – Standish, MI B - Urban Tree Planting – Rogers City, MI C - Shoreline Restoration Program, Bagida’waad Alliance – Neyaashiinigmiing, ON D - Tiny Forest and Bioswale Project – Wiarton, ON E - Youth Climate Action Conference – Owen Sound, ON F - Green Ribbon Champions Dune Restoration – Saugeen Shores, ON G - Youth Environmental Programs – Grand Bend, ON H - Microplastics Project – Lambton Shores, ON I - Kettle & Stony Point-Lambton Shores Language Revitalization Project, Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation – Kettle Point, ON
Local Investment, Regional Impact The Lake Huron Forever initiative is built on a simple but powerful idea: when communities invest in their own backyard, the ripple effects reach far beyond their borders. Across the Lake Huron watershed, local community foundations have played a pivotal role in fueling regional conservation. By directing resources toward water quality, community planning and habitat protection, these foundations have helped transform local priorities into watershed-wide impact. Their investments don’t just stay local — they attract and leverage additional funding, multiplying the reach of every dollar committed. To date, initiative partners have leveraged $2.4 million for water quality and community planning projects, with local commitments serving as the catalyst for broader regional and national funding opportunities. This model of matching local resources with larger conservation goals has proven essential to the initiative’s momentum and credibility. The result is a growing network of communities, partners and volunteers working in concert, not in isolation. Each local action strengthens the whole. Each investment sends a signal that Lake Huron is worth protecting and that the communities along its shores are ready to lead. That’s not just impact. That’s a movement.
From Pledge to Practice: How Alpena is Protecting Lake Huron Some communities talk about protecting their natural resources. Alpena acts on it. When the Charter Township, City and County of Alpena all adopted the Lake Huron Forever Pledge in August 2023, it wasn’t a symbolic gesture — it was a commitment to use the levers of local government to drive real, lasting change. Zoning regulations, master planning, capital projects and community engagement all became tools for protecting the lake that defines this community. For Alpena Township, the turning point came at the Lake Huron Forever One Water Gathering in 2022. Seeing what coastal communities across the U.S. and Canada had accomplished together made the path forward clear. That spirit of collective action quickly took shape in Alpena Township’s master planning process, culminating in a newly completed Climate Resilience chapter that institutionalized the Natural Features Overlay — a practical planning tool designed to guide development decisions and protect the township’s most sensitive natural areas. “Protecting Alpena’s natural resources requires long-term thinking, and this gives us a stronger foundation for that work,” said Alpena Township Supervisor Abbi Kaszubowski. “The Climate Resilience chapter of our Master Plan helped formalize tools like the Natural Features Overlay so we can make more informed planning decisions moving forward.” That momentum extended across all three municipalities. They aligned their pledge goals around green infrastructure, shoreline protection, native plantings and low-impact development, then got to work. Alpena County completed a county-wide invasive species assessment to better understand harmful species and is advancing joint recycling efforts with the Township and City. The City turned community input into action through a Green Stormwater Infrastructure Visioning Session, identifying eight projects on track for completion by Fall 2026. A dune restoration project at Mich-e-ke-wis Park followed, along with updated shoreline zoning regulations and the launch of new community programming. City Manager Rachel Smolinski put it simply: “Our quality of life is tied to Lake Huron. It’s the source of drinking water for the city and township. It’s where people go to recreate. The lake is the fabric of our community.” That understanding, shared across all three levels of local government, is what makes Alpena’s story stand out. Rural communities are often doing remarkable conservation work without much recognition or support. Lake Huron Forever exists to change that — elevating the efforts of places like Alpena, amplifying their voices and connecting them to the resources and partners they need to go further. Above: Participants take in panoramic views of Lake Huron from the shore of North Point Nature Preserve during the inaugural One Water Gathering in Alpena in June 2022.
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Paige Fisher, President and CEO of Alpena Area Chamber of Commerce, helps plant a pollinator garden at Alpena’s Bay View Park in October 2025.
Conversations and collaboration at One Water Gathering in Alpena, Michigan, June 2022
Community leaders celebrate their joint Lake Huron Forever pledge in Alpena, Michigan in June 2024.
Ella Nowakowski plants a tree to celebrate Alpena’s Lake Huron Forever pledge in June 2024.
Alcona High School students install a rain garden at Harrisville Harbor in May 2023.
Lake Huron Coastal Centre’s Coastal Conservation Youth Corps removes invasive phragmites at Miramichi Bay in Saugeen Shores in July 2024.
Lake Huron Coastal Centre’s Coastal Conservation Youth Corps participates in a shoreline cleanup at Black’s Point near Goderich in July 2025.
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Alcona Community Schools students measure a bullhead during a fish survey at Lost Lake Woods Club in Alcona County.
The Next Generation of Water Stewards Across the Lake Huron basin, a powerful movement is taking shape — led not by seasoned conservation professionals but by young people discovering their connection to the water that defines their communities. Lake Huron Forever is helping cultivate this next generation of stewards through hands-on learning, youth leadership development and school‑community partnerships that make conservation real. In Michigan, Alcona Community Schools became the first official Lake Huron Forever School, setting a new standard for how education and environmental action can work hand in hand. By adopting the Lake Huron Forever Pledge, the school district committed to empowering students as conservation leaders and that commitment is visible across their campus and community. Students maintain a rain garden at Harrisville Harbor that filters stormwater before it reaches Lake Huron, conduct fisheries research at Lost Lake Woods Club, and use their 43-acre school forest as a living laboratory for invasive species removal, wildlife monitoring and forest health studies. Teacher training on Great Lakes issues ensures these experiences are embedded into the curriculum, creating a school culture where stewardship is a shared responsibility — not an extracurricular activity. On the Canadian side of Lake Huron, youth leadership is flourishing through programs that blend environmental action with civic engagement. The Youth Climate Action Conference (YCAC) in Owen Sound brought together 125 middle school students to explore climate solutions rooted in local ecosystems. Students learned from Indigenous Water Walkers, planted tiny forests with bioswales designed to absorb stormwater and worked alongside conservation experts to understand shoreline health. Youth engagement doesn’t end with a single event. Across the Canadian Lake Huron coast, young people are also building long-term leadership skills through the Lake Huron Coastal Centre’s Coastal Conservation Youth Corps (CCYC). Participants gain hands-on experience restoring and monitoring coastal ecosystems while developing leadership and field skills. For many, the experience becomes a launching point for future studies, careers and volunteerism in conservation. Since the program was launched in 2020, 190 youth have participated in the program, contributing 6,000 volunteer hours to shoreline stewardship projects along the Canadian Lake Huron coast. By revisiting restoration sites year after year and building on the work of previous participants, these young leaders are creating lasting environmental improvements while fostering a commitment to protecting Lake Huron and the communities that depend on it. From rain gardens at Harrisville Harbor and tiny forests in Owen Sound and Wiarton to shoreline restoration along Lake Huron’s coast, each community is taking a different approach, but the purpose is the same. These students know their watershed by name, have gotten their hands dirty restoring it, and are helping share its future through meaningful action. That’s not just a youth program. That’s a generation of water stewards already on the job.
Above: Alcona Elementary School students complete a nature scavenger hunt while exploring Harrisville Harbor.
Bay City and Goderich: A Partnership Across Borders There’s something powerful about receiving a letter from a friend or colleague — an unexpected reminder that someone is thinking of you, rooting for you or extending an invitation to take part in something meaningful. That’s exactly how the story of Bay City, Michigan and Goderich, Ontario begins: with a letter across Lake Huron that helped spark a new chapter of cross‑border collaboration. Bay City and Goderich have long been sister cities, connected by tourism, culture and a shared Great Lake. When Bay City adopted its Lake Huron Forever Pledge in November 2022, it was natural for City Manager Dana Muscott to reach out to her counterparts in Goderich. Her invitation was one grounded in relationship, not bureaucracy: one community encouraging another to join a growing movement. “The Pledge keeps our eyes focused on the goals we have set so we can all move consistently in the same direction to make the largest impact,” she wrote. Goderich responded. Motivated by Bay City’s example, local leaders gathered community input, connected existing programs and identified new opportunities to strengthen shoreline resilience, water quality and green space protection. In April 2025, Goderich became the first Ontario community to adopt the Lake Huron Forever Pledge, deepening its partnership with Bay City and demonstrating the power of community‑led action. Their story reflects the core values of Lake Huron Forever: build strong relationships, share what’s working, and help communities elevate natural resource protection in everyday planning and decision making. The most successful efforts across the network are those generated locally — where residents, municipal staff and partners identify shared priorities and amplify work already underway. For Bay City and Goderich, this includes early detection and removal of invasive plant species, prioritizing nature‑based solutions in infrastructure projects, updating zoning and capital planning to protect water quality, and collaborating on innovative approaches to reduce litter and microplastics entering Lake Huron. These actions matter because policy alone can’t keep pace with the environmental pressures facing Great Lakes communities. Climate impacts are accelerating. Shoreline development pressures are increasing. Municipal capacity is often stretched thin. Local leaders need solutions now, and the Lake Huron Forever network helps communities identify, implement and share those solutions across Michigan, Ontario and Tribal Nations. The model works because it moves at the speed of relationships — not the speed of legislation. Ultimately, the Lake Huron Forever network is more than a collection of pledges, it’s a culture where communities know their strengths, share their resources and collaborate directly to protect the waters they depend on. Bay City and Goderich show what becomes possible when relationships are the foundation: faster action, deeper trust and a healthier Lake Huron for generations to come.
Above: Participants explore Saginaw River Headwaters Recreation Area during One Water Gathering 2024 in Bay City, Michigan.
A Lake Huron sunset is enjoyed from the shore of Goderich, Ontario during the 2025 One Water Gathering.
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Participants of the 2024 One Water Gathering in Bay City, Michigan.
The iconic Courthouse Square in Goderich, Ontario’s first Lake Huron Forever Community.
Mechelle, Shoshana and Michael McCreery, Kelly Willis and Daisy Kostus (l-r) of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe at the 2024 One Water Gathering.
Photo courtesy of Erinn Lawrie.
Your Next Step Matters Lake Huron’s future is shaped by all of us.
Communities Take the pledge and join the growing network of towns and townships committed to protecting Lake Huron’s shoreline and waters.
Individuals Become a Shoreline Monitor — volunteer your time, your eyes and your voice to help monitor and protect the coast you love.
Supporters Contact your local Community Foundation or conservation organization to learn how you can support these projects and help fund future efforts to protect Lake Huron.
However you choose to get involved, you’re helping write the next chapter for Lake Huron. Learn more and take action at lakehuronforever.org.
Lake Huron Forever Celebrates the Organizations That Lead and Power Our Impact • Community Foundation Grey Bruce (Ontario)
• River Network (National)
• Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan (Michigan)
• Sunset Community Foundation (Ontario)
• Huron Pines (Michigan)
• The Conservation Fund-Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network (Michigan)
• Lake Huron Coastal Centre (Ontario) • Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy