Delays, freezes and cuts to federal grant programs are spelling uncertainty for environmental nonprofits in northern Michigan.
But not everyone is being impacted in the same way.
The Conservation Resource Alliance, a nonprofit focused primarily on river and wetland restoration in northwest Michigan, relies partially on federal funding for its 60 projects across 15 counties.
About 30 of those projects are now up in the air, according to Suzie Knoll, the organization's executive director.
"This is pretty large in scope here — millions of dollars," she said. "None of the grants have been rescinded. They're just all up in the air right now, paused. We're hopeful that they will come full circle and be released."
That includes a $20 million grant from the USDA earmarked for stream restoration and land protection in partnership with Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.
A project to replace two old culverts with timber bridges along a tributary of the Cedar River in Leelanau County was set to happen this fall; it's now delayed by at least a year.
The aging culverts cause sediment to build up and restrict fish passage.
But Knoll said she's particularly concerned about how much costs for materials could increase as they wait for the money.
Other regional nonprofits, including For Love of Water, The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay, Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council and the Northwest Michigan Invasive Species Network, say their grant money is being released as normal for now.
"The effect this is having, though, on just the way that we're thinking about future projects is more significant," said Heather Huffstutler, executive director for Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council.
She thinks it will be harder to get grants they're currently in the process of applying for.
"So far, we still have access to all those funds that have been allocated for 2025. Most of these are programs that were funded either in 2023 or 2024," she said. "I think change is imminent. We just don't know what the shape and form is going to be."
She said federal money typically reaches them through federal agencies like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"The future of how much funds there will be, or whether those departments in those agencies exist — those are the big looming questions," Huffstutler said. "Everyone is sort of operating as if nothing has changed, but I think that is not realistic."
Despite the uncertainty, Huffstutler said the changes could strengthen nonprofits.
She said there may still be funds available to governments and municipalities, and organizations like Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council can strengthen and create more of those partnerships.
And she's hopeful funding for restoration and conservation work will continue to exist but be funneled into communities differently.
"If we support the funding of these initiatives, [the funds] have to get out somehow," she said. "We just don't quite know how."
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