O&WDM Partner Organizations

Many organizations across Michigan are working together to keep oil out of the Great Lakes. Together, we saw a need to organize on behalf of the people of Michigan and those that value and use the Great Lakes, including tourists to our state, to ensure that the corporation that profits by using our public waters and Great Lakes bottomlands does not spoil that which belongs to all of us.

If you agree that we need to keep oil out of the Great Lakes, consider endorsing these efforts. Businesses can endorse here. Citizens can sign our petition asking Governor Snyder and Attorney General Shuette to take action now, and send them an email. If you think your organization should be in this list of actively participating organizations, please contact us.

• GROUNDWORK CENTER FOR RESILIENT COMMUNITIES

  The Groundwork Center—formerly the Michigan Land Use Institute—is a nonprofit advocacy organization that protects the environment, strengthens the economy, and builds community, by collaborating with citizens, government, businesses, and organizations to innovate models for resilience and prosperity. Groundwork was a leader in organizing the July 2013 Oil & Water Don’t Mix: A Rally for the Great Lakes at the Mackinac Straits, and is coordinating this website and associated public awareness campaign.

• MICHIGAN ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL

  Michigan Environmental Council is a coalition of more than 70 organizations created in 1980 to lead Michigan’s environmental movement in achieving positive change through the political process. MEC combines deep environmental policy expertise with close connections to key state and federal decision makers, decades of experience getting things done in the political process, and an ability to rally broad and powerful alliances in support of reforms. With our member groups and partners in the public health and faith-based communities, MEC promotes public policies to ensure that Michigan families will enjoy clear waters, clean beaches, beautiful landscapes and healthy communities for years to come.

• SIERRA CLUB OF MICHIGAN

  Sierra Club of Michigan is the statewide voice for the nation's oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization. The Michigan Chapter’s conservation priorities focus on the legacy that every child should inherit -- water you can drink, air you can breathe, lakes safe for swimming, and communities free from poisonous waste; clean and healthy energy from local renewable sources that grow our economy and reduce dependence on dirty fossil fuels; wild places that provide clean rivers, wildlife habitat, and opportunities to fish, hunt, hike, and learn about the natural world; and active participation in a democracy that ensures our elected officials fairly represent their voters, not special interests.

• FLOW - For Love of Water

  FLOW is a nonprofit organization working to ensure the waters of the Great Lakes are protected now and for future generations by recognizing the Great Lakes as a Commons, building deep public awareness and engaging the public and decision-makers about the threats and abuses facing the Great Lakes, and advancing public trust solutions to protect the rights of the people and waters of the Great Lakes Basin.

• ARTICLE32.ORG

  The purpose of Article32.org is to defend, preserve, and promote individual rights and liberties, guaranteed to every Indigenous Person of North American, as expressed in various International Accords, Declarations, and Treaties; and Federal, State, Provincial, and Tribal Consent Decrees, Constitutions, and legislation.

• CLEAN WATER ACTION

  Clean Water Action is a one million member organization of diverse people and groups joined together to protect our environment, health, economic well-being and community quality of life. Our goals include clean, safe and affordable water; prevention of health threatening pollution; creation of environmentally safe jobs and businesses; and empowerment of people to make democracy work. Clean Water Action organizes strong grassroots groups and coalitions and campaigns to elect environmental candidates and solve environmental and community problems.

• CONCERNED CITIZENS OF CHEBOYGAN AND EMMET COUNTY

  CCCEC is a network of people working to keep interested individuals and groups informed and educated about issues related to energy and environment. We are the glue to connect existing groups and groups in formation, to share ideas and experience to be stronger together, and to "avoid reinventing the wheel."

• CHIPPEWA OTTAWA RESOURCE AUTHORITY

  Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority gathers all 1836 Treaty fishing tribes under its mantle: Bay Mills Indian Community,Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians,Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. The CORA governing body is composed of each tribe's chairperson and each tribes' natural resource entity chairperson. Under the CORA charter two committees were established: Great Lakes Resource Committee to serve as inter-tribal management body for the 1836 Treaty fishery and the Inland Lands and Waters Resources Committee to oversee inland resource matters. The 1836 Treaty fishery continues to be one of the most regulated fisheries on the Great Lakes, subject to regulations under CORA, the tribes, FDA HACCP seafood safety and US Coast Guard maritime safety.

• ECOLOGY CENTER

  We believe that the central question of our time is how human beings are going to thrive in the world without destroying the earth's ability to sustain us. In the face of enormous environmental challenges, virtually all sectors of our society are now scrambling to create solutions, and the Ecology Center plays a critical role in advancing the best models. To do that, we do the following: we educate consumers to help keep their families healthy and safe, we push corporations to use clean energy, make safe products, and provide healthy food, we provide people with innovative services that promote healthy people and a healthy planet, we work with policymakers to establish laws that protect communities and the environment.

• ENVIRONMENTAL LAW & POLICY CENTER

  The Environmental Law & Policy Center is the Midwest’s leading public interest environmental legal advocacy and eco-business innovation organization, and among the nation’s leaders. We develop and lead successful strategic advocacy campaigns to improve environmental quality and protect our natural resources. We are public interest environmental entrepreneurs who engage in creative business dealmaking with diverse interests to put into practice our belief that environmental progress and economic development can be achieved together.

• FOOD & WATER WATCH

  Food & Water Watch (FWW) is a national advocacy organization working locally in Michigan. FWW champions healthy food and clean water for all. We stand up to corporations that put profits before people, and advocate for a democracy that improves people's lives and protects our environment.

• FRIENDS OF THE JORDAN RIVER WATERSHED

  The mission of the Friends of the Jordan River Watershed is to conserve the natural resources and protect the environmental quality of the Jordan River and its watershed. Our watershed contains biologically diverse ecosystems of forests, wetlands, tributaries, each part dependent upon the other for survival, and crucial to the economic health and well-being of surrounding communities. We are all part of the greater Lake Michigan/Lake Huron watershed, and depend upon clean Great Lakes water for our survival. The water and public land of our state should be managed to protect our environment and communities, not sold or leased to industry for private gain.

• GREAT LAKES ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER

  The Great Lakes Environmental Law Center was founded to protect the world’s greatest freshwater resource and the communities that depend upon it. Based in Detroit, the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center has a board and staff of dedicated and innovative environmental attorneys to address our most pressing environmental challenges. The Great Lakes Environmental Law Center was also founded on the idea that law students can and must play a significant role in shaping the future of environmental law. In all of our work, law students are one of the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center’s most valuable resources.

• KENT COUNTY WATER CONSERVATION

  Kent County Water Conservation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving our freshwater resources and natural habitats through education and local advocacy.

• LES CHENEAUX WATERSHED COUNCIL

  The Les Cheneaux Watershed Council is working to restore threatened water quality, create awareness of how to protect it, and put in motion plans to improve the nature-based livelihood of the Les Cheneaux community and its visitors. The Council is engaged in many activities in the Les Cheneaux Watershed that promote conservation, education, protection, restoration, and sustainability of the water based resources within our watershed, located in eastern Mackinac County, MI, with one subwatershed located in south-central Chippewa County.

• MICHIGAN CITIZENS FOR WATER CONSERVATION

  Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation is a 501c3 grassroots group organized in 2000. Our goal is to conserve, preserve and protect the public's natural resources. Our efforts have concentrated on research and education so that informed decisions are made regarding protection of the quality and quantity of Michigan's groundwater, wetlands, lakes, streams, ponds and wildlife. We have fought the bottled water operations that draw down our streams and secured partial victories.

• MI-CATS - Michigan Coalition Against Tar Sands

  The Michigan Coalition Against Tar Sands (MI CATS) seeks to unite people towards a common goal of stopping all transportation and refining of tar sands oil in the Great Lakes Basin and advocating against the production/transportation of tar sands everywhere.

• MICHIGAN LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS EDUCATION FUND

  Michigan League of Conservation Voters Education Fund is a leading non-partisan organization for preserving and protecting Michigan’s land, air and water via strategic education of the public and elected officials, statewide organizational capacity building, collective unifying action through a common agenda, and civic engagement.

• MICHIGAN RESOURCE STEWARDS

  The Michigan Resource Stewards is an organization founded by natural resource and environmental professionals who spent years working or volunteering in the public or private sector managing and protecting our natural resources and environment. The organization was formed in 1997 to continue the fight for protection of our environment and natural resources by the same people who had dedicated their working lives to this noble objective.

• MN350

  Minnesota 350 is inspiring Minnesotans to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis: to create a new sense of urgency and possibility for our planet by building a climate change movement in Minnesota. As a grassroots, volunteer-driven organization, MN350 is creating the societal and political will to curb expanded use of fossil fuels in addition to the adoption of clean energy. Further, MN350 is also focused on changing the demand for energy, while also creating alternative ways to live in a sustainable, just, and fulfilling world.

• NMEAC - Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council

  Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council proudly calls itself the oldest grassroots environmental advocacy group in Northern Michigan, preserving the natural environment through citizen action and education.

• SURF GREAT LAKES

  SURF Great Lakes is a journal working to Sustain, Unite, Restore and Fortify Great Lakes protection by building awareness around region-wide advocacy efforts.

• SURFRIDER FOUNDATION

  The Surfrider Foundation is a grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of our world’s oceans, waves and beaches through a powerful activist network. Through campaigns led by our nationwide network of chapters, we work to ensure clean water, accessible beaches, and healthy coasts. Our Minnesota-Superior, Milwaukee, Chicago, Lake Michigan, and Southeastern Michigan Chapters carry out this important work in the Great Lakes region.

• TC350

  TC350 is a Traverse City area chapter of the national climate organization 350.org. We are people united to take personal and societal action to combat climate change by reducing CO2 emissions to 350 ppm.  TC350 is trying to keep oil out of the Great Lakes - by working to prevent "carbon spills" into the atmosphere - through organizing grassroots public awareness raising events, such as the July 2013 Oil & Water Don’t Mix: A Rally for the Great Lakes at the Mighty Mac itself. We also work on educating citizens about climate change solutions and actions.

• UPPER PENINSULA ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION

  The Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition (UPEC) was the first grassroots group that focused solely on environmental issues across all of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Since the beginning the purpose has remained unchanged: to protect and maintain the unique environmental qualities of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan by educating the public and acting as a watchdog to industry and government. The coalition is made up of 200-300 paid individual members and a collection of 15-20 other conservation organizations who specialize in environmental issues affecting the Upper Peninsula. UPEC is a nonprofit, registered 501(c)(3) organization operating under a constitution originally ratified on January 24, 1976.

• WATCH - Water Air Team Charlevoix

  The purpose of WATCH, Inc. (Water and Air Team Charlevoix) is to promote, protect, and restore the environmental quality of the Charlevoix County area. Founded in 1983, WATCH, Inc. is a nonprofit Michigan corporation dedicated to promoting, protecting, and restoring the environmental quality of the area including and immediately surrounding Charlevoix County, Michigan. Our members are concerned citizens aware of the need to be actively involved with issues that threaten this environment.

• WMEAC - West Michigan Environmental Action Council

  West Michigan Environmental Action Council was founded by a diverse group of concerned citizens and organizational stakeholders, and is uniquely positioned to respond to emerging issues and new threats to West Michigan's natural and human ecologies, focused on Building Sustainable Communities and Protecting Water Resources.