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Michigan is ours to protect

Whether you call Detroit, Grand Haven, Ann Arbor, Traverse City or any other Michigan community “home,” this place we love is under attack.

Facing diminished funding and a deregulation agenda led by President Trump, our state’s pristine natural resources and every Michigander are at risk. From defunding clean energy projects, to slashing pollution regulation, to cutting the jobs of those who steward our recreation areas, our lawmakers are putting our environment and communities last. 

But Michigan is home to some of the most iconic and rare resources in the world. We boast a near $14 billion tourism industry. And the Michiganders who make our state great deserve clean air, safe water and communities with modern jobs, green space and resources to thrive.

The Environmental Council, along with our 115 allied environmental partners, are fighting every day to protect the air we breathe, our water and the places we love. Michigan needs us more than ever—and we need you more than ever.

Michigan is ours to protect. If we don’t, who will?

 

We need your help now more than ever.

The cuts, rollbacks and threats are piling up—and the negative impacts will be felt for generations. We’re fighting for cleaner air. For our globally rare freshwater. For our children, and yours.

We can’t do it alone—make a donation to stand up to polluters, deregulators and those who want to drag Michigan backward.

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Our agenda is simple

Put people over profits. Families over polluters. Our globally rare resources over the greed of those who’d pave over slice of paradise. 

And we’re not just doing this because it’s our job. We’re doing this because, like you, we see the future our elected leaders are laying before us and it’s not something we’re willing to accept. We invite you to meet the people who work tirelessly to protect this place we love.

Emily - Preserving our critical dunes
Samantha - Keeping micropolastics out of our lakes
Ross - Making transit cleaner & more accessible
Ellen - Fighting corporate polluters in Detroit
Reese - Protecting our groundwater
Abby - Bringing reliable energy to the U.P.
Megan - Combatting big livestock waste
Carlee - Making energy cleaner & more affordable

Join us for an event near you

We’re hosting a series of in-person events around the Mitten to connect with Michiganders like you, who want to combat the deregulation agenda that’s threatening this place we love. We invite you to come and hear what’s on the line, and what we’re doing.

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Help us fight the degregulation agenda & protect this place we love

 

© 2025 Michigan Environmental Council

Emily Smith - Preserving Michigan's Critical Dunes

Michigan is home to 300,000 acres of freshwater dunes, the largest collection in the world. They are not found anywhere else in the world—and they support wildlife (like our beloved Piping Plover) that can’t thrive anywhere else in the world. 

As the Land & Water Conservation Policy Manager here at the Michigan Environmental Council, my job is to ensure they’re here for generations to come. 

But the dunes need our protection, and they need it now. 

We’re seeing stronger, more frequent storms and extreme weather patterns as a result of climate change that are eroding the dune coast. Microplastics, PFAS and other pollutants from things like sandbags on the coast are running from the dunes and into our lakes, unchecked. 

And instead of stepping up to stop the destruction of our dunes, state and federal lawmakers are slashing funding, cutting jobs and opening the door for more development and pollution. Make no mistake—this deregulation agenda, led by President Trump, is coming to Michigan. And our dunes are on the line. 

With your support I will continue advocating to ban the use of plastic-wrapped sandbags on Lake Michigan’s coast; protect endangered wildlife like Piping Plovers; and bring Michiganders together so we can all enjoy our globally-rare dunes.

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The cuts, rollbacks and threats are piling up—and the negative impacts will be felt for generations. We’re fighting for cleaner air. For our globally rare freshwater. For our children, and yours.