Huron Pines Resource Conservation And Development Council Inc.

Huron Pines Resource Conservation And Development Council Inc., doing business as Huron Pines, is a tax-exempt non-profit based in Gaylord, Michigan that serves as a prime recipient of federal grants focused on freshwater and coastal habitat restoration, aquatic passage improvement, and endangered species management across Michigan's Great Lakes region. The organization holds no federal contracts and operates exclusively as a grant recipient, with 85% of its awards as prime recipient (69 of 81 total awards) and 15% as sub-recipient under state and foundation pass-through funding.

Huron Pines' capability portfolio centers on dam removal and fish passage restoration, invasive species management, prescribed fire and hazardous fuels reduction, and endangered species monitoring and habitat stewardship. Representative prime grant work includes a $164,925 National Fish Passage Program (CFDA 15.685) award from the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 3 (awarded December 31, 2025, completion December 31, 2027) for removal of the Trout River Dam in Rogers City, Michigan, a deteriorated eighty-year-old structure blocking aquatic organism passage across twenty miles of upstream habitat and contributing thermal pollution to a designated trout stream. A $298,511.67 National Fish Passage Program cooperative agreement (awarded July 16, 2024, completion December 31, 2026) funds culvert replacement in Sheridan Creek to reconnect approximately eight miles of upstream brook trout habitat in Albert Township, Michigan. A $199,954 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (CFDA 15.662) award (awarded March 1, 2024, completion September 30, 2027) funds management and stewardship of over 6,800 acres of the Kirtland's Warbler Wildlife Management Area, including ecological assessments, unified management planning, and adaptive monitoring to support endangered species recovery. Additional recent work includes a $200,000 Coastal Program (CFDA 15.630) award (awarded May 1, 2023, completion September 30, 2026) for habitat restoration, invasive species control, and population monitoring of federally endangered Piping Plovers and threatened Pitcher's Thistle across ten Lake Huron islands, and a landscape-scale prescribed fire and hazardous fuels reduction project targeting Michigan's fifteen northernmost counties (awarded September 15, 2022, completion September 14, 2027).

Customer concentration is heavily weighted to the Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service and its regional component. DOI Fish and Wildlife Service Region 3 accounts for 43 awards, while DOI Fish and Wildlife Service (non-regional) accounts for 22 awards, together representing 90% of award count. These two related DOI components dominate funding with all measurable combined potential value attribution. The Corporation for National and Community Service Office of Grants Management, Environmental Protection Agency, and Department of Agriculture Forest Service R9-Eastern Region contribute a combined three to three awards with minimal dollar concentration. Sub-recipient work flows through state agencies (Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy; Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity; Michigan Department of Natural Resources) and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, focused on habitat connectivity, invasive species treatment, and AmeriCorps service member placement for conservation education.

Activity volume shows cyclical award timing rather than linear growth. The past five years yielded 2021 (5 awards), 2022 (10 awards), 2023 (5 awards), 2024 (11 awards), and 2025 (4 awards to date). Five awards carry ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months, representing the organization's recompete exposure window. Combined obligated funding across all 81 awards stands at $19.9 million against a combined potential value of $23 thousand, a ratio indicating substantial prior-year funding concentration and current-year pipeline sparseness. The organization does not hold federal contracts or indefinite-delivery vehicles; all engagement flows through competitive grant applications to DOI and sub-award partnerships with state natural resource agencies and conservation foundations.