The Ohio Department of Natural Resources announced on July 28 that its H2Ohio Rivers Program has awarded nearly $87,000 in Healthy Rivers Livery Grants to twelve canoe and kayak liveries across the state, putting real money behind the volunteer river cleanups that many of these outfitters host every season.
Each livery can receive up to $10,000 to cover cleanup supplies, special waste disposal, and event promotion. Two of the twelve recipients operate directly on the Ohio River mainstem: MoonDoggie LIVERee, serving the Ohio River and Ohio Brush Creek, received $6,240, and Schack’s Yaks, serving the Ohio River and Mill Creek, received $8,900. Other awards went to liveries on the Tuscarawas, Hocking, Little Miami, Great Miami, and Auglaize rivers, among others, with several outfitters and the Little Miami Watershed Network receiving the full $10,000.
For watershed groups on the Ohio side of our network, the takeaway is practical: if there is a canoe or kayak livery on your stretch of river, this program can underwrite the unglamorous costs of a cleanup, from dumpsters and tire disposal fees to trash grabbers and promotion. Partnering with a funded livery, or encouraging your local livery to apply in a future round, is a low effort way to expand cleanup capacity without writing your own grant.
ODNR says interested canoe livery owners should visit the H2Ohio Rivers Livery Grant website and review eligibility requirements before applying for future rounds.
Key details
- Total awarded: nearly $87,000 to twelve liveries statewide
- Maximum award: $10,000 per livery
- Eligible uses: cleanup supplies, special waste disposal, event promotion
- Ohio River recipients: MoonDoggie LIVERee ($6,240) and Schack’s Yaks ($8,900)
Read more in the Ohio DNR announcement, the source for this item.
