Alliance for the Great Lakes Lake Michigan lake bottom by the Illinois legislature to a prominent Chicago university, despite disagreement about the move from other environmental organizations. Decades later, the case "Lake Michigan Federation v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers" is a seminal decision under the Public Trust Doctrine, which prohibits the sale of public Great Lakes resources to private entities. In 2002 and again in 2008, the Alliance helped write and partner with business interests to pass the Great Lakes Legacy Act to fund Area of Concern cleanups. It helped write and pass the Great Lakes Basin Water Resources Compact to set water conservation
Marine Museum of the Great Lakes above the downtown city waterfront. the federal government still owns the drydock, buildings and wharf; it is looking to divest itself of the property, which could leave the museum without a home after 2015. The Kingston Marine Museum was incorporated by letters patent on August 29, 1975 with objectives to collect, conserve and display artifacts related to Great Lakes marine history, shipping and shipbuilding, construct an exhibition area for special exhibitions of both marine and non-marine character, encourage public participation in events and activities, develop a marine resource centre of archival material, books, publications, ephemera and items to permit research