Launched in early 2025, ALUS Defiance is a community-based program dedicated to advancing farmer-led, nature-based solutions in Defiance County, Ohio. Working directly with producers, the program creates and maintains new acres of nature on working lands while supporting agricultural productivity.
ALUS Defiance improves soil health, strengthens water quality, and restores wildlife habitat across Northwest Ohio. By aligning environmental priorities with real-world farm operations, the program delivers measurable ecosystem services that benefit both producers and the broader Great Lakes region.
ALUS Defiance is the second U.S. community to adopt the ALUS model, building on a successful Canadian framework that supports locally driven conservation aligned with regional economic and environmental goals.
Defiance County lies within the Maumee River watershed, the largest watershed in the Great Lakes basin. What happens on the land here directly impacts downstream water quality, including Lake Erie.
As a rural, agriculture-based community located near the confluence of the Auglaize, Tiffin, and Maumee Rivers, Defiance County plays a critical role in advancing solutions that strengthen both farming and freshwater systems.
ALUS Defiance works at this intersection — ensuring conservation practices are practical, voluntary, and tailored to local conditions.
Defiance County was once part of the historic Great Black Swamp, a vast wetland system that was drained to support agricultural development. Today, heavy clay soils and extensive drainage infrastructure remain central to farm operations across the region.
While these systems enable highly productive agriculture, they also contribute to nutrient runoff, sedimentation, and algal blooms in Lake Erie. Habitat loss has further reduced native species and ecological resilience.
ALUS Defiance addresses these challenges through targeted, nature-based solutions that work with — not against — modern agriculture.
Guided by a farmer-majority Partnership Advisory Committee (PAC), ALUS Defiance ensures local leadership shapes program priorities. The program collaborates with:
ALUS Defiance advances projects designed to reduce nutrients and sediment while enhancing habitat and farm resilience:
Defiance County has long demonstrated leadership in conservation through widespread adoption of no-till farming, reduced tillage, and wetland restoration. However, achieving Lake Erie nutrient reduction targets requires expanded, coordinated action.
ALUS Defiance provides a structured, locally governed framework to implement conservation practices that complement existing programs and fill critical gaps.
By compensating producers for ecosystem services, the program:
This integrated approach advances both environmental stewardship and regional economic resilience.
The Partnership Advisory Committee includes farmers, local government representatives, conservation experts, and academic partners. A farmer-majority structure ensures the program remains practical, voluntary, and responsive to local agricultural realities.
ALUS Defiance invites farmers, landowners, and community stakeholders to participate in advancing nature-based solutions in Northwest Ohio.
Contact CGLR or the ALUS Defiance Coordinator if you are a farmer or land owner in Defiance, Ohio and would like to get involved
Explore how ecosystem service projects can align with your operation.
Help expand farmer-led conservation efforts across the Maumee River watershed.
Charitable contributions to the CGLR Foundation in the US and the CGLR Canada Foundation are crucial for helping us integrate environmental considerations into our regional public policy decisions, business strategies, and investment choices.
Supporting CGLR and joining our programs and outreach efforts will help bring sector leaders and stakeholders together to grow the region’s US-Canada economic partnership, transition to a sustainable future, and strengthen our competitiveness in today’s fast pace global marketplace.
