[citation needed] A branch of the Galien River flows northwest through the township to Lake Michigan eventually discharging in to the Atlantic Ocean through the Saint Lawrence River.

Galien River was one of the locations where in 1966 the State of Michigan Department of Natural Resources began releasing Coho and Chinook salmon in Michigan rivers.

[5] A portion of southeastern Galien Township along with neighboring southwestern Bertrand Township are part of the Kankakee River drainage system which continues to the Mississippi River drainage basin.

This is only one of two locations in Michigan (the other in the Upper Peninsula) that are part of the Mississippi River drainage basin.

[citation needed] As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 1,611 people, 619 households, and 448 families residing in the township.

22.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.