For immediate release January 9, 2001

Great Lakes Commission to lead large-scale Great Lakes coastal wetlands monitoring initiative

Ann Arbor, Mich. - The Great Lakes Commission and a binational consortium of Great Lakes wetland scientists and resource managers recently were awarded $400,000 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Great Lakes National Program Office (U.S. EPA-GLNPO) for the first year of a three-year effort to assess the ecological health of Great Lakes coastal wetlands. This is the largest binational effort of its kind to date and promises to set a new standard for binational cooperation on an issue of shared concern.

Wetland scientists and resource managers from federal governments, states, provinces, nonprofit organizations and academia will further develop and refine indicators of ecological health for Great Lakes coastal wetlands that were recommended during the State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference held in Hamilton, Ontario, in October 2000. The consortium also will design a long-term program to monitor Great Lakes coastal wetlands and create a binational database accessible to all scientists, decisionmakers and the public.

Dr. Thomas M. Burton, professor of zoology and fisheries and wildlife at Michigan State University, has been appointed chair of the Project Management Team. "I look forward to the challenge of working with a large group of researchers and resource managers to accomplish these tasks," says Burton. "The extent, ecological and economic values, and functioning of Great Lakes coastal wetlands has not been well-documented in the past. This daunting challenge is exciting, and I am very happy to be part of the effort."

"This binational project takes a very important step in determining the health of Great Lakes coastal wetlands, which are so essential to the environmental and economic prosperity of the region," adds Nat Robinson, chair of the Great Lakes Commission.

Coastal wetlands are an integral part of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem, and they have critically important ecological values and functions, such as filtering pollutants and providing habitat for many animal species. However, basinwide data for assessing their ecological health are lacking. The consortium will expand the monitoring and reporting capabilities of the United States and Canada under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. U.S. EPA-GLNPO has contributed $400,000, and the other consortium members are contributing more than $200,000 for the first year of the project. Similar funding levels are expected for each of the next two years.

More information about the project, including a list of consortium members, is available online at www.glc.org/wetlands/.

The Great Lakes Commission, chaired by Nathaniel E. Robinson (Wisconsin), is a nonpartisan, binational compact agency created by state and U.S. federal law and dedicated to promoting a strong economy, healthy environment and high quality of life for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region and its residents. The Commission consists of state legislators, agency officials and governors’ appointees from its eight member states. Associate membership for Ontario and Québec was established through the signing of a "Declaration of Partnership." The Commission maintains a formal Observer program involving U.S. and Canadian federal agencies, tribal authorities, binational agencies and other regional interests. The Commission offices are located in Ann Arbor, Michigan.