Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin
Addendum to the Charter

Signatories and Statements: June, 1995
The following is a listing of agencies and organizations that have signified their endorsement of the Ecosystem Charter. By signing, they agree to use the Charter as guidance in the development of their work plans and priorities, as a means to enhance communication with others, and as a means for assessing progress toward a shared vision for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin Ecosystem. Signatories will pursue principles and related actions that are consistent with their individual mandates and priorities and within available resources.

This listing represents signatories to date. It will be periodically updated to include additional signatories (and associated statements) secured over time. Signatories recognize that the Ecosystem Charter is a "living document" that will be periodically reviewed and revised in the interest of both expanding the breadth of the community of signatories, and addressing evolving Basin issues and needs.

ABDI-Land Conservation Department
The mission of the Land Conservation Committees and the Land and Water Conservation staff is to provide leadership and promote sound land and water stewardship through education, technical support and consistent program direction in Ashland, Bayfield, Douglas, and Iron Counties of Wisconsin. We will continue our efforts in assisting private landholders in the development of ecosystem-based resource management plans. We support the concepts developed under the Ecosystem Charter and will incorporate these principles in all aspects of planning in order to reach our common goals of healthy environment, healthy economy and exceptional quality of life as members of the Lake Superior community.

Ashtabula Soil and Water Conservation District

Barry Soil and Water Conservation District
For the past 50 years the Barry Soil and Water Conservation District has been committed to managing the land, water, forest and wildlife resources here in Barry County, Michigan. Our purpose as a grass-roots local organization is to improve, sustain and diversity these resources for further generations. The Charter reflects our goal of helping land owners develop an ecosystem/watershed approach to managing their property for agriculture, forestry hunting, fishing, recreation or just plain healthy living. Principles IX, XI, XIV, XVI and XVII are applicable to all our efforts, but are highlighted in our approach to the watershed of the Thornapple River, a tributary to the Grand River and ultimately flowing into Lake Michigan.

Bruce Trail Association

Carlton County SWCD

Canadian Shipowners Association

Canandaigua Lake Watershed Task Force

Center for a Sustainable Great Lakes
The Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin is an important document which adds to the understanding of "ecosystem approach" to management within the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Ecosystem. Our preference would be that a "human ecosystem approach" be taken that would focus on the management of human activities within the Basin to insure the long-term sustainability of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Ecosystem as a definable human ecosystem. With such an approach the issues related to "sustainable development" become moot. The Charter is a good beginning. It needs to be revisited and revised as our understanding of the relationship between people and the Great-St. Lawrence River improves.

Chocolay Watershed Project, Marquette Conservation District

City of Monroe, Michigan (Water Department)

Conserver Society of Hamilton District

Cummins & Barnard Ecological Engineering, Inc.
The mission of Cummins & Barnard Ecological Engineering, Inc. is absolutely accordant with the Charter. Our work, centered in the Basin, begins to re-establish ecological landscape balance in a post-exploitation economy. We use as our template for solving problems of imbalance, the five-billion-year-old engineering system that biological organisms and communities represent. This means designing phyto-microbial system is to purify wastes in water and soil. It means assessing natural features value, performing ecological restoration, providing ecosystem-based management consulting and improving environmental management for commerce and industry.

Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District
Our natural resources are priceless economic and edaphic assets of the Great Lakes Basin and deserve protection now to avert irrevocable damage to our ecosystem, especially the critical edges, and erosion of our socio-economic base.

Ducks Unlimited Canada
For the past 20 years Ducks Unlimited Canada has been a leader in conserving Great Lakes coastal wetlands. These are among the Continent's most important environments which have suffered significant damage due to improper water regulation, dyking, introduction of exotic species and pollution. The rehabilitation and management of these habitats will continue to be of the highest priority for Ducks Unlimited Canada.

Ecology and Environment, Inc.

Ecovision Associates

Elkhart County Soil and Water Conservation District

Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority

Fathom Five National Marine Park, Parks Canada
It is with great satisfaction, that we confirm our support to the Ecosystem Charter. Parks Canada's Guiding Principles and Operational Policies (1994) echo the Vision and Principles of this charter. Again, we are encouraged by the intent, cooperation and collaboration that is demonstrated by this charter.

Fenton Livingston Soil Conservation Districts
The Fenton-Livingston SWCD is proud to endorse the Ecosystem Charter and the principles and vision that it espouses. We will use the document as a framework for all future initiatives which the District proposes.v

Freshwater Foundation

Fulton Soil and Water Conservation District
We of the Fulton Soil and Water Conservation District are concerned about the excessive urban, agricultural, and industrial runoff that carries sediment, nutrients, pesticides, and other pollutants into our streams, rivers, and lakes. Our objective is to provide technical assistance to farmers, landowners, industry, developers, and local governments to initiate methods that reduce runoff pollution form point and nonpoint sources. We will utilize all available cost-sharing programs which assist the public to address nonpoint source pollution, such as pollution abatement program, FSA sediment control programs, Upper Tiffin upland treatment, and Clean Water Act. We will further conduct various tour meetings, or workshops that promote conservation practices that improve watre quality.

Geauga Soil and Water Conservation District

Global Tomorrow Coalition

Gogebic Soil and Water Conservation District

Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians

Grand Traverse Bay Watershed Initiative

Grand Valley State University Water Resources Institute
The Ecosystem Charter is a significant step forward. It summarizes the major environmental concerns for our region and the actions that will be necessary to deal with those concerns. It also identifies the diverse socio / economic / political factors and organizations which will be critical to our success in preserving a quality environment for future generations. The document will serve as a valuable guide for the development of research, education and political initiatives.

Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Great Lakes Non-point Abatement Coalition-Wisconsin Chapter
Our coalition of 28 counties draining to Lake Michigan support concepts of local government involvement and implementaiton. Our organization's mission is to develop, promote, and support non-point source pollution control programs for implementation at the local government level, which seek to protect the water quality of the Great Lakes. Our organization will actively promote Principles I, II, XIII, XIV, XVI, and XVII.

Great Lakes Pollution Prevention Centre
The Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin reflects the concepts essential for the prevention of pollution. As a living document, it offers a focus for all sections of society to take action towards a conscious goal based on a single set of fundamental principles.

Great Lakes Tomorrow (U.S. Directors)

Griesinger Films, Inc.
The Ecosystem Charter is a revolutionary document. Griesinger Films supports every effort to operationalize sustainability. We will continue to provide video productions that help establish the intellectual ecological/economic underpinnings for a healthy biosphere.

Hancock Soil and Water Conservation District

Houghton-Keweenaw Soil and Water Conservation District

Huron River Watershed Council
To achieve this vision for the Great Lakes, the principles of this Charter must be applied to each smaller component of the ecosystem. These principles will guide the Huron River Watershed Council's efforts to restore and protect the ecological integrity of the Huron River system -- a tributary to Lake Erie and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin.

Huron Soil and Water Conservation District

Illinois Delegation to the Great Lakes Commission

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Program, University of Illinois

Indiana Delegation to the Great Lakes Commission

Indiana Department of Natural Resources

Indiana University-Bloomington, School of Public and Environmental Affairs

Ingham Conservation District
The Ingham Conservation District has worked successfully to meet the demands of changing resources. The Ecosystem Charter compliments our own goals to build livable and sustainable communities for this generation and the next. With these 17 principles, we will continue to challenge ourselves to look beyond our local boundaries and adopt a wider view of managing for the total ecosystem.

International Great Lakes St. Lawrence Mayors' Conference
The International Great Lake St. Lawrence Mayors' Conference was established in 1987 to provide a forum for discussion and advocacy on economic and environmental issues pertaining to the Great Lakes St. Lawrence River system. These world-class water resources provide a common bond among the shoreline communities and an opportunity for local units of government to participate in relevant resource policy development. For this reason, the Mayors' Conference is pleased to be an Ecosystem Charter signatory. The Mayors' Conference adopted a resolution on September 15, 1994 endorsing the Charter, recognizing it as among "the first steps toward the principles of a true ecosystem approach to management."

Isabella Soil Conservation District

Itasca County Soil and Water Conservation District

Izaak Walton League, Minnesota Division

Jefferson County Soil and Water Conservation District
The Jefferson County Soil and Water Conservation District endorses the Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin. Our Soil and Water District has always been guided by the principles stated in the Charter to help Jefferson County Residents conserve natural resources. We realize, because of our many miles of Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River coastlines, that we must measure every action very carefully to avoid adverse impact on our ecosystem. We vow to continue and improve our efforts to utilize the principles of the Charter.

Jefferson County Water Quality Coordinating Committee
Jefferson County is a rural county, located in the north central portion of New York State. Jefferson County is bordered by 256 miles of shoreline on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River (162 mainland/94 mies of island shoreline). In addition all three major watersheds, St. Lawrence River Watershed) flow into and affect the Great Lakes Basin.

The charter will be used as a resource for the Jefferson County Water Quality Coordinating Committee as we develop and implement programs to improve water quality in Jefferson County.

Kahnawake Environment

Kent Environmental Council
The Kent Environmental Council enthusiastically endorses the principles affirmed in the Ecosystem Charter. We are engaged in a study of the vital signs and indicators of sustainable development as they would apply in our immediate locale, and will publish our findings in an effort to strengthen and unify the movement in support of ecological integrity in Kent and Portage Counties.

Keweenaw Bay Indian Community

LaGrange County Soil and Water Conservation District
With Water quality being a major concern to residents in our county, we, The LaGrange County Soil and Water Conservation District supervisors and staff, appreciate the opportunity to endorse the Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Basin. We will promote the charter and the ecosystem management approach to the best of our ability and knowledge.

Lake Michigan Marina Development Commission
Lake Michigan Marina Development Commission, a commission of mayors from Indiana's shoreline cities of Hammond, Whiting, East Chicago, Gary, Portage and Michigan City, was established by the Indiana General Assembly ten years ago to spur marina and economic development along the state's shoreline on Lake Michigan and two navigable tributaries. The Marina Commission recognizes that preservation of the natural environment, improvement of water quality and sustainable development are inherent in successful marina development and critical to human health and well-being. The Marina Commission endorses the concepts that are set forth in the Ecosystem Charter and looks to them to serve as a benchmark for assessing progress and providing guidance for future efforts on the Indiana shoreline and throughout the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Basin.

Lake Superior Center
Lake Superior Center seeks to engage large numbers of the general public and make them responsive to the economic, recreational, biological, aesthetic and spiritual worth of Lake Superior. This is done with the belief that the creation of a "public will" is essential along with research and regulation in the future of Lake Superior. This is done through exhibits, trips and programs. No affinity for the Lake is assumed in the audience. We seek to expand the "family" rather than only address kindred spirits.

The Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin is consistent with the the view that Lake Superior Center holds for the Basin. Principle XVI and VII are statements and methods that are specific areas of performance for Lake Superior Center.

Land and Water Systems Partnership (Institute for Water Research, Center for Remote Sensing, Michigan State University)

LaPorte County Soil and Water Conservation District

League of Women Voters of Illinois

League of Women Voters of Michigan
The League of Women Voters of Michigan sees the Ecosystem Charter as an important step in promoting an ecosystem approach to management. Its ultimate significance depends upon its use by the signatories and others. LWV will use it as a starting point in advocacy on Great Lakes issues. The open and cooperative process by which the Ecosystem Charter was drafted should serve as a model for future Great Lakes efforts.

League of Women Voters of Minnesota

League of Women Voters of New York

Leelanau Soil and Water Conservation District
As we move into the 21st Century, the days of addressing just soil erosion move into the archives. Ecosystem management has become the primary goal to which our conservation district subscribes.

Luce/West Mackinac Soil and Water Conservation District

Macomb Soil and Water Conservation District
The Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin with its vision will be used by the Macomb Soil and Water Conservation District in these ways: The concept of an ecosystem approach will be kept in mind when developing the Macomb Soil and Water Conservation District Annual Plan of Operations, the Long Range Plan and Environmental Education Programs.

Madison County Soil and Water Conservation District

Mason-Lake Soil Conservation District

Mercer Soil and Water Conservation District

Michigan Association of Conservation Districts

Michigan Attorney General's Office

Michigan Delegation to the Great Lakes Commission

Michigan Environmental Defense

Michigan State Section, American Water Resources Association
The Michigan State Section of the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) will support and promote the Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin by ensuring that the Section's activities are consistent with the Charter and by providing a forum where issues related to the Charter can be discussed and debated. The Michigan State Section of AWRA will advance the principles of the Charter by promoting water resources education, research and management, by collecting and disseminating information, knowledge and data concerning all aspects of water resources and by fostering the rational and objective promotion, development, utilization and management of Michigan's water resources. The Michigan State Section of AWRA will network and cooperate with appropriate governmental institutions, private interests and other water resources organizations interested in promoting and advancing the Great Lakes Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin.

Michigan State University Extension

Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources

Minnesota Delegation to the Great Lakes Commission

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Minnesota Sea Grant
The Charter will be a valuable educational tool for Minnesota Sea Grant. Much of the strength of the Ecosystem Charter lies in the very process of its initial creation. As a consensus document, it reflects the fact that very diverse interests were able to come to agreement on sound ecosystem management principles for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin. Given the complexity of the many layers of government, initiatives, and regulations affecting the region, the Charter provides a necessary central framework from which to evaluate the success of our efforts to maintain and improve the environmental quality of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin.

Muskegon County Soil Conservation District

National Association of Conservation Districts, North Central Region
The 189 conservation districts in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin have been working since the late 1930s to correct land and water abuses from mankind's activities. Districts recognize the delicate balance that exists in this natural system and the need for economic activities that often upset this balance. Districts will find the 17 principles an excellent starting point in refining the work they began over 50 years ago.

National Biological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center

National Park Service, Midwest Region
The Charter's vision statement and principles clearly support and reinforce the mission of the National Park Service in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin. It is with much satisfaction, therefore, that the National Park Service becomes a signatory to this Charter. We welcome the opportunity to work closely with other Charter signatories in pursuing an ecosystem management approach in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin.

Nature's Niche: Citizens for Sustainable Re-creation
Nature's Niche advocates interdependence and mutuality in all relationships. The Charter exemplifies these ideals of integrative complementarity. Currently, there is much excitement and hope for an emerging ethos of global responsibility for which the Charter is a catalyst.

A highlight for Nature's Niche in 1993 was participation in the nine day event of the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions, held in Chicago, Illinois. To date in 1994, attention has principally focused upon collaboration with Jean Feraca of Wisconsin Public Radio's Ideas Network. The Charter's effort to meld ecological fittedness with spirituality is an over-arching ideal of all citizens who embrace sustainable re-creation.

New York Delegation to the Great Lakes Commission
The New York State delegates to the Great Lakes Commission support the concept and the process for developing an Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River Ecosystem and the Vision statement included in the Charter. We recognize that the Principles and the Findings are the basis for discussion on how the Charter could be implemented in the Great Lakes Basin and that continuing discussions among agencies and stakeholders will provide the communication needed to gain consensus on addressing the Ecosystem Charter in New York State.

New York Rivers United
New York Rivers United believes the Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin provides an excellent basis for enhancement and maintenance of all aspects of the Basin Ecosystem. The principles set forth in the Ecosystem Charter will assist us in setting goals for our activities in conservation, restoration and enhancement of New York State's river systems.

Northland College
Northland College and its Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute endorse the Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes Basin because its principles parallel our interest in, and commitment to, partnerships dedicated to positive solutions of problems. Northland is a college of about 800 students who come from 45 states and ten other countries to study at its campus near the shores of Lake Superior in Ashland, Wisconsin. Founded in 1892 in the cutover Northern forest, the College has always been committed to the liberal arts as the appropriate tool for understanding the world. For a generation now, since 1971, it has added an institutional emphasis on the environment--across both traditional and innovative curricular programs and as caretakers of a physical environment that extends beyond Northland College's campus. The Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute has, since 1972, been the environmental outreach arm of Northland College working in areas of environmental education,fresh water and forest ecosystems education and involvement.

Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute
(See Northland College for statement)

South St. Louis Soil and Water Conservation District
The Charter will be used to justify erosion and sedimentation clean up of the St. Louis Bay and St. Louis river.

State University of New York, Albany

State University of New York, Buffalo, Office of Vice President for Research

State University of New York, Central Office

Trout Unlimited
The staff and membership of Trout Unlimited are pleased to join the other signatories of the Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin in a commitment to achieving broad consensus concerning the fundamental goals underpinning management of those activities that impinge on the well being of the basin ecosystem. A long history of advocacy on behalf of and participation in watershed management efforts has convinced us that one essential feature of the curatorial process which is successful in producing a healthy, self sustaining ecological system in that it is based on a set of well defined, broadly shared postulates. The principles incorporated in the Ecosystem Charter, coupled with the commitment in of its sponsor to fine tune the document both to permit a broader array stakeholder subscription and to incorporate evolving perspectives on systemic management, stand as guides by which we may all judge the propriety of any proposed activity within the basin.

University of Minnesota, College of Natural Resources

University of Toronto, Institute of Environmental Studies

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, North Central Division
This Charter is significant in that it represents all standing objectives and principles of virtually all parties who have an interest in the Great Lakes. It is not a directive but a catalyst that will cause signatories to bring together their authorities and budgetary priorities in furtherance of protecting the Great Lakes for the benefit of present and future generations of human inhabitants of the basin.

I note that, while the Charter states that it is not a legally binding document and defers to each agency's mandates and policies, the principles cite challenging agency decisions. I sign this Charter, on behalf of the North Central Division office and the Buffalo, Chicago, and Detroit Districts of the Corps of Engineers authroities granted by the Legislative and Executive branches of the Federal Government and budgetary priorities established by the Office of Management and Budget. Accordingly, the Corps of Engineers will not recognize a challenge to a Corps decision based on claims that the Corps has not fulfilled actions cited in this Charter.

Within the bounds of the Corps authorities and priorities, the Corps will strive to accomplish relevant cited actions and work hand-in-hand with sister signatories to honor the spirit of the Charter.

U.S. Coast Guard, Ninth District
The Ninth District of the United States Coast Guard is responsible for marine safety and marine environmental protection in all of the United States waters of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Basin. The Ninth District is both a provider of services to, and a regulator of waterborne commerce and recreation in the Great Lakes. The basic principles of the Charter, which recognize both the right to use the resources of the lakes and the responsibility to preserve the integrity of the lakes, serve as a good summary of the competing principles which the Ninth District observes when balancing its service and regulatory missions in an increasingly complex ecological, economic and political environment.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conservation Service - Regional Conservationists for the Great Lakes (2) - State Conservationists from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin
The Great Lakes State Conservationists from the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) support the guiding principles outlined in the Ecosystem Charter. We pledge our cooperation and involvment to help protect and restore our natural resources throughout the basin.

U.S. EPA Office of Superfund, Emergency Response Section (Grosse Ile, MI)

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Regions 3 & 5
The Ecosystem Charter will support the goals, objectives, and action strategies the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is developing in the Great Lakes Ecosystem Plan. The two documents are complementary and good vehicles toward solidification of strong partnerships. We share a goal of sustainable development for the Great Lakes, and believe the Charter principles facilitate sound resource management decisions.

Washtenaw County Drain Commissioner
The Office of the Washtenaw County Drain Commissioner supports the Vision and Principles of the Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin. As we work to protect and restore surface waters, there is increasing recognition that the watershed is the only level from which meaningful progress can be made. Waterways are complex systems that must be managed through comprehensive, ecological approaches. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin Ecosystem Charter provides unifying guidance for the thousands of otherwise fragmented governments and agencies charged with water and natural resource management responsibilities.

Washtenaw County Land Conservation Department

Washtenaw County Soil Conservation District
Program coordination is fundamental to achieving any of our individual goals relating to a sustained Great Lakes ecosystem. This charter is a great step toward opening the necessary communication lines between all those involved in these efforts.

Waterfront Regeneration Trust (Toronto)
The Charter confirms the fundamental and inextricable linkage between economic activity and the environment, that everything is connected and that people are part of nature and not separate from it. It follows that we are responsible for our actions to ourselves, to other people, to other generations and to other species. The Trust will use the Charter as a guiding context for our work on the North shore of Lake Ontario. Stewardship of this magnificent and invaluable resource is basic to our environmental health, economic well-being and quality of life.

Wayne State University, Department of Chemical Engineering

Wexford Soil and Water Conservation District
For 50 years the Wexford Soil and Water Conservation District has assisted landowners in protecting their soil and water resources. Today, the District recognizes that the regions future quality of life and economic stability are dependent on the protection of our natural resources.

Through education, restoration, wise landuse, and partnerships, we concur that your goals are consistent with our principles of true a ecosystems management approach.

Williams Soil and Water Conservation District

Yates County Soil and Water Conservation District