Sheboygan, Wisc. – The Great Lakes Commission (GLC) released a new video at the 2018 Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOC) Conference highlighting restoration work completed under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – GLC Regional Habitat Restoration Partnership.

The video, St. Marys River, Little Rapids: Post Restoration, sheds light on the Partnership’s collaborative approach to completing the Little Rapids Restoration Project and the resulting economic and environmental benefits passed to the community in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

Heather Braun, GLC’s coastal conservation and habitat restoration program manager, said this project is exactly what successful habitat restoration under the GLRI should look like.

“The collaboration between the various groups – from state and federal agencies, to local and regional organizations – that’s what made this project so successful,” she said. “The GLRI has given us the capacity to get the right people involved in projects like this and really serve communities and the environment in the right way.”

Julie Sims, Great Lakes regional coordinator for NOAA, said the Regional Partnership has been critical in delisting Areas of Concern throughout the Great Lakes region.

“The partnership is tackling some of the most urgent priorities in the region so it’s obviously very important that we work as efficiently and effectively as possible to accomplish these goals,” Sims said. “The restoration that happened at the Little Rapids was so successful on so many levels, and though every restoration project comes with its own set of challenges, our success in the St. Marys should really inform and encourage the work that’s still to come.”

For more information about the Partnership, contact Heather Braun or click here.

The Great Lakes Commission, led by chairman John Linc Stine, commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, is an interstate compact agency established under 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 governors’ appointees, state legislators, and agency officials 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. Learn more at www.glc.org.