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Great Lakes Commission releases new video highlighting shoreline naturalization on Lake St. Clair

Apr 25, 2022 | News and Announcements

Ann Arbor, Mich. – The Great Lakes Commission (GLC) today released a video highlighting work to restore natural shoreline at Brandenburg Park along Lake St. Clair in Michigan. A partnership led by the GLC and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) replaced a failing metal sea wall with naturalized shoreline and offshore shoals to reduce wave energy and increase resiliency to varying water levels, improving fish and wildlife habitat and enhancing community access to the waterfront. Brandenburg Park’s pier is one of only a few in Metro Detroit from which individuals can fish and view wildlife on Lake St. Clair. Its public boat launch attracts boating and fishing enthusiasts from all over the county and throughout the region.

“Our Brandenburg Park project has improved fish and wildlife habitat, coastal resilience, and community access to Lake St. Clair,” said Todd Ambs, Chair of the Great Lakes Commission. “We’ve already seen an 84% increase in fish abundance and nearly 500% increase in water celery, an important native aquatic plant species. The GLC is proud to work with our federal, state, and local partners to implement exciting projects like this one across the region.”

Brandenburg Park is one of five projects that GLC and NOAA are leading in high priority coastal areas in the Great Lakes basin. A team including Chesterfield Township, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Michigan Department of Energy, Great Lakes, and Environment, and OHM Advisors collaborated with GLC and NOAA to replace 740 linear feet of hardened shoreline, restore over three acres of nearshore habitat along Lake St. Clair and implement monitoring and outreach activities. The video, produced by Great Lakes Outreach Media, reviews prior conditions of the site, explains the restoration methods that were implemented, and highlights the use of long-term solutions to the basin-wide issue of shoreline erosion

For more information, visit https://www.glc.org/work/priorityareas/brandenburg.


The Great Lakes Commission, led by chair Todd L. Ambs, deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (retired), is a binational government agency established in 1955 to protect the Great Lakes and the economies and ecosystems they support. Its membership includes leaders from the eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces in the Great Lakes basin. The GLC recommends policies and practices to balance the use, development, and conservation of the water resources of the Great Lakes and brings the region together to work on issues that no single community, state, province, or nation can tackle alone. Learn more at www.glc.org.

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For media inquiries, please contact Beth Wanamaker, [email protected].

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