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GLERL 2005 Milestone Reports
< GLERL 2005 Milestone main page
GOAL: Ecosystem
Scientist: Dr. Stephen B. Brandt (GLERL)
NOAA Performance Objective: Increase portion of the population that is knowledgeable of and acting as stewards for coastal and marine ecosystem issues.
NOAA Corporate Measure: TBD
Ecosystem Research Program Performance Measure: PM7: Number of state and local agencies, community leaders and industries who access and utilize NOAA Ecosystem Research Program products and services.
OAR Performance Measure: Number of significant partnerships developed
NOAA Program: Ecosystem Research
Milestone: Complete NOAA's Obligation under the Executive Order to create a draft strategic plan for the Great Lakes Collaboration (Stephen Brandt, GLERL)
Purpose: In May 2004, President Bush signed Executive Order 13340 creating a cabinet-level Task Force to bring an unprecedented level of collaboration and coordination to accelerate protection and restoration of the Great Lakes, a national and internationally significant resource. Recognizing that efforts to protect and enhance the ecosystem must go beyond the federal government, the Executive Order also calls for the convening of a Regional Collaboration of National Significance to facilitate collaboration among the U.S. federal government, the Great Lakes states, local communities, Tribes, and other interests in the Great Lakes region as well as Canada. The Great Lakes Regional Collaboration (GLRC) has been organized into eight Strategy Teams to address priorities raised by Council of Great Lakes Governors and Mayors. These teams have been tasked with developing specific recommendations to increase the collaboration of research and restoration between Federal, state, and local units of government as well as Tribal and non-governmental agencies. These eight teams are: Non-point Source, Persistent Bioacummulative Toxics, Invasive Species, Habitat/Species, Areas of Concern (AOC), Indicators and Information, Sustainable Development, and Coastal Health.
The GLRC has focused its energy on three important goals. First, develop a Great Lakes Restoration and Protection Strategy (Strategy) to inform future implementation of programs and funding throughout the region. This Strategy will build upon the extensive collaborative efforts already in place and will include specific action plans based on the recommendations provided by the Issue Area Strategy Teams. Second, the GLRC will serve as a forum for addressing near-term regional issues that relate to Great Lakes ecosystem protection and restoration. Third, the GLRC will create an oversight forum to coordinate and enhance implementation of the Strategy.
NOAA maintains a lead roll in the development of the GLRC’s Strategic
Plan by requesting agency representatives take part in the Strategy writing
process and represent the interests of NOAA in the GLRC.
Efforts and Results (to date): The following NOAA personnel are involved in the Regional Collaboration. Their affiliation and activities on the GLRC include:
Cynthia Sellinger, OAR/GLERL, Non-Point Source Strategy Team, was the lead for the Legislative writing team
Pete Landrum, OAR/GLERL, Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxics Strategy Team, participated in Strategy Team meetings and reviewed all documents produced by the writing teams.
Phil Moy, Wisconsin SeaGrant, Aquatic Invasive Species, chair of the Canals and Waterways writing team
Dave Reid, OAR/GLERL, Aquatic Invasive Species, team leader on the Maritime Commerce Vector writing team.
Jennifer Macal, NMFS, Habitat/Species Strategy Team, reviewed and commented on draft documents produced by the Team
Todd Goeks, NOS, Areas of Concern, participated on the Contaminated Sediment/GL Legacy Act writing team
Stephen Brandt, OAR/GLERL, chair of the Indicators and Information Strategy Team
Mary Baker, NOS, Sustainable Development, participated on the Sustainable Transportation writing team
Jeffery Reuter, Ohio SeaGrant, Coastal Health, participated in the discussions on Harmful Algal Blooms
Each of the different Strategy Teams broke into various writing/subteams to develop their final drafts. Individual writing teams had numerous conference calls over the last 6 months to develop their portion of the Strategy document.
The Regional Collaboration as a whole also had three face to face meetings: Chicago, IL in Dec. 2004; Maumee, OH, Feb. 2005; and Traverse Traverse City, MI, April 2005.
Result: NOAA has fulfilled all requested needs of the GLRC to-date. The various writing teams have completed their first drafts of the Strategy document which will be released to the public on July 7, 2005 at the Summit I conference in Duluth, Minnesota. A 60-day public comment period will follow. The final Strategy will be presented at Summit II in Chicago on December 12, 2005.
Customer(s): The final users of the Strategy will include: U.S. federal agencies, the Great Lakes states, local communities, Tribes, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, private citizens, and other parties interested in the Great Lakes region as well as Canada.
Cause Factors (if milestone not met): N/A
Revised Completion Date (if milestone not met): N/A
Last updated: 2005-07-19 mbl