Mining Ideas 2: A Report on 106 Great Lakes Ecological Protection and Restoration Projects

Four documents  in the report: (1) Mining Ideas Report (PDF 600K) (2) Project summaries (PDF 531K) (3) Accomplishments (PDF 200K) (4) Partner list (PDF 37K) To view a PDF file in its entirety, please obtain the most recent edition of the free Adobe Acrobat reader.

Between 1992 and 2001, more than $17 million was awarded and leveraged for 106 projects to protect, restore, inventory, assess, classify, monitor, and study more than 17 million acres of the Great Lakes basin. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) Ecological Protection and Restoration Program awarded assistance agreements for the projects, which were supported by 650 federal, state, local, tribal and non-governmental and academic partners. This report is an analysis of the 106 final project reports. The objectives of the analysis were to determine whether GLNPO financial assistance benefited the environment, encouraged natural resource stewardship, and contributed to local economies, and to target future funding.

The findings of the analysis are that for about a dollar an acre:

• More than 6,400 Great Lakes basin acres were protected from a variety of threats.
  
• The process of restoring more than 7,300 Great Lakes basin acres was begun.
• Scientists and natural resource managers collaborated to formulate plans and strategies, build partnerships, and exchange information and technologies.
• The public was included in partnerships to plan and implement protection and restoration projects.
• More than 900 people were motivated to volunteer more than 3,800 hours to protect and restore habitats.
• Thirty-one full time, 17 part time, and 14 interns and seasonal employees were retained for jobs created to carry out the projects. In all, $933,118 was spent to retain project personnel and $2,649,924 in project dollars was awarded to private sector contractors.
• Many inventory, assessment, and classification gaps were filled basinwide, regionally and locally.
• Knowledge of Great Lakes ecosystems was broadened through scientific study.
• Great Lakes ecosystems were monitored and contributions were made to the development of Great Lakes indicators.
• Using a variety of media, the public was informed about Great Lakes ecological protection and restoration
  activities.
• Educational tools were utilized to increase the understanding of more than 1,250 school children and many adults about ecological protection and restoration activities in the Great Lakes ecosystem.

One conclusion of this analysis is that a small amount of money can act as seed money, that is, jump start or catalyze a project or even draw in other funds to support a good project. Another conclusion is that protection and restoration activities are good for local economies, first, because dollars are spent on jobs, and second, because protecting natural resources can actually boost the attractiveness of an area. A third conclusion is that we seem to have made a dent in understanding the Great Lakes ecosystem. To be sure, much is yet to be studied and learned; however, the progress made in our understanding should increase our abilities to make good land and water use decisions. Fourth, people are interested in protecting and restoring their environment to the extent that they will spend their free time to support project activities. One final conclusion is that GLNPO funding of ecological protection and restoration projects is money well spent. Large scale improvements to ecosystems have been documented as a direct result of project dollars.

The 106 projects were targeted by GLNPO for funding as part of a program to improve the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem. GLNPO’s Ecological Protection and Restoration Program yearly formulates funding criteria based on knowledge of issues and problems gathered from various partners. A competitive proposal review results in targeting projects for funding that show the most promise of protecting and restoring the Great Lakes ecosystems. The funding program has evolved over the years from one that awards assistance agreements to a scattering of unrelated projects, to a thoughtful construction of funding goals and a yearly deliberate targeting of funds for work necessary to improve the health of the ecosystem.

Results from the 106 projects, along with several other important paradigm-shifting activities, will inform GLNPO’s funding criteria for ecological protection and restoration projects over the next years. The State of the Great Lakes Ecosystem Conferences (SOLEC) have focused binational efforts on developing indicators to assess ecosystem status, stressors, and human responses to these stressors. If indicator-informed reports show an area where GLNPO funding can protect areas from stress or restore degraded areas, funding criteria will be shifted accordingly.

SOLEC also introduced the concept of Biodiversity Investment Areas into the Great Lakes vernacular. Biodiversity Investment Areas are natural areas having high ecological value which warrant exceptional attention to protect them from degradation. Our roles in protecting these areas, with other partners, are to work within each area to identify ecological protection and restoration opportunities, to provide programmatic and financial resources to implement protection and restoration activities, and to continue to track the ecological status of each area so that management priorities adapt to changes in the landscape as a result of protection and restoration activities.

Finally, on a lakewide basis, Lakewide Management Plans (LaMP) have highlighted areas of ecologically important habitats regionally, and locally, Remedial Action Plans (RAP) have identified areas in need of protection and restoration. Working with LaMP and RAP partners, GLNPO has been attentive to ecosystem needs on a lake-by-lake basis.

The GLNPO Ecological Protection and Restoration Program has been successful in funding projects that have begun the process of protecting and restoring ecosystems, forming partnerships, and informing the public about the ecological treasures of the Great Lakes. Continued support is necessary to continue to impact Great Lakes ecosystem health.

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