Wildlife Habitat Council - Waterways for Wildlife

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Waterways for Wildlife

The Wildlife Habitat Council builds cooperative ventures between corporate, private, government and conservation communities to improve and manage habitat along river corridors and watersheds. Read the latest news from different Waterways for Wildlife projects.

In 1992, the Wildlife Habitat Council initiated a program called Waterways for Wildlife. This voluntary, cooperative program promotes corporate and private sector leadership in the development of comprehensive, regional ecosystem management programs aimed at wildlife habitat enhancement. Through coordinated land management goals, Waterways for Wildlife expands habitat acreage by linking private and public lands into integrated corridors used by wildlife for migration and to sustain and expand populations.

These projects engage participants by increasing and diversifying participation by private landowners; expanding project awareness along major water channels; developing environmental and habitat awareness within the communities; and forming partnerships between private landowners with local, state and federal as well as provincial agencies.

Waterways for Wildlife Online!
Houston Ship Channel Project
Indiana Land Revitalization
St. Clair River Waterways for Wildlife Project

Houston Waterways for Wildlife Project

St. Mary's Island, a pilot site for the Houston Project, is a protected habitat for the black skimmer. ExxonMobil restored the island from 2 acres to 10 creating nesting habitat for threatened migratory shorebirds.Photo © Paul W. Bozzo/Sixth Day Wildlife Images.

The Houston Waterways for Wildlife Project was initiated by WHC to establish and expand partnerships with the corporate, public and regulatory communities along the Houston Ship Channel and Gulf Coast. Numerous WHC member facilities and nature preserves, including petrochemical members, are located along the Channel, its tributaries or Galveston Bay.

The Project is designed to develop habitat tracts with significant impact and maximum benefit to wetland, aquatic and upland habitat in the Greater Houston region. The primary criteria for project sites are the acreage, wildlife habitat value and potential for enhancement.

The Pilot Site, is on St. Mary’s Island where ExxonMobil restored the island from 2 acres to 10, during their pipeline project, creating nesting habitat for threatened migratory shorebirds. The Ship Channel is situated in the primary Gulf Coast portion of North American Central Flyway, WHC’s Corporate Campaign for Migratory Bird Conservation is a companion program.

Indiana Land Revitalization

The Wildlife Habitat Council’s northwest Indiana office promotes and implements wildlife habitat enhancement in land restoration and reuse opportunities for private, industrial properties and public lands. Our projects demonstrate the use of ecological enhancements on contaminated, degraded, and underutilized areas via pilot projects on the ground. The main objectives are:

To promote wildlife habitat enhancement in land restoration and reuse opportunities for private, industrial properties and carry out on-the-ground restoration projects.
To demonstrate the use of ecological enhancements on contaminated, degraded, and underutilized areas via pilot projects on the ground.

Huron to Erie Waterways for Wildlife Project

In 1995, WHC initiated the St. Clair River Waterways for Wildlife Project with the generous support of Detroit Edison, Ontario Hydro, Terra International, Environment Canada, and the Joyce Foundation. The project’s purpose was to engage an international coalition of individuals, corporations, conservation organizations, and public agencies in a voluntary, coordinated effort to enhance habitat for wildlife in the St. Clair River basin.

BP St. Clair Terminal Michigan Lily
The Michigan lily thrives at BP's Dome Petroleum St. Clair Liquid Petroleum Gas Terminal.

In the decade from 1995 to 2005, the St. Clair River Waterways for Wildlife Project successfully linked people and groups for habitat protection and enhancement, played a role in several important restoration efforts, provided conservation education through the schools and to the wider public, and most recently, published the acclaimed Explore Our Natural World: A Biodiversity Atlas of the Lake Huron to Lake Erie Corridor. The area covered by WHC-certified corporate habitat programs in the St. Clair River basin grew substantially over this period.

At the same time, our region’s biodiversity continues to be challenged like never before. The straits connecting Lake Huron to Lake Erie are contaminated by combined sewage overflows with each intense rainstorm, and by excess nutrients from non-point sources. Rapid residential and commercial development shrinks and isolates habitat, while also increasing the storm-water runoff that threatens aquatic systems. Awareness is growing, and several encouraging partnerships have been launched to address some of these issues. Companies, which own a large part of the local landscape, can play a leading role in its management for wildlife. The Huron to Erie Waterways for Wildlife Project is designed to encourage that participation and make it beneficial to all involved.