First ever bi-national map of the 31,407 U.S. and Canadian Great Lakes islands identified by the Binational Collaborative for the Conservation of Great Lakes Islands. - Map courtesy of Nature Conservancy, Canada.

The Islands Committee of the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem Team hosted a series of public workshops this summer to solicit input on the development of a bi-national framework for the conservation of Great Lakes islands. 

The workshops were made possible through a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.  Six workshops were presented at U.S. and Canadian locations throughout the Great Lakes basin, and were well attended. 

During the workshops, attendees were given a presentation on the status of the island project to date, a summary of the conservation status of islands in their region, and an opportunity to provide feedback on information gaps and next steps towards island conservation.

Development of the Framework was made possible through a Habitat Grant through the USEPA’s Great Lakes National Program Office.  Work to date has identified a total of 31,407 U.S. and Canadian Great Lakes islands with more than 19,000 km of Great Lakes shoreline habitat.   

The draft Framework report will be available for public review and comment in the next few months.  The Framework and associated information on the Island Project are available at:  http://greatlakesislands.org/   

Partners in developing the Islands Project include: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; The Nature Conservancy; Nature Conservancy Canada; University of Minnesota; Northeast Midwest Institute; USEPA; and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.