GREAT LAKE RESTORATION

A Regional Restoration Plan

In May of 2004, the President signed an Executive Order declaring the Great Lakes a "national treasure" and convened a collaboration of national significance to develop a blueprint to restore and protect the Great Lakes. From the Executive Order, the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration was created which completed a comprehensive strategy to restore and protect the Great Lakes. The $26 billion restoration plan represents one of the most comprehensive conservation planning efforts in the history of the region. The plan contains recommendations to halt the introduction of aquatic invasive species, restore wildlife habitat and wetlands, modernize municipal sewers and cleanup toxic hotspots, each of which is an essential component of restoring the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem.

Many of the recommendations with the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration's Strategy to Restore and Protect the Great Lakes pertain directly to wetlands. Recommendations within the strategy include:

• Protect and/or restore one million acres of high quality wetlands in the Basin.
• Conserve or restore lakes, streams, rivers, wetlands, and connecting channels to ensure their connectivity to floodplains.
• Protect or restore 10,000 acres of high priority coastal and upland habitats per year across the Basin.
• Protect and restore 1,100,000 acres of upland associated with wetlands.
• Restore, recover, and protect a net increase of 550,000 acres of wetlands within the Great Lakes Basin by 2010.
• Restore, recover, and protect a net increase of 1,000,000 acres (450,000 additional) of wetlands within the Great Lakes Basin by 2015.

For more information on Great Lakes Restoration, visit www.healthylakes.org