State and Tribal
Habitat/Wetlands Initiative
Habitat/Species Workshops 2008-2009

Under the auspices of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration and its Habitat-Species Work Group, the Great Lakes Commission conducted nine one-day workshops across the Great Lakes region, one in each of the eight Great Lakes states and one dedicated to the tribal communities within the U.S. drainage basin to the lakes. These workshops were conducted between December 2008 and March 2009 to facilitate dialogue between federal and state agencies, cities and municipalities, tribes and non-governmental organizations on collaborative approaches toward ecological conservation, protection, restoration and remediation. Funding to conduct these workshops was provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The workshops had a particular focus on:

1. promoting development of a region-wide web-based habitat/species project repository and linked database on available funding / technical assistance sources;
2. identification of systemic challenges that impede restoration progress; and
3. identification of innovative partnerships and approaches for meeting local, state, tribal and regional ecological restoration goals.

Workshop Summaries:

• Illinois
• Indiana
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• New York
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• Wisconsin
• Tribal