Focus Area 4: Habitats and Species - Objective 4.1

Objective, Commitments & Measures

Objective:

4.1. Protect, enhance and increase resilience of habitats necessary for sustaining native aquatic and terrestrial species important to the future Great Lakes ecosystem.

Commitments:

4.1.a. Protect, enhance and provide connectivity for habitats under future climate conditions so they support important native species, maintain Tribal cultural uses and/or provide benefits to people.

4.1.b. Implement projects that increase resilience in watersheds and along coastlines, considering flood reduction and recreational benefits to disadvantaged and other communities with environmental justice concerns.

Measures:

"Targets" are cumulative. "Baseline" for Measures 4.1.1 and 4.1.2 are projected results for end of FY2024.

Background

Since GLRI began, GLRI federal agencies and their partners have protected, restored and enhanced habitat in the Great Lakes Basin. Key accomplishments include:

Protecting brook trout populations in Michigan’s cold-water streams: GLRI funds have significantly accelerated the projects needed to replace failing road stream crossings that were blocking free movement of brook trout populations within these watersheds. These watersheds now have the needed resilience to climate change and will support this fishery into the future for residents and visitors.

Increasing pollinator habitats and benefiting Great Lakes bee and butterfly populations: Collaborative pollinator conservation in the Great Lakes among multiple federal and state partners was accelerated under Action Plan III by enhancing or creating habitat important to native bee and butterfly species.

Protecting and creating coastal habitat through innovative approaches: Following historic high water in the Great Lakes during the years preceding Action Plan III, partners increased coastal resilience to future conditions using GLRI funding. In 2021, GLRI supported Chesterfield Township in Michigan to restore approximately 740 linear feet of shoreline and 1.5 acres of nearshore habitat by constructing rock shoals and planting submerged vegetation at Brandenburg Park. The project increased fish habitat in Lake St. Clair and replaced deteriorating and undercut metal sea walls that were unsafe for residents and visitors wishing to enjoy the shoreline from the park.

Under GLRI Action Plan IV, GLRI federal agencies and their partners will build upon past restoration efforts targeted at critical habitat types. Recently completed and new projects will consider incorporating increased access and use of project sites by local residents, Tribes and disadvantaged and other communities with environmental justice concerns, and continue to generate lessons learned from projects so that climate adaptation options for future projects are identified upfront in the planning process. Increasing use of Indigenous Knowledge upfront and throughout projects will be sought, exercising caregiver responsibilities of indinawemaaganag (natural resources or relatives).

Watersheds predicted to retain cold-water habitat necessary for native fish populations will be identified for future GLRI investments while positioning partners and communities to steward projects after completion. Providing fish passage in these watersheds through removal of barriers and construction of passages better designed for future stream flow conditions will occur and be coordinated with sea lamprey control by retaining strategic barriers in some cases. New efforts will be taken using emerging eDNA surveillance techniques and propagation so that native freshwater mussels are included in comprehensive watershed restoration efforts.

Agencies and local communities will use GLRI funding to catalyze and leverage other federal and state funding available for protection and enhancement projects along our coasts. Coastal habitats including wetlands, beaches and reefs will be mapped and assessed through GLRI-supported projects using the latest science and survey techniques. Agencies and local communities working along the Great Lakes coasts will use this needed information to appropriately site and design a) innovative projects with features resistant to climate change impacts or b) resilience projects to allow species and ecosystem benefits to continue under future water levels. Strategic and comprehensive on-theground coastal projects will be supported by GLRI that promote productive fisheries, migratory birds and wildlife and recreational and cultural uses by communities.

Forest ecosystems, subtypes and associated communities of species that provide resiliency for insect and wildlife populations or enhance critical corridors for future movement of species in response to changing climate will also be prioritized by GLRI for protection and enhancement.

An overarching goal for future GLRI investments in habitat restoration will be to use local project information with future projections of weather, water temperatures, stream flows and coastal conditions to implement projects that maintain or enhance the adaptive capacity of habitat types. By using this science-based, systematic planning and implementation approach, GLRI federal agencies and partners will seek to minimize investments that are short-lived, more prone to damage from future climate conditions and don’t consider a particular habitat’s ability to respond to future disturbances (i.e., adaptive capacity). Additionally, benefits of GLRI investments to disadvantaged and other communities with environmental justice concerns and residents more vulnerable to future climate disturbances will be considered in the project planning process alongside benefits to Great Lakes ecosystems. For example, future project siting along the Great Lakes coasts can seek to expand and support approaches to provide dual flood protection and wildlife benefits while considering critical infrastructure and vulnerable communities (e.g., see Resilient Coasts).