Great Lakes Resources

Wisconsin Department of Tourism

Clean Wisconsin is partnering with groups across the region to address water supply problems and policy changes. The following are organizations that are involved in the science, regulation of water and water resources, and water policy in the Great Lakes region. These organizations are great resources for more information.

Great Lakes Forever
www.greatlakesforever.org
Great Lakes Forever is a pilot communications program of The Biodiversity Project and more than 40 Wisconsin non-profits and government agencies. It is designed to raise concern for the Lakes and threats to their health. The site features information on Great Lakes water quality, water supply, wildlife habitat, invasive species, and the campaign itself. The site is designed to be citizen friendly, emphasizing the responsibility we all have in protecting the Lakes. An extensive list of home-owner and recreation tips as well as links to partner organizations is included on the site.

National Wildlife Federation: Great Lakes Natural Resource Center
www.nwf.org
The center unites people throughout the eight-state Great Lakes region, the U.S. and Canada to protect the world's greatest freshwater seas, the surrounding ecosystem, and the benefits they provide to people and wildlife.

The Nature Conservancy: The Great Lakes Program
nature.org
By focusing on key systems that support much of the special biodiversity of the Great Lakes ecoregion, the Conservancy is working on-the-ground in strategic areas to address the principle threats to the basin's globally significant biodiversity.

Great Lakes United’s Sustainable Water Task Force
www.glu.org
The Task Forces Mission is to prevent bulk water diversion and export from the Great Lakes basin and to reform basin water withdrawal law so that it protects and restores the Great Lakes ecosystem.

Lake Michigan Federation
www.lakemichigan.org
The Federation is partnering with elected officials and other organizations to develop and implement strong laws that will protect the Great Lakes from harmful withdrawals and work to restore past damages done to the Great Lakes.

Council of Great Lakes Governors
www.cglg.org
Devoted to working cooperatively on public policy issues common to the Great Lakes states. The council has a simple mission: to encourage and facilitate environmentally responsible economic growth. The central and continuing issue of common concern to the Great Lakes Governors is the health and maintenance of the waters of the Great Lakes.

International Joint Commission (IJC)
www.ijc.org
Many rivers and some of the largest lakes in the world lie along, or flow across, the border between the United States and Canada, and the IJC assists governments in finding solutions to problems in these waters.

Great Lakes Commission
www.glc.org
A binational agency that promotes the orderly, integrated and comprehensive development, use and conservation of the water and related natural resources of the Great Lakes basin and St. Lawrence River.

Northeast-Midwest Institute
www.nemw.org
Provides information on technical assistance to manufacturers, brownfields, the labor market, exports and more.

Great Lakes Directory
www.greatlakesdirectory.org
The Great Lakes Directory is a comprehensive online resource highlighting environmental issues around the Great Lakes basin. Its aim is to strengthen the capacity of groups just like Clean Wisconsin. The Directory contains daily environmental articles, a network of over 1,000 environmental groups, funding resources, free environmental software, nonprofit management resources, and a comprehensive library of online Great Lakes environmental information.

Environment Canada, Our Great Lakes
www.ec.gc.ca/water
Part of Environment Canada's national Green Lane initiative, Our Great Lakes is an index of the agency's Great Lakes programs, publications and databases.

Great Lakes Cities Initiative
www.greatlakescities.org
The Great Lakes Cities Initiative helps mayors and other local officials develop and advocate programs to improve the Great Lakes.

Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL)
www.glerl.noaa.gov
GLERL's mission is to conduct integrated, interdisciplinary environmental research in support of resource management and environmental services in coastal and estuarine water, with special emphasis on the Great Lakes.

Beth Goepping Wisconsin Department of Tourism

Great Lakes Fishery Commission
www.glfc.org
The GLFC coordinates programs of research on the Great Lakes and recommends measures which will permit the maximum sustained productivity of Great Lakes fish.

Great Lakes Protection Fund
www.glpf.org
The Fund seeks projects that lead to tangible improvements in the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem and promote the interdependence of healthy ecological and economic systems.

Great Lakes Science Center - U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
www.glsc.usgs.gov
The U.S. Geological Survey's Great Lakes Science Center was founded in 1927 and continues to provide scientific information for the sound management of Great Lakes fish populations and other important natural resources in the basin.

Great Lakes Sea Grant Network
www.greatlakesseagrant.org
A network of Sea Grant colleges and programs working in partnership with government and the private sector to meet the changing needs of Americans living in the Great Lakes region.

Great Lakes Sport Fishing Council
www.great-lakes.org
The council is a confederation of organizations and individuals who share a concern for the present and future of sport fishing, our natural and stocked resources and the ecosystem in which we live.

International Association for Great Lakes Research
www.iaglr.org
IAGLR is a scientific organization made up of researchers studying the Laurentian Great Lakes and other large lakes of the world, as well as those with an interest in such research.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO)
www.epa.gov/glnpo
GLNPO funds and conducts programs and projects focusing on the Great Lakes ecosystem, such as pollution prevention, contaminated sediments, and habitat protection.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE): Great Lakes Center
www.lrd.usace.army.mil/gl/gl.htm
This site provides information about USACE activities and projects within the Great Lakes basin. They plan, design, construct, operate and maintain navigational channels and flood control measures, and provide disaster assistance to the nation. They implement environmental restoration projects as well as regulate shoreline construction and the filling of wetland areas.

Great Lakes Atlas – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
www.epa.gov/glnpo/atlas/intro.html
This Environmental Atlas and Resource Book is an excellent resource on the Great Lakes, including physical characteristics, natural processes, people, concerns, joint management and new directions (mirrored on Environment Canada's site).