Lake Superior Lakewide Management Plan

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Lake Superior Lake-wide Management Plan

• An Ecosystem Based Management Plan
• By Steve Douglas

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1972 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWA)

• International treaty (U.S and Canada)
• To restore and maintain physical, chemical and
  biological integrity of the Great Lakes Basin

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Lake-Wide Management Plan (LaMP) Main Objectives

• Public outreach and education
• Ecosystem goals and objectives
• Critical pollutants
• Status of aquatic and terrestrial communities

• Status of aquatic and terrestrial habitat
• Human health
• Developing sustainability in the Great lakes basin

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Main Objective of LaMP

• Protection of water quality for future
  generations
• We believe that by effectively addressing the
  issue of multiple resource management in lake
  superior, the worlds largest lake can serve as a
  world model of resource management

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Stakeholder Involvementengaging methods

• Public involvement committee
• Education efforts
• Newspapers and publications
• Binational Forum
• Public meetings
• Brochures
• Mailing list

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Primary Stakeholders

• People who live in the basin
• Any Canadian and American stakeholder
  representing environmental, tribal/first nation,
  industrial, business, health and academic
  interest.

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Adaptive Management

• Systems perspective- Holistic view
• Has extensive monitoring of both aquatic and
  terrestrial systems.
• Prioritize species and habitat
• Use of focal species (indicators)
• Maintaining ecological integrity
• Adjusting the LaMP according to monitoring data
  and stakeholder involvement

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Developing Sustainability

• Human uses of the Lake superior ecosystem should
  be consistent with the highest social and
  scientific standards for sustainable use, and
  should not degrade it, nor any adjacent
  ecosystems.

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Developing Sustainability

• A plan for developing sustainability requires
  education and persuasion rather than the
  implementation of a law or regulation

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5 Aspects of Regional Sustainability

• The natural capitol of the basin
• Quality of life in the area
• Resource consumption patterns
• Citizens awareness of their capacity to
  contribute to sustainability
• Economic vitality

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Choices and Tradeoffs

• There are cost and benefits of this LaMP
• Many user with conflicting interest
• Examples sailboats, motor boats, tankers

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A Vision for Superior

• A clean safe environment
• Well planned biologically sound development
• Environmental integrity provides the foundation
  of a healthy community
• Citizens accept responsibility and challenge for
  pollution prevention
• Moving from a consumer to conserver society
• Greater cooperation to ensure quality and supply
  for future generations

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Ecosystem Goals and Objectives

• General objective- human activity should be
  consistent with a vision of Superior
• Chemical contaminants
• Developing sustainability

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Ecosystem G/O continued

• Aquatic communities objectives
• Terrestrial communities objectives
• Habitat objectives
• Human health objectives

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Critical Pollutants

• Toxic substance should be eliminated from the
  air, water and sediment
• Zero discharge policy of 9 pollutants (Hg, PCBs,
  DDT, chlordane)

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Aquatic Communities objectives

• Superior should sustain diverse, healthy,
  reproducing, and self-sustaining aquatic
  community representative of historic conditions.
• Aquatic Communities Committee (ACC)
• Restore native populations (trout)
• Controlling invasive species (sea lamprey)

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Aquatic Communities Continued

• Development of walleye and sturgeon rehab
  strategy
• Establish inventory of risk to fish habitat
• Protecting Superiors rivers and streams

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Terrestrial Communities Objectives

• Lake Superior ecosystem should support a diverse,
  healthy and sustainable wildlife community
• Identify high priorities
• Sharp-tailed grouse reintroduction
• Wood turtle recovery plan
• Species at risk program
• Conservation assessment (665 species) 35
  complete

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Habitat Objective

• To protect, maintain and restore high quality
  habitat sites in the Lake Superior basin and the
  ecosystem process that sustain them.

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Human Health Objectives

• Must fulfill the human health requirements of
  GLWQA
• Defining threats to human health
• Implementation of strategies to protect human
  health
• Water quality (drinkability, swimability,
  fishability)