Untitled Document

Workshop on Developing a Research Agenda for
New York's Participation in Great Lakes Restoration

March 18, 2005
9:00-12:00 AM
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
Syracuse, New York

Co-sponsored by
Great Lakes Research Consortium
Center for Environmental Information
New York Sea Grant
U.S. Congressman James Walsh
Please register by email before February 18, 2005.

The Workshop
This workshop will bring together participants to discuss the research necessary to support future restoration activities in New York's Great Lakes. Participants will review a draft outline of research needs, discuss changes, and propose future activities necessary to ensure that New York maintains a leadership role in any restoration efforts.

The workshop this March is designed to build on the outcomes of the 2003 Great Lakes Commission/Sea Grant meeting in New York by laying out the research agenda that is necessary to support the restoration priorities already identified. It is our hope that New York will be prepared with solid restoration priorities, and an assessment of the research needed to efficiently and effectively implement large scale restoration in New York. This will enable New York to take a leadership role in the restoration process. The workshop will result in a proceedings document to be shared with managers, policymakers, and other stakeholders.

Background
" The Great Lakes are a national treasure constituting the largest freshwater system in the world." These were the words of President George W. Bush in May 2004 when he signed an Executive Order recognizing the national importance of Great Lakes, and calling for the creation of an Interagency Task Force to coordinate restoration of the Great Lakes, and a <http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/collaboration/index.html>Regional Collaboration of National Significance. The President's actions increased the profile and likelihood that a large scale Great lakes restoration effort will happen. Momentum has been building in recent years for a large scale restoration effort of the Great Lakes Basin ecosystem.

On the U.S. federal level,

In 2000, the Great Lakes Commission began pushing for focused federal funding to the Great Lakes with its Great Lakes Program to Ensure Environmental and Economic Prosperity, and has since published annual editions.
In 2002, the EPA's US Policy Committee introduced the Great Lakes Strategy, which pledged to work together to protect and restore the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem, and listed several ambitious key objectives for achieving these goals.
In 2002-present, the Council of Great Lakes Governors began the Great Lakes Priorities Initiative, which drafted priorities toward the development of restoration strategies for the lakes. These target such issues as Great Lakes shoreline and economic development, fisheries and invasive species, water quality, pollution prevention, and ensuring the sustainable use of resources. These priorities have been widely adopted across the region as the framework for organizing Great Lakes restoration and protection planning.
In 2002, the Great Lakes Legacy Act was passed by Congress and signed by the President. This authorized funding of $270 million over five years for remediation of contaminated sediments in Great Lakes Areas of Concern.
In July 2003, members of Congress introduce bills to fund Great Lakes Restoration. More than 120 members of Congress, along with the region's mayors and governors of the eight Great Lakes states, currently support Great Lakes Restoration bills (H.R. 2720 & S. 1398) that call for a $4 to $6 billion restoration plan,
In 2003-04, the Great Lakes Commission and Sea Grant sponsored a series of public meetings around the Basin to develop a list of priorities for Great Lakes restoration. These proceedings documents were shared with Great Lakes leadership and the entire community of stakeholders in the interest of promoting consensus and unity of purpose in restoration and protection initiatives.

At the New York state level:

In November 2000, Dr. Joseph Makarewicz of SUNY Brockport completed the Initiative report titled New York's North Coast - A Troubled Coastline (Lake Ontario Embayment Initiative). The report summarized the environmental problems associated with the embayments, harbors, ponds, creeks and rivers of each county bordering Lake Ontario and advocates the "creation of a more broad-based and adequately funded program targeted at improving water quality of the Lake Ontario embayments and tributaries of the North Coast of New York."
The Rochester-based, Center for Environmental Information, SUNY Brockport and others began the Lake Ontario Coastal Initiative in 2002. This sought funding to develop a strategic plan for remediation, restoration, protection and sustainable use of the Lake Ontario Coastal region. In 2004, Congressman James Walsh assisted the LOCI with securing federal funding to develop a plan. In FY 2005, additional funding was granted for continued planning, research and remediation.
In April 2004, New York Sea Grant and the Great Lakes Commission held a Great Lakes Restoration Priorities Workshop in Rochester, New York to develop a shared restoration vision and to establish the principles, goals, objectives and strategic actions needed to achieve that vision. For a copy of the New York proceedings.