The actor that I chose to write about is the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The GLRI has been around since 2010 and its focus is to address long-standing problems and emerging challenges in order to revitalize the Great Lakes. This actor is important because while it deals with the subject that I’m interested in which is invasive species in Wisconsin it also deals with several other important issues to the Great Lakes, such as, toxic substances and areas of concerns, nearshore health and point source pollution, habitat and wildlife protection and restoration, and also accountability, education, monitoring, evaluation, communication and partnerships.
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative involves many different agencies that all collect data on the several different focus areas that they address and with that data they present a report to the EPA which contains their recommendations on issues that should be addressed. Some the agencies that are involved are the; Council on Environmental Quality, the Department of Agriculture which includes animal and plant health and the inspection service, the Department of Commerce which includes the national oceanic and atmospheric administration, and the Department of Interior which includes the fish and wildlife service and the EPA. The GLRI is involved with several other agencies but these are the agencies that take part in the prevention and control of invasive species. The scope of the GLRI is all around the Great Lake areas that have high level of concerns and that should be addressed.
Some of the things that the Great Lakes Restoration Initiation does to address the issue of invasive species is they develop plans that consist of some goals and the implementations that they believe will help achieve those goals for the prevention of new aquatic invasive species and the management of the current aquatic invasive species. In the management plans put together in 2010 the long term goals that were developed were as follows. The first was that the introduction of new invasive species to the Great Lakes basin ecosystem is eliminated, reflecting a “zero tolerance policy” toward invasive. Second, the risk of introduction of species that are imported from various ways into the Great Lakes be minimized. Third, the spread of invasive species by means of recreational activities connecting waster ways and other vectors beyond their current range is prevented. Forth, the comprehensive program for detection and tracking newly identified invasive species in the Great Lakes is developed and provides up to date critical information needed by decision makes for evaluating potential rapid response actions. Lastly, the effective, efficient and environmentally sound program of integrated pest management for invasive species is developed and implemented, including program functions of containment eradication, control and mitigation.
The projects that the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative implemented to fight invasive species are as follows. The first step was to develop ballast water treatment that protects freshwater ecosystems which would help to reduce the introduction of invasive species by the hull or the anchors of ships. The second was to implement early actions to address water pathway vectors which would help identify the main waterways that introduce the invasive species to the Great Lakes and from there take action in order to lower that risk of introduction. Third was to have prevention through broad stakeholder outreach and education which would promote actions to prevent the introduction of species but also the spread of them through things such as hunting, fishing and boating. Fourth was to develop and demonstrate innovative control technology which would make the cost of the control methods go down but also increase how effective they are. Lastly, establish early detection and rapid response capability which would work with government agencies in order to detect when new species are introduced to the Great Lakes and eliminate them before they have to opportunity to establish themselves in the ecosystem which would make them easier to eliminate. A few organizations have already begun to implement this management plan starting in 2010 including the Wisconsin DNR and the Menominee and Red Cliff Tribes.
Bibliography
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative - Home. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2015, from http://greatlakesrestoration.us
Really interesting post, Brittany!
ReplyDeleteI have herd of the GLRI before, however I was unaware of how recently it was created. So basically, they form goals and come up with plans to achieve those goals. I see that you listed the long term goals, however did you come across any of the smaller plans they are working on at the moment?
I like how you brought up the projects they are doing to fight the invasives. It seems like a very productive strategy when it comes to fighting them and also preventing them to begin with.
I was interested in some of the main invasive species in the Great Lakes after reading your post so I looked them up. I came across Zebra Mussels and Eurasian Ruffe. Not sure if you came across those in your research but they seem to have multiple negative effects on other species and fishermen too. Here is the link where I read about them:
http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/areas/greatlakes/explore/aquatic-invasives-infographic.xml
I enjoyed reading your post!
I think this post was interesting and i think their efforts are noble and necessary to maintain the integrity of our great lakes. Having growing up a few blocks from lake Michigan i have spent a lot of time down on the beach and in the water. In your blogg i think it would have been helpful if you described these invasive species that are being combated, I first noticed the Zebra muscles in the lake many years ago and how they have reproduced into a copious colony of pests that have a detrimental effect on our lakes ecosystem. The fact that they are not a native species means that there are no predators to keep a balance within their population. Another problem that contributes to this boom in population is the constant overflow of raw sewage that is dumped into the lake. This provides tons of food for these little guys further perpetuating the problem. The asian carp too are another huge problem that again has no predator that im aware of that keeps their population in check. They also eat food that our native species eat which is disrupting the authenticity of our lake. The barriers at the channels are a good idea but havent really solved the problem plus the deep tunnel project that was meant to regulate waste water more efficiently and to prevent raw sewage being dumped into the water was a complete failure. One last point i want to make is the shrinking of our beaches. There is a nature trail that goes down to the beach by my parents house and when i was even a teenager i remember the beach was a lot wider. Now because of all the non point source pollution and nutrients from the sewage have had many invasive plants and folage consume the beaches leaving very little beach left in some places.
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