Workgroups

The Great Lakes Coastal Assembly relies on workgroups to implement on-going Assembly initiatives and priorities. Workgroup membership is voluntary and open to all members of the Assembly, as well as others who have an interest and expertise in the workgroup’s efforts. Joining a workgroup is a great way to familiarize yourself with the Assembly, build your professional network, and collaborate on meaningful Great Lakes initiatives.

​Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Framework

The Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Framework (Framework) is a binational effort to guide and accelerate coastal wetland conservation actions through lake-wide systems approach that builds upon established plans, research, and partnerships. The Framework is championed by the Great Lakes Coastal Assembly, who convened partners to draft approaches to three coastal wetland objectives. Objective One will establish current extent and condition of Great Lakes coastal wetlands classified by type; Objective Two will determine desired extent and condition needed to achieve healthy Great Lakes and coastal communities; Objective Three will identify where to focus coastal wetland efforts. The Framework Workgroup identified Lake Erie and the Lake Huron-Erie Corridor as the pilot geography and their goal is to complete the Lake Erie Pilot Project by 2026.

Co-Chairs: Liz Berg (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) and Brandon Krumwiede (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

Framework Fact Sheet

Photo: ​Lake Erie (Great Lakes CoastWatch, NOAA)

Saginaw Bay – Western Lake Erie Coastal Wetland Blueprint

This collaborative process began in 2016 as the Saginaw Bay to Western Lake Erie Coastal Wetland Landscape Conservation Design (now referred to as a Blueprint). This workgroup continues the Blueprint planning process, which integrates environmental, economic, social, and other priorities to develop a shared vision and framework that helps land managers make informed and coordinated conservation decisions, with the ultimate goal of delivering tangible improvements to wetland quantity and quality in this pilot geography. 

Co-Chairs: Jenny Wong (FWS) and Ben Frey (FWS)

Great Lakes Islands Conservation

The Great Lakes Islands Conservation workgroup shines a spotlight on the region’s tens of thousands of inhabited and uninhabited islands, their biodiversity and endemism, and their particular conservation needs, challenges, and opportunities.  

Co-Chairs: Matt Preisser (Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy) and Jess Collier (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Islands Workgroup Prospectus

Photo: Glacial grooves on Kelleys Island, western Lake Erie (Eric Ellis)

Coastal Resilience

The newest Great Lakes Coastal Assembly workgroup, focused on coastal resilience, officially launched during the 2024 Great Lakes Coastal Symposium in Rochester, NY. Stay tuned as the Coastal Resilience Workgroup establishes a purpose, goals and objectives.
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Co-Chairs: Rachael Franks-Taylor (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and Jim Luke (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

Outreach

To raise awareness and understanding of the Great Lakes Coastal Assembly, the Outreach Workgroup convened in early 2021 to gauge internal communications needs and external familiarity. This workgroup is spearheading the development of a website, has completed a factsheet, and over time intends to elevate the Assembly’s profile in a number of ways, which may include supporting members’ outreach efforts by providing slides and talking points about the Assembly and hosting a webinar series. 
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Co-Chairs: Liz Berg (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) and Erica Clites (Michigan Sea Grant)

Photo: ​Common milkweed growing along Lake Michigan (Courtney Celley, USFWS)

Great Lakes Coastal Symposium

The Great Lakes Coastal Symposium is the Great Lakes Coastal Assembly's biennial event designed for coastal stakeholders including managers, restoration practitioners, scientists, educators and university students. The symposium features keynote speakers, concurrent sessions, workshops, networking opportunities, and field trips tailored to the event location and theme. Each cycle, the Assembly puts out a call for host sit nominations to its members and establishes a workgroup to support event planning and coordination.

​Blue Accounting (Inactive) 

This workgroup was formed to advise the development of coastal wetlands goals and metrics for Blue Accounting, an online information service which was being led by The Nature Conservancy and the Great Lakes Commission. These metrics were crafted to support the Great Lakes Coastal Assembly’s tracking of progress toward protection and restoration of Great Lakes coastal wetlands. Some of this foundational work is now helping to inform the progress of the Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Framework. Currently, the metrics and dashboards developed by the workgroup during the pilot phase are publicly accessible through Blue Accounting’s coastal wetland issue pages. The Great Lakes Commission has paused further development of coastal wetland information as it determines which issues will be prioritized for further build-out on the platform.