Lake Michigan Watershed Ecosystem Partnership (Partnership): past work/ssip

Overview

• Overview

• Alliance

• Coastal Conservation

• Lake Michigan Watershed Ecosystem Partnership (Partnership): past work/SSIP

• Partnership Case Studies

• Funding Proposals & Opportunities

• Sec 319

• Sustain Our Great Lakes

• Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

• IL Coastal Management Program

• Habitat Assessment Pilot

• Conclusion

• Q & A

Work with state and local governments to enhance the quality of unique Great Lakes coastal habitats through:

• Work with state and local governments to enhance the quality of unique Great Lakes coastal habitats through:

• planning efforts,
• on-the-ground project implementation, and
• public education

• Protect public trust lands

• Preserve and increase access to the Great Lakes

• Create opportunities for investment of federal, state, local and private funds in coastal restoration.

Organized by Illinois DNR

• Organized by Illinois DNR

• Coalition of public, private, NGOs

• Illinois Lake Michigan Watershed

• Coordinated through the Alliance

Funding through Illinois DNR’s C2000 program

• Funding through Illinois DNR’s C2000 program

• Identified strategic sub-watersheds

• Baseline data for ravine erosion/sediment issues

• Goal: prioritize restoration efforts to maximize restoration impacts

Park District of Highland Park

• Park District of Highland Park

• GLRI/EPA: $200,000
• Ravine Drive Project, Ravine 7L at Miller Park
• Restore native aquatic diversity & reduce sediment loading to the Lake

Village of Lake Bluff

• Village of Lake Bluff

• GLRI: ~$750,000
• 1,600 ft ravine restoration for erosion control
• Reduce sediment loading to Lake by 302 tons per yr
• Education to general public and municipal staff

Lake County Forest Preserve District (District)

• Lake County Forest Preserve District (District)

• GLRI/NFWF: $998,000
• Dead Dog Creek (also Lake Plains)
• Improve stream and wetland functioning, water-level & water-quality monitoring to assess restoration impacts
• Reduce invasives, document plant composition, assess restoration impacts on natives, invasive plant abundance, and rare plant distributions

Agreed upon & standardized ravine data

• Agreed upon & standardized ravine data

• Erosion/sediment & biological

• Propose online tracking system

• Develop funding proposals w/partners

• GLRI, others?

Status

• Status

• Application under review by partners
• Collecting Letters of Support (LOS)

• Timeline

• ASAP

Status: Submitted full proposal April 21, 2011

• Status: Submitted full proposal April 21, 2011

• Lead: Alliance/Ecosystem Partnership

• Request: $150,000

• > 50% on-the-ground habitat restoration
• < 50 % capacity building
• Muni/park/count land managers
• Private land owners

• Match: 1:1

• Term: 18 months from award

Partners:

• Partners:

• Lake County Forest Preserve District (District)

• Chicago Botanic Garden (CBG)

• Openlands

• Conservation Research Institute (CRI)

• Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS)

Purpose

• Purpose

• Develop biological monitoring protocol for ravines

• Develop model ravines through on the ground restoration activity

• Build capacity of local land managers and private land owners to implement restoration projects

Restoration Work

• Restoration Work

• LCFPD (District) – Jane’s and Scott’s Ravine

• $70,000

• Reintroduce of matrix community species, such as sedges and grasses, as well as rarer species

• 25,000 plant plugs of at least 30 local ecotype species
• Seed 27.5 acres

• Plant 6600 shrubs to increase native woody diversity

• Complete control on isolated invasive plant populations

Biological Assessment Protocol, Land Manager

• Biological Assessment Protocol, Land Manager

• Trainings, Data Analysis/Reports

• District, land manager training site (Jane’s & Hutchinson Ravine)

• CBG, Plants of Concern

• CRI, Floristic Quality Assessment

• INHS, Critical Trends Assessment Program (CTAP)

• Northwater, erosion/water quality

• Alliance, coordinate & develop protocol handbook

Private Landowner Outreach Model

• Private Landowner Outreach Model

• Openlands & Alliance

• Assess current on-the-ground conditions
• Engage private landowners
• Conduct demonstration project
• Develop design guidelines and handbook

IL Lake Michigan Implementation Plan

• IL Lake Michigan Implementation Plan

• Status: submitted

• Lead: IDNR

• Partners: Alliance, Chicago Wilderness, Biodiversity Plan

• Request: $300,000

• Term: July 1, 2011– July 1, 2013

• Purpose:

• Create a shared vision and agenda for the restoration and protection of coastal resources, to guide resource allocations, improve prioritization and implementation, and increase the # and diversity of on-the-ground partners
• Wiki – use to develop the Implementation Plan through

What is the status of the CMP in Illinois?

• What is the status of the CMP in Illinois?

• December 10, 2010, Governor Quinn signed Executive Order

• February 18, 2011, public comments on CMP program docs

• Upcoming:

• Public comment on the draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)
• Governor review / sign-off
• Publish and distribute program document/FEIS

• Approval Sept, 2011

Next Steps?

• Next Steps?

• Work through the Partnership with municipalities and land managers to develop projects and matching funds

Goal

• Goal

• Develop a transferable model that supports volunteer assessment and restoration of natural habitats, and can be expanded to compliment the Alliance’s regional Adopt-a-BeachTM program

2011

• 2011

• Restoration & Assessments

• Site partners (IN, IL, WI)

• Conduct Assessments & Restorations – June

• Training & Outreach

• Volunteer Training and Outreach Materials

• Technical Advisory Board

• Evaluation

• Collect Data

• Evaluate Program

Next Steps:

• Next Steps:

• Identify partners interested in data

• Identify interested site partners

• Develop funding proposals to:

• Automate and develop electronic forms
• Database integration/synchronization
• Expand sites