Lake St. Clair Coastal Habitat Conservation and Restoration

Overview
The Great Lakes Commission, in cooperation with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is undertaking a project to characterize Lake St. Clair's coastal habitat and develop a coastal habitat assessment and guidelines based on that characterization. The project is being conducted under a two-year cooperative agreement with NOAA's Coastal Services Center under its Landscape Characterization and Restoration program.

The project study area focuses on a 10 mile buffer around Lake St. Clair, which represents nearly 20 percent of the Lake St. Clair watershed.

The Great Lakes Commission is the principal cooperator with NOAA and will work cooperatively with various other project partners to gather data and information about Lake St. Clair coastal habitat and incorporate that information into a digital information resource. Principal among these partners is the Michigan Natural Features Inventory, who will characterize and assess the ecological features of the U.S. portion of the project focus area. The digital information resource will provide the basis for development of a coastal habitat restoration and conservation plan for Lake St. Clair.