• Home
  • How We Work
  • Where We Work
  • News Room
  • About Us
  • My Nature Page

The Nature Conservancy in Africa - Conservation in Africa

The Nature Conservancy in Asia Pacific - Conservation in Asia-Pacific

The Nature Conservancy in the Caribbean - Conservation in the Caribbean

The Nature Conservancy in Central America - Conservation in Central America

The Nature Conservancy in North America - Conservation in North America

The Nature Conservancy in the United States - Conservation in the United States

The Nature Conservancy in South America - Conservation in South America

This is Your Main Headline - And Here's a Snappy Subhead

 

Replace this photo with one of your own that measures 200px wide by 150px tall.

For More Information

Great Lakes Information Network with information on it's environment, economy and educational resources.

The Great Lakes Commission - including an overview of the Great Lakes Basin Compact.

Council of Great Lakes Governors  downloadable background information on the Great Lakes--St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact

EPA's Great Lakes information site including the Great Lakes Environmental Atlas and Resource Book

Environmental Canada and Ontario's Ministry of the Environment

National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes Natural Resource Center

Sometimes it's all about the birds - TNC's Great Lakes Program has created a practical migratory bird guide to help landowners create habitats that will sustain birds as they migrate through the Great Lakes region.

Sand dunes at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Lake Michigan, Indiana

The treasure we know as the Great Lakes are now protected in a new way. Indiana was the third state to adopt the Great Lakes Compact – an agreement between the Great Lake states that will keep this national treasure healthy and prevent diversions of water from the basin.

The Great Lakes - A National Treasure

The Great Lakes is the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario. The lakes are bounded by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Lake Michigan is the only lake that is contained entirely in the United States; the rest straddle the U.S. and Canadian border. 

The Great Lakes were formed at the end of the last ice age about 10,000 years ago. Large glaciers carved the basins, leaving behind copious amounts of meltwater. The collective bodies of water represent 20% of the world's and 95% of North America's surface freshwater. They also are home to an astonishing array of plants and animals - including almost 50 species that can't be found anywhere else.

Our communities need the Great Lakes too. About 37 million people live in the basin with more than 26 million of these people relying on the basin's watershed for drinking water. Our economy benefits as well; in 2000 the Great Lakes region's gross domestic product reached nearly $2 trillion. The protection of the Great Lakes is vital not only for those that rely on it for water and shelter, but for the planet as well.

Protecting the Great Lakes: The Great Lakes Basin Compact

On December 13, 2005, the Great Lakes Governors and Premiers signed agreements at the Council of Great Lakes Governors’ Leadership Summit that will provide unprecedented protections for the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin. The initial agreement - the Great Lakes—St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement - was a good-faith agreement among the Great Lakes States, Ontario and Québec. This agreement would be implemented in the Canadian provinces through Provincial laws while all the Great Lakes States must agree and sign an interstate compact.

The Great Lakes—St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact has so far been enacted into law by four states - Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and New York. Once the remaining four states sign on, Congress will then ratify the compact and the Great Lakes will be fully protected from any diversions of water from its basin.

Unlike some states, Indiana has tracked its diversions for some time. The passing of the Compact will ensure better prevention by requiring development of an enhanced water reporting mechanism for all public and private sectors, and consideration of conservation measures, either mandatory or voluntary. While progress has been made in restoring and improving the health of the Great Lakes, they are still at risk. With the Great Lakes Basin Compact, we will be able to relieve the great pressure these waters have been under.

What The Nature Conservancy and our Partners are doing for the Great Lakes Region

Ecological challenges have plagued the Great Lakes for hundreds of years. If you live near a Great Lake, you may have heard of beach closings and fish consumption advisories in your area - evidence that problems still persist in these waters. Poor land use practices, altered water flow, degradation of the land due to natural resource extraction, invasive species and climate change are taking their toll. With more that 500 sites within the basin identified as priorities for protection something must be done now in order to save the forests, coastlines, islands, wetlands, lakes and rivers of the Great Lakes.

The Nature Conservancy's Great Lakes Program and the Nature Conservancy of Canada have been working together to ensure the safety of our Great Lakes for generations to come. Their Binational Conservation Blueprint for the Great Lakes is a testament to their collaboration and provides a unified outlook of the places in the Great Lakes Basin that need to be conserved. The Great Lakes Program's 2007 Year in Review also gives us a look of what The Nature Conservancy and our partners have accomplished in the past year. 

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © M. Woodbridge Williams/National Park Service (Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore); Photo © E.C. Blando/TNC (Great Lakes map).