Deadline Extended - Great Lakes Commission 2003 Annual Meeting

Friends of the Great Lakes will be pleased to know that arrangements have been made to extend the registration deadline for the 2003 Annual Meeting of the Great Lakes Commission, as well as reservations for sleeping rooms at the Holiday Inn City Centre. You now have until Friday, September 19 to meet these deadlines. Please register for the meeting online (www.glc.org/meeting) or by faxing/ mailing in the attached registration form We'll accept registrations up until the meeting day, but ask that you make every effort to honor the September 19 date.

Please contact the hotel (312-787-6100) by September 19 to guarantee your room. Rates will increase significantly after our room block is full, and we're getting close!

On the web site, you will find a current agenda for the meeting. The special sessions are outstanding. We'll be examining local and regional innovations in resource management; looking at emerging efforts to craft a national ocean policy (and associated freshwater implications); and receiving updates from the principals involved in current/ emerging large scale regional initiatives. These include Annex 2001 implementation; ecosystem restoration planning; the Seaway System Review Study and the Lake Ontario- St. Lawrence Study. Opportunities to help shape the Great Lake's Commission's future direction will be available to all present as the organization's Five Year Strategic Plan is reviewed. And, policy resolutions will touch upon the key issues of our day, including delisting Areas of Concern, maritime security issues; restoration planning; coastal wetlands policy; land use/ water quality linkages and many others. Many outstanding speakers will join us, and invitations have been extended to Governor Blagojevich, Mayor Daley and Congressman Emanuel.

We look forward to seeing you in Chicago!

The Great Lakes Commission, chaired by Samuel W. Speck (Ohio), is a nonpartisan, binational compact agency created by state and U.S. federal law and dedicated to promoting a strong economy, healthy environment and high quality of life for the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence region and its residents. The Commission consists of state legislators, agency officials, and governors' appointees from its eight member states. Associate membership for Ontario and Québec was established through the signing of a "Declaration of Partnership." The Commission maintains a formal Observer program involving U.S. and Canadian federal agencies, tribal authorities, binational agencies and other regional interests. The Commission offices are located in Ann Arbor, Michigan.