Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin
Signatory Statements: One Year Later

Since its release in October 1994, more than 160 agencies and organizations throughout the region have endorsed the Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin, pledging to support its principles and work toward a common vision that calls for a clean environment, strong economy and high quality of life for basin residents.

As a result, the charter has gained international recognition and is being used as a model for similar ecosystem management initiatives elsewhere in North America and throughout the world.

To mark the first anniversary of its public release, signatory agencies and organizations were invited to review their efforts to implement the charter, and explain how they have benefited from the document and used it to guide their activities.

Canandaigua Lake Watershed Task Force
When we were having difficulties organizing and managing information from an area with the size and complexity of our watershed, the Ecosystem Charter was published and made us feel more comfortable with our task. In preparing the State of the Canandaigua Lake Watershed-1994 a document assessing the health, problems and remedial actions needed the charter gave us an idea to facilitate that process: we would create a compact for the Canandaigua Lake watershed that would morally bind a group committed to solving the problems. In a series of meetings and, borrowing freely from the Ecosystem Charter, the Canandaigua Lake Watershed Compact was framed.

Great Lakes Pollution Prevention Centre
The Great Lakes Pollution Prevention Centre has used the principles as a key reference in the development of training materials and information clearing services. The Ecosystem Charter was used as one of the guiding references for the development of the GLPPC's Strategic Plan for 1995-1998, and is a valuable guide for prioritizing workplans. The Ecosystem Charter principles provide a consistency of purpose when collaborating with other agencies and resources in the Great Lakes region.

Ducks Unlimited, Inc. and Ducks Unlimited, Canada
Ducks Unlimited will use the Ecosystem Charter in the development of new, and the expansion of current, landscape level programs in public and private partnership. As an international organization, it will help solidify our international habitat restoration programs throughout the Great Lakes region. The charter will serve as the foundation from which Ducks Unlimited will build partnerships with public and private agencies, organizations, corporations and landowners as we further our mission to protect, restore and enhance waterfowl habitat in the watersheds of the Great Lakes.

The Ecosystem Charter has complemented the focus taken by Ducks Unlimited in Ontario under the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. The top priority area in this province for delivery of our upland and wetland conservation programs is within the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin, most notably at Long Pt. Bay and the Lake St. Clair/lower Detroit River system. The charter has been one of the catalysts encouraging our development of long-term strategies, in concert with partner agencies, to secure and rehabilitate these continentally important landscapes.

National Park Service
The National Park Service firmly believes that the charter has stimulated each unit to work much more closely with neighboring land management agencies, local communities, and other organizations in carrying out the charter's basic principles. In the long term, the NPS believes that the greatest benefit derived from our endorsement of the charter will be the fostering of an institutional environment in which NPS functions as a more integral part of the Great Lakes community, thus lending support to NPS's basic mission of preserving and protecting the natural and cultural resources and providing for visitor enjoyment.

National Association of Conservation Districts, North Central Region
Conservation districts have always been interested in managing natural resources from an integrated ecosystem management perspective. Whole farm planning and watershed activities sponsored by districts incorporate these principles. In recognition of this, NACD formed a special committee on the Great Lakes to integrate the activities of the 207 districts in the basin. The Ecosystem Charter was reviewed formally by the committee with our activities aimed at keeping the ecosystem healthy by reducing sediment into our water bodies and helping to restore the health of the ecosystem through a wide variety of activities, including wetland restoration.

Indiana University Bloomington School of Public and Environmental Affairs
We have used the Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin to inform students and colleagues about the ecosystem concept and its practical application. It also has proved useful in identifying the institutional and political problems that require solution if the ecosystem concept is to be implemented. The charter can be used as a case-in-point in the study of intergovernmental cooperation.

Commission for Environmental Cooperation
The Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin fills an important niche in the Great Lakes family of collaborative institutions. Like the nonbinding preambles of international conventions, it invites support without demanding a level of obligation that exceeds the comfort level or capacity of those who sign on. The CEC has distributed many copies of the charter and witnessed its positive impact beyond the Great Lakes Basin. Participants in the Northern River Basins Study a multijurisdictional and multistakeholder study on the cumulative impacts of development on the Peacc, Athabasca and Slavc River System have been encouraged to see the charter as a possible model for that region. The charter also was one of the documents that influenced drafts of a statement which eventually became a North American resolution on Sound Management of Chemicals.

Northwest Michigan Resource Conservation and Development Council
A number of organizations and agencies in northern Michigan are giving consideration to a "regional" Ecosystem Charter, which is being modeled after the Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin. The Ecosystem Charter for Northern Lower Michigan is being developed to assist us as we deal with growth management and other issues related to a rapidly growing area. At present this effort is in its very early stages, and we are continuing to pursue partnerships to involve a significant number and diversity of agencies and organizations in the northern lower Michigan ecosystem.

Waterfront Regeneration Trust
The Waterfront Regeneration Trust has developed the Lake Ontario Greenway Strategy with the goal of fostering commitment to actions that will regenerate a healthy and sustainable waterfront. The vision of the trust and its many partners is complimentary to and consistent with the vision espoused by the Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin. Both the strategy and the charter provide a context for setting priorities and guidance on ways to achieve this shared vision.

Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
The Ecosystem Charter addresses principles of ecosystem management which are of special importance to the kinds of research undertaken regionally by GLERL as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. We believe there is much to be gained by cooperating with other federal and state agencies, academia and our Canadian colleagues in collaborative research on issues addressed in the charter. In this time of changing national priorities, downsizing government and tight budgets, it is important to have a charter that addresses the ecosystem approach and the need to cooperate to make the best use of resources for sound ecosystem research.

Saint Lawrence Economic Development Council
The Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin inspired SODES to develop and promote the St. Lawrence River Code of Ethics. The code of ethics is a set of principles proposed for every user of the St. Lawrence River. These principles are aimed at increasing awareness and respectful use of the river ecosystem. SODES will invite users (companies within the maritime community, organizations, governments) to sign the code and implement its principles. In addition, SODES will further promote the Ecosystem Charter within the St. Lawrence Region as soon as a French version is available.

Williams Soil and Water Conservation District, Ohio
The Ecosystem Charter will provide guidance to us as we develop our long-range plan and thereafter our annual workplan. The charter will foster cooperation with other organizations and help direct us as individuals to act as stewards of this great global resource.

Puget Sound/Georgia Basin International Task Force
While our Environmental Initiative lies outside of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin effort, the Ecosystem Charter has been helpful in demonstrating how another part of the country frames the concept of ecological management of its aquatic resources. The Puget Sound/Georgia Basin Environmental Initiative is focused on improving management of the marine environment in the shared waters between British Columbia and Washington. In the future, as we expand our efforts, we are hopeful that we will develop the breadth of the Ecosystem Charter in our management efforts as well.

Ninth Coast Guard District, Marine Safety Division
The Ecosystem Charter is a valuable structure for coordination with the Great Lakes environmental community. In order to accomplish our environmental missions, we must engage in partnerships with other agencies and interests in the Great Lakes region. Thus, the Great Lakes Commission and the Ecosystem Charter perform an essential service to use in helping us form those partnerships. We are quite satisfied with the language of the charter. It is a balanced and well-conceived vision. But the most important thing is that it is an expression of the common vision of the whole Great Lakes community a model for the whole world, as well as the two nations of how governments, industries, local communities and scientific institutions can work together to protect a common resource.

Huron River Watershed Council
The Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin has greatly benefited the work of the Huron River Watershed Council over the past year. Both directly and indirectly, its vision and principles have guided us in reformulating the council's mission statement, in coordinating our programs to provide a more holistic approach to protecting the ecological integrity of the Huron River ecosystem (as part of the greater Lake Erie and St. Lawrence drainage), and in developing a strategic plan to take us to the year 2000. The Ecosystem Charter also will soon be used as a model in developing a watershed partnership agreement for the Huron River Basin.

Lake Michigan Marina Development Commission
The guidance provided by the Ecosystem Charter's vision statement and principles has arrived at a pivotal time for Indiana's Lake Michigan shoreline region. During the past year, the Ecosystem Charter provided the foundation on which the six Lake Michigan Marina Development cities updated their regional development plan. It also has served as a positive influence on development plans for gaming boats along the Indiana shoreline. With the Portage Public Marina currently under construction, application of the Ecosystem Charter's principles is apparent in the environmentally sensitive design and construction of this new public amenity. Additionally, the charter's principles supporting cooperation between agencies and provision of information and education on basinwide issues, underpin the Lake Michigan Marina Development Commission's continued active involvement in the International Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Mayors' Conference.

Indiana Department of Natural Resources
The mission of Indiana's Department of Natural Resources is "to protect, enhance, preserve, and wisely use" the state's natural, cultural and recreational resources. The Ecosystem Charter's vision statement and principles serve as guideposts for the department in the fulfillment of that mission within the Great Lakes Basin. The charter is a constant reminder of the need to follow an ecosystem approach to resource management as departmental Great Lakes Basin programs and activities are reviewed, modified or implemented. In addition, most of the principles also are applicable throughout the remainder of the state and can be incorporated into programs outside the Great Lakes Basin.

Wisconsin Great Lakes Nonpoint Abatement Coalition
The Wisconsin Great Lakes Nonpoint Abatement Coalition, an organization of 28 county Soil and Water Conservation Departments, has employed principles V, IX and XIV since becoming a charter signatory. Program activities included a presentation by Native American nations regarding their ideas for sustainable resource and ecosystem management on tribal lands. We also are participating in a study of rotational dairy cattle grazing and its sustainability with water quality and wildlife. To emphasize partnership arrangements in the Wisconsin Lake Michigan Basin area, we are reorganizing our dues structure to encourage citizens, private sector and other interests to join. Also, to encourage cooperation among county governments in the basin, we will be developing a networking system to share information and technology regarding nonpoint pollution abatement in the basin.

Keweenaw Bay Indian Community
The Ecosystem Charter is of assistance in establishing management strategies for various environmental resources present in the basin. Over the past year, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community found the charter to be a source of inspiration in applying for a grant from the Great Lakes Protection Fund to support our Ecosystem Stewardship Program: Great Lakes Tribal Lands.The overall goal of the Ecosystem Stewardship Program is to institute a process that enables tribal leaders to effectively establish land use planning and management strategies based on information about the natural resources and the risks that these resources face.

League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania
The Ecosystem Charter principles provided a helpful model for the League's 1996 Common Ground Project on Water Resources Management, which brought together representatives of major water user groups to assess the need for a more comprehensive water management system in Pennsylvania. Development of consensus on a set of principles was viewed as a necessary first step in forming a program to address the variety of water management issues across the state.

International Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Mayors' Conference
The International Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Mayors' Conference is actively implementing the Ecosystem Charter by adopting and distributing resolutions to promote and increase awareness of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence ecosystem among shoreline communities. The resolutions adopted at the 1995 meeting in Hamilton, Ontario, are aimed at supporting the SODES' Code of Ethics for users of the St. Lawrence River; and supporting the Montreal Biosphere initiative, the first Canadian environmental observation center dedicated to water and the protection of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence ecosystem and its plan to collect sewage treatment water quality data from Great Lakes-St. Lawrence waterfront municipalities.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, North Central Division
The charter's principles of ecosystem management are integrated in our daily activities. Through our regulatory program we strive to work cooperatively with states to protect our natural resources. As part of the operation and maintenance of Great Lakes ports and harbors, we have developed partnerships to address environmental concerns, most notably at Indiana, Ashtabula and Toledo harbors. We have developed partnerships with selected state departments of natural resources to assist in solving environmental problems. We have entered into agreement with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to help control sea lamprey and are currently working on a proposal to trap sea lamprey at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. Finally, we support the IJC and are involved with the Remedial Action Plans for the Great Lakes Areas of Concern. North Central Division will continue to support the vision and principles of the Ecosystem Charter, within our authorities and policies along with the other signatories. In the spirit of the Corps' motto, Essayons!. . . Let us try!

Great Lakes Commission
Over the past year, the Ecosystem Charter has become a vital component of the Great Lakes Commission's priority-setting process. It is used as a benchmark in developing biannual work plans, and in screening policy issues for potential Commission activity. We have found it to be an effective advocacy tool at the Congressional level; it is unique because it offers an unprecedented, consensus-based view of commonly-held principles. Also the Ecosystem Charter provided the foundation for our recently-released Strategic Plan, which will guide the Great Lakes Commission into the next century.

Chocolay River Watershed Project
Our watershed project has relied on the Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin as a constant reminder that our local efforts are part of a much larger common goal. The Chocolay River Watershed Project has had a beneficial impact on local rivers and Lake Superior, but it is important for council members to remember that the project is also meeting the objectives of the Ecosystem Charter. People are more inspired when they are aware that their efforts go beyond their local watershed, beyond Lake Superior and include the entire Great Lakes watershed.

Griesinger Films
We are glad to be part of your work to promote sensible guidelines for development in the Great Lakes watershed. This is a consensus document and should help lead the way for sound policies that are based on ecological as well as economic criteria.

Lelanau Conservation District (MI)
We are in the preliminary phase of comprehensive long range planning. The Ecosystem Charter is one tool we will be able to use in this endeavor. We would also be likely to use the language of the charter in writing grant proposals.

Cuyahog Soil and Water Conservation District (OH)
The Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District has used the Ecosystem Charter as background and support for selecting priority work items as well as for support in obtaining funding/staff from groups outside the Great Lakes Basin.

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
The principles of the Charter are consistent with the mission of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and with agency responsibilities to provide fishing and boating opportunities. The Charter supports and reinforces our agency's commitment to a broad focus on social, environmental, and fish community interrelationships as we strive to achieve a healthy ecosystem and a stable, balanced fish community in Lake Erie.

St. Lawrence Aquarium and Ecological Center
The St. Lawrence Aquarium and Ecological Center, a project dedicated to education, research, and interpretation is moving toward construction and completion in Massena, NY. Education and research programs, many of which are international in scope, have been guided by selected objectives of the Ecosystem Charter, of which the St. Lawrence Aquarium and Ecological Center was an original signatory. In May of 1995, the Center was a co-sponsor of the Second Annual Ecosystem Recovery confernce on the St. Lawrence River held in Cornwall, Ontario. Nearly 300 scientists, educators, and students from a number of countries attended. The next conference is in the planning stages and obviously this helps fulfill many of the Principles of the Charter.

Michigan State University Center for Maritime and Underwater Resource Management
The Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin recognizes that all people are an important part of their ecosystem, and that people have rights and responsibilities in stewardship of natural and cultural resources. This vision and other principles of the Charter greatly influenced the Great Lakes Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Resources in developing a collaborative stewardship ethic and principles for stakeholders in our maritime heritage. The Conference plans to provide many opportunities for public input and endorsement of the stewardship ethic in the moths ahead, and looks forward to coordinating its efforts with the Ecosystem Charter.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 3
The Fish and Wildlife Service embraces the vision and principles of the Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin, as exemplified by the Service becoming a signatory. The Service has long acknowledged the soundness of the ecosystem-based philosophy expressed in the Ecosystem Charter and has been operating consistent with this philosophy for years. The guiding principles expressed in the Ecosystem Charter are being embodied in the Service's ecosystem-based management approach at the national level, in general, and win the Great Lakes ecosystem, specifically. The Ecosystem Charter will serve as a unifying force by bringing together all those who share in the common vision for the Grea Lakes ecosystem.

Wexford Soil and Water Conservation District
The ecosystem approach spearheaded by the Great Lakes Commission truly exemplifies the importance of partnerships. This is truly the greatest single watershed document that helps to protect one of the world's most beautiful ecosystems. The Wexford Soil and Water Conservation District will publish in local papers and newsletters part or all of the Ecosystem Charter and develop special projects based on Ecosystem Charter principles. The District has signified their endorsement of the Ecosystem Charter and will utilize the document in the development of workpland, projects and future goals.