Great Lakes restoration projects aim to help wildlife

BROWN COUNTY, Wis. (WLUK) -- The push is on to help protect wetland areas around the Great Lakes.

The regional office of the National Audubon Society announced its plan Monday, and the initiative is designed to help wildlife, and people too.

During a typical spring migration, the waters of Green Bay are full of many different species of birds. Conservationists say the Great Lakes are the largest freshwater ecosystem on earth, including more than 10,000 miles of shoreline.

"And it's struggling. And we know this, because the birds are telling us so. Where birds thrive, people thrive, and yet we're seeing in the Great Lakes are significant declines in our native bird populations," said Michelle Parker, Audubon Great Lakes Executive Director and Vice President.

Parker says over the last 50 years, the North American bird population has dropped by 25 percent. She says invasive species, pollution, and coastal development are factors. And that's not all. Nat Miller says high Great Lakes water levels are eroding the shorelines, and a changing climate is having an affect as well.

"Like false springs. Where we have now blooms early in spring, and birds, who evolved over thousands of years with their migration patterns, based on when certain plants and insects are available to eat are being severely impacted by that," said Nat Miller, Audubon Great Lakes Conservation Director.

The Audubon Great Lakes plan targets 42 restoration and preservation projects on wetlands areas at 12 critical regions around the Great Lakes, including the shoreline from Manitowoc to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Miller says an area of success is the Cat Island Chain Restoration Project in Howard where Piping Plover are nesting.

"These birds depend on coastal areas, beaches, wetlands, and with dedicated efforts to restore and protect beaches, we've seen the recovery," he said.

In all, the plan would cover more than 300,000 acres of habitat for birds and people over the next 10 years.

"The system is vast, it's precious, it's ours, and it's our responsibility," said Parker.

Great Lakes Audubon says it hopes to use federal money from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to help pay for the improvements.