
Ashland WI Harbor
Photo credit: Kathryn H. Lederhause

Sheboygan Beach
Wisconsin’s Great Lakes Strategy
The Great Lakes contain 20 percent of the world’s available fresh surface water supply. Because of that, the Great Lakes are critical to the health and welfare of all the Great Lakes states. Effective management of both wetland and water quantity and quality is necessary if we are to fulfill Wisconsin’s stewardship obligations for these world class resources.
In 2006, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Office of the Great Lakes, with the help of countless individuals and organizations, developed a Wisconsin’s Great Lake Strategy, a Wisconsin specific strategy to parallel the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy. The Strategy brought together information from previous planning efforts and will serve as a comrehensive state action agenda for coordinating and allocating resources. The plan will better position Wisconsin to project implementation agency program and project goals and objects, including those initiatives funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI).
The Strategy is, and rightfully needs to be, a dynamic document. The Office of the Great Lakes began seeking input for an update in the fall of 2008 relying on both internal and external partners to provide input on new issues and priorities. The updated Strategy reflects these changes and recommended actions since 2006, including recognition of the potential impacts from a changing climate.
Implementation of Wisconsin’s Great Lakes Strategy
Wisconsin’s Great Lakes Strategy provides the necessary details to help support and implement the recommended action items of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy. The Office of the Great Lakes facilitate role in project development for the restoration and protection of the Great Lakes in Wisconsin. As restoration monies become available, it will be important to promote and utilize existing mechanisms for accomplishing projects. Existing partnerships such as the Lake Superior Binational Forum will play a key role in striving to achieve the goals articulated in the Strategy. Specific examples of project proposals for implementing Wisconsin´s Great Lakes Strategy can be found in the 2009 updated strategy document below. Please note: this document is not intended to be a comprehensive list of implementation projects and is subject to change.
- 2013–2014 DNR Action Plan for Lake Superior [PDF]
- Wisconsin’s Great Lakes Strategy 2009 update [PDF]
- 2006 Wisconsin’s Great Lakes Restoration and Protection Strategy [PDF]
- DNR Testimony about Restoration Plan by Todd Ambs [PDF]
- Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
- Wisconsin’s Great Lakes Strategy Brochure [PDF]
- Contact Information
- For more information, please contact:
- Kim Walz
Office of the Great Lakes
608–264–9220