Wetlands 2006 

Applying Scientific, Legal, and Management Tools to the Great Lakes and Beyond
August 28-31, 2006 (with a pre-day, August 28, for field trips and a special legal symposium)

Traverse City, Michigan

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the Association of State Wetland Managers,  Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sponsored an international symposium in August 2006 at the Grand Traverse Resort in Traverse City, Michigan.  This symposium discussed scientific, legal and management tools relevant to sustaining and restoring wetlands and watershed functions in the Great Lakes and other parts of the United States and Canada, wtih the following goals:

• Support the application of sound science in wetland protection and restoration for Great Lakes Region, the Northeast and other areas of the United States and Canada.
• Identify current legal challenges and opportunities for protecting and conserving wetlands and related resources.
• Share wetland mapping, and assessment techniques for wetlands and related aquatic resources.
• Identify benefits of monitoring wetlands and encourage integration of monitoring with related aquatic resources.
• Define appropriate applications of performance standards to small and large scale ecosystem restoration projects.
• Link watershed approaches to wetland protection and restoration to the protection of water quality.
• Identify existing high priority areas of wetland research activity and identify gaps.
• Explore the importance of wetlands in global warming and better quantify the critical role of wetlands in storing carbon.
• Explore opportunities for remedial clean up of toxics and hazardous substances in wetlands.
• Link conservation of herpetofauna populations--reptiles and amphibians-with management of wetland habitats.
• Promote international cooperation in managing and restoring wetlands between the U.S. and Canada.

Wetlands 2006: Some Final Thoughts

Symposium Powerpoints 

Wetlands 2006 Print Available for Purchase

Main Symposium Website