Jan. 28 meeting

We are still one speaker short of being able to announce our entire winter meeting schedule, but we can say our speaker for our Jan. 28 meeting will be Mary Bohling, an extension educator from Michigan Sea Grant. Bohling will present "Great Lakes Habitat Restoration: Stories from Sea Grant projects in the St. Clair–Detroit System." The Huron-Erie Corridor includes one of the busiest navigation centers in the United States and is an international trade route with Canada and overseas markets. Over $80 billion a year in trade between the U.S. and Canada is carried out across the Huron-Erie Corridor. More than five million people live within an hour’s drive of this corridor. It is also a major source of drinking water for Michigan, Ohio and Ontario.

Habitat in these waters is used by over 65 species of fish, and is home to 16 threatened or endangered fish species. The corridor is also part of the central Great Lakes flyway for millions of migratory waterfowl, and it contains some of the largest and most diverse wetlands remaining in the region.

Conflicting uses of HEC waters for waste disposal, water withdrawals, shoreline development, shipping, recreation, and fishing have resulted in a number of environmental changes to this system. Michigan Sea Grant and its partners have been working to restore wildlife habitat in the corridor. In this presentationBohling, will highlight some of the projects that are leading to wildlife recovery and environmental sustainability of our region.

Don't forget that our January and February meetings are held on the fourth Monday of those two months to avoid conflict with federal holidays. See you on Jan. 28!