Upper Mississippi Valley / Great Lakes

Description: The Upper Mississippi Valley/Great Lakes (UMVGL) Region provides a wide variety of waterbird nesting, roosting and foraging habitats: marshes, ponds, creeks, streams, sloughs, lake shorelines, islands (especially in the Great Lakes), shoals, river floodplains (especially along the Mississippi, Illinois, Missouri, and Ohio Rivers), and reservoirs. A total of 46 species regularly occur during some portion of the year. Geographic Extent: The UMVGL waterbird planning region encompasses 1,879,965 square kilometers (725,854 square miles) in the north-central U.S. and south-eastern Canada. BCRs: The region is comprised of five BCRs: Boreal Hardwood Transition (BCR 12), Lower Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Plain (BCR 13), Eastern Tallgrass Prairie (BCR 22), Prairie-Hardwood Transition (BCR 23), Central Hardwoods (BCR 24) which encompass of Great Lakes and "Big Rivers" (Mississippi, Illinois, Ohio and Missouri).

Bird Habitat Joint Ventures: Overlapped by the Eastern Habitat Joint Venture, Atlantic Coast Joint Venture, Upper Mississippi River/Great Lakes Region Joint Venture, Central Hardwoods Joint Venture, and, minimally, by the Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture (LMVJV).

Political Units: The plan area includes all or most of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin; and portions of Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Manitoba, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Quebec, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Vermont.

Waterbird Conservation Plans

Numerous individuals have contributed their time and expertise in amassing information and crafting the recommendations to be presented in this plan. Input by any stakeholder is welcome.

Regional planning lead: Linda R. Wires, Dept. Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, (wires001@umn.edu)

Steering Committee Members for Upper Mississippi Valley Great Lakes Waterbird Conservation Plan: Francesca J. Cuthbert (University of Minnesota), Steve Lewis [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)], Sumner Matteson [Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR)], Diane Pence (USFWS), Robert Russell (USFWS), Mark Shieldcastle (Ohio DNR), Greg Soulliere (USFWS), D.V. “Chip” Weseloh [Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS)]

Lastes Review Draft Regional Plan: Comments are requested in writing to Linda Wires and Steve J. Lewis. Files are in WORD format and PDF format (free versions of Acrobat Reader can be downloaded at www.adobe.com. •Review instructions PDF file •Chapter 1: Executive summary Not yet posted •Chapter 2: Introduction PDF file •Chapter 3: UMVGL waterbirds and their conservation status PDF file •Chapter 4: Waterbird issues of concern in the UMVGL Region PDF file •Chapter 5: Waterbird habitat assessment for the UMVGL Region PDF file •Chapter 6: Key conservation sites for waterbirds in the UMVGL Region PDF file •Chapter 7: Conservation Recommendations PDF file •Literature Cited PDF file •Appendix A: Species Profiles PDF file •Appendix B: National Wildlife Refuges in the UMVGL Region PDF file

Implementation and Resources

Implementation also requires a network of partners to coordinate and facilitate projects, track accomplishments, measure and celebrate successes and facilitate future updates of the plan.