Charter of theUpper Midwest and Great Lakes LCC
Great Lakes Coastal Conservation Working Group / February2017

Preamble and Proposition

Coastal and nearshore zones are important transitional areas where land, water, and people meet. These areasprovide disproportionate ecosystem services supporting human populations, economies, and qualities of life. Characteristics of the Great Lakes freshwater coastaresimilar to US marine coasts, in terms of: (1) extensive shoreline; (2) ecological complexity and species richness; (3) large-scale processesthat drive the system (e.g.,nutrient exchange, energy transfer, and sediment movement); (4) supporting a majority of regional human populations and their qualities of life; (5) generating a world-class economy; and (6) being subject to coastal hazards and multiple stressors.

Following the end of the post manufacturing era and the recent national recession, the Great Lakes coastal economy is facing a criticalopportunity for re-invention. A re-inventionbringing together an environmental ethic within theresurging coastal economy;initiating a new “blue economy[1].” This also provides an equally rare opportunityfor encouraging and achieving conservation practices for coastal landscapes and their constituent habitats and species. The national significance of Great Lakes coastal resources has been recognized through such investments as the annual congressional appropriations to Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which provides up to $300M annually to on-the-ground restoration, enhancement, and protection programs. International and regional significance is also highlighted in the 2012 binational Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement that calls for increased and explicit emphasis on sustainable management of coastal and nearshore areas.

Wise and sustainable management (i.e., “conservation”) of coastal ecosystems and associated resources will require a diverse assemblage of,and collaboration among, federal, state, tribal, nongovernmental, and private interests. The Great Lakes Coastal Conservation Working Group will serve as the catalyst to bring this diverse partnership together and to help support coastal conservation at a landscape scale.

Identity Statement

The Great Lakes Coastal Conservation Working Group (GL CCWG) strives for a coastal landscape that supports the structure and processes essential for biologically diverse habitats, associated biota, and benefits tohuman society. To achieve this end,the GLCCWGwill work collaboratively with governments, industries, and non-governmental organizations to align actions around coastal priorities, establish conservation targets, identify and addresslimiting factors, and use the best available science to inform coastal conservation strategies.

Purpose of the Coastal Conservation Work Group

Working on behalf of the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC), the purpose of the GL CCWG is to help solve coastal challenges by applying a strategic landscape approach. As outlined in the LCC’s strategic plan and depicted in the graphic below, this approach includes six interconnected steps: 1) identify system challenges, 2) establish goals, plan and design, 3) conservation strategy development, 4) implementation, 5) monitoring and research, and 6) evaluation and learning. The GL CCWG will undertake broad, multi-year tasks that address these six steps. Specific tasks and activities will be articulated in a GL CCWG five year strategy and annual work plan.

Structure and Governance

The LCC is a non-regulatory and voluntary partnership comprised of natural resources and science driven organizations within the Midwest and Great Lakes region. Therefore by extension, the GL CCWG is non-regulatory and voluntary. The GL CCWG supports and does not diminish, the authorities and responsibilities of partners or member agencies of the LCC. It is anticipated that each partner will engage in those objectives and tasks that are important to them and that align with their mission, strategies, and resources.

Fulfilling the LCC landscape conservation approach for coastal priorities will be accomplished by an active working group appointed by the LCC’s Steering Committee and guided by a Strategic Subcommittee.The GL CCWG membership will includestaff representing federal, state, Tribal, non-governmental organizations,academia, and other key organizations (Table 1).The GL CCWGand Strategic Subcommittee will periodically review and make changes to membership to better address current priorities and objectives.

Table 1. Potential GL CCWG Member Organizations

State and Provincial Governments / Great Lakes Fisheries Commission
Native American Tribes and First Nations / Great Lakes Commission
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration / The Nature Conservancy
US Geological Survey / Ducks Unlimited
US Fish and Wildlife Service / Municipalities
US Environmental Protection Agency / Universities
Environment Canada / Navigation/Shipping Industry
US Army Corps of Engineers / Power Industry

Roles and Responsibilities

The GL CCWG is established by, and can be disbanded by, the LCCSteering Committee.

1)Specific to the Coastal Conservation focal area, the LCC Steering Committee shall:

  1. Serve as the executive body for decision making.
  2. Promote cooperation, coordination, consolidation of information, and collaboration among partner organizations to support the LCC’s goals and objectives.
  3. Evaluate and provide guidance to the work group on opportunities to connect with or learn from other work groups/collaboratives and outside entities.
  4. Review and approve LCC funding for projects and activities recommended by the Strategic Subcommittee.

2)The Coastal Conservation Strategic Subcommittee shall:

  1. Guidethe overall strategic development of the Coastal Conservation focal area.
  2. Develop and recommend steering committee adoption of this charter.
  3. Periodically assess charter and advise the steering committee on modifications.
  4. Provide advice and guidance to carry-out purpose and activities described in this charter.
  5. Identify capacity and resource needs to carry out the LCC’s landscape conservation approach and assess available resources to carry out the work.
  6. Seek fiscal resources and voluntary in-kind contributions toward achieving the GL CCWG’s goals.
  7. Advise on leadership and structure for the GL CCWG.
  8. Periodically assess leadership and structure and make adjustments as necessary.
  9. Recommend steering committee adoption of final products -such as conservation strategies, performance measures and evaluation processes, landscape conservation designs, and financing plans- developed by the GL CCWG and task teams.
  10. Report annually to the Steering Committee on progress, hurdles, funding status, and next steps for the work group.

3)The GL CCWG shall:

  1. Operate in accordance with the principles outlined below.
  2. Periodically review and updateobjectives and operations to remain effective.
  3. Develop a five year strategy (such as theory of change template) and an annual work plan that articulates actions needed to meet the objectives in the strategy.
  4. Annually provide anoperational report to the LCC Steering Committee via members on the Strategic Subcommittee, describing progress, hurdles, funding status, and next steps. The report should be offered in the falleach year or at the request of the Steering Committee, whichever comes first.

Operating Procedures

1)The GL CCWG will be led by two co-chairs appointed by the Strategic Subcommittee. The Strategic Subcommittee can accept nominations from members of the GL CCWG, or seek expertise outside the existing work group membership.

a)Co-chairs will serve a two-year, staggered term, and may be re-appointed for an unlimited number of successive terms.

2)Co-chairs will convene monthly work group conference calls. Calls are only conducted when work group updates and business is necessary. The call schedule is at the discretion of the co-chairs.

3)The GL CCWG will meet face-to-face at least once per year.

4)Ad-hoc groups or task teams (e.g., expert panels, technical teams, engagement teams, etc) composed of work group members, or other individual with special expertise, are established to carry-out specific work group tasks.

Guiding Principles

The GL CCWG follows principles from the collective impact framework[2]. Serving as the backbone organization, the GL CCWG will generate a common agenda, develop common progress measures, support mutually reinforcing activities, and promote a culture of collaboration via an efficient and effective communications strategy. To ensure an open, transparent, and respectful process, the GL CCWG will abide by the following principles of collaboration[3]:

  • We welcome and encourage participation from all partners and will actively seek out their input related to ongoing work.
  • We will educate new partners that join so that they become fully aware of past, present, and future work, and can effectively integrate into GL CCWG.
  • We will strive for consensus around decisions, but recognize that may not always be possible, and thus will work towards decisions that all partners can live with.
  • We will take action collectively on agreed-upon decisions to achieve desired outcomes.
  • To build trust and to promote iterative feedback loops, we will promote transparency via open, participatory discussions and accessibility of information via Great Lakes Inform, or other appropriate platforms.
  • We recognize the independence of participants, respect the autonomy and distinct missions of the organizations they represent, and therefore encourage dissenting opinions, alternate perspectives, creative approaches, and independent thought.
  • We will use research and monitoring science to improve decision support, recognizing coastal features are unique geographically (e.g., diverse hydrology, soils, landscape cover types) and conservation approaches must reflect these differences.
  • We will identify information gaps and management assumptions to evaluate, ultimately increasing conservation efficacy.
  • We will avoid duplicating existing work by coalescing and recognizing ongoing science, design, and planning efforts, and will instead strive to develop connections between and among these efforts.
  • We will stress iterative learning so that the GL CCWG is a constantly improving, learning organization.
  • With the end goals in focus, we will remain flexible in the processes deployed to achieve those goals.
  • We will be active and persistent in our application of these principles to ensure a vigorous and vibrant community dedicated to coastal conservation in the Great Lakes basin.

UM&GL CCWG Charter1

[1] “The Blue Economy: 10 years – 100 innovations – 100 million jobs is a book by Gunter Pauli. The book expresses the ultimate aim that a Blue Economy business model will shift society from scarcity to abundance "with what is locally available", by tackling issues that cause environmental and related problems in new ways. The book highlights potential benefits in connecting and combining seemingly disparate environmental problems with open-source scientific solutions based upon physical processes common in the natural world, to create solutions that are both environmentally beneficial and which have financial and wider social benefits.” Excerpt from Wikipedia “The Blue Economy” accessed 8/12/2016

[2]Kania, J. and M. Kramer. 2011. Collective Impact. Stanford Social Innovation Review

[3]Rand, D.G., S. Arbesman, and N.A. Christakis. 2011. Dynamic social networks promote cooperation in experiments with humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 101(48): 19193—19198