Conservation Priorities
A watershed-wide blueprint guiding conservation work across Ashland, Bayfield, Douglas, and Iron counties.
Conservation from Headwaters to Coast
These six conservation priorities were developed through the Headwaters to Coast Initiative — a collaborative effort spearheaded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant, in partnership with the Collaborative, that brought together more than 50 people from 40+ organizations across Wisconsin's Lake Superior Basin. That work is now fully integrated into the Collaborative, and these priorities guide how the Collaborative coordinates and funds conservation work across Ashland, Bayfield, Douglas, and Iron counties.
The blueprint addresses critical challenges including habitat fragmentation, water quality, and biodiversity loss — helping partners prioritize and coordinate projects to meet the ecological, social, and cultural needs of current and future generations.
Mission
To bring people together to prioritize and coordinate conservation projects that meet the ecological, social, and cultural needs of current and future generations in Wisconsin's Lake Superior Basin.
Six Conservation Priorities
These priorities guide project coordination and funding alignment across Wisconsin's Lake Superior Basin.
Connected and Functional Habitats
Improve and maintain habitat connectivity and functionality at the landscape scale.
- Terrestrial habitats are connected across both public and private lands, allowing the movement of native plants and wildlife to meet their life history needs.
- Aquatic habitats are connected, allowing aquatic organisms to move within lakes, streams, and floodplains to meet their life history needs.
Healthy and Biodiverse Habitats
Maximize self-sustaining native species biodiversity and ecosystem resilience.
- Native species diversity and resilience are maintained or restored.
- Populations of focal species are stable or increasing.
- Ecosystem integrity and resilience is sustained or restored.
High Water Quality and Hydrologic Integrity
Improve and maintain water quality and hydrologic function to support resilient aquatic systems for all life that depends on them.
- Headwater wetlands, streams, and riparian areas are healthy and resilient to disturbances.
- Streams are connected to their floodplains and support aquatic organism passage; stream function supports hydrologic connectivity.
- Human-built infrastructure is resilient to extreme water fluctuations and doesn't degrade hydrologic function.
- Excess erosion, sedimentation, nutrients, and contaminants in Lake Superior tributaries are reduced, and healthy water quality is maintained.
Extreme Weather Preparedness
Maximize the resilience of ecosystems and communities to extreme weather.
- In extreme weather conditions, species diversity and ecosystem function are resilient, including microhabitats and climatic gradients created by topography, elevation, and hydrology.
- Landscape connectedness is sustained or restored, allowing species to move freely to find suitable microhabitats as the weather changes.
- Project planning considers projected future weather conditions, employs standardized tools, and creates opportunities to revise and change course as needed.
- Composite indicators for extreme weather resilience show a positive trend over time for the Lake Superior Basin of Wisconsin, potentially including attributes like connectivity, fragmentation, carbon sequestration potential, intact habitat cores, landscape condition, and stream condition.
Community Engagement
Engage communities in conservation-related work, and foster connections and reciprocal relationships to care for the Lake Superior Basin.
- Trust is built among community and members through a sustained presence and novel means of education and engagement in the Basin.
- Conservation is guided by the values, interests, and needs of local communities.
- The community is engaged in meaningful conservation projects that result in positive conservation outcomes and promote human well-being.
- High level decision makers are aware, present, and engaged with conservation needs within the community.
- The community understands the potential and limitations of the landscape for subsistence and economic growth.
- Opportunities for high quality outdoor recreation are safe and available to those of all abilities.
Prepare for and Address Current and Emerging Threats
Mitigate current and emerging environmental threats through strategic and coordinated conservation efforts.
- Systems are in place to detect and alert communities to emerging threats and stressors.
- Community representatives and policymakers understand and support science-based solutions for mitigating emerging threats.
- The negative impacts of non-local species are reduced to ensure ecosystem health.
- The negative impacts of other threats and stressors, such as contaminants, algal blooms, inadequate infrastructure, and plant, fish, and wildlife disease, are reduced to ensure ecosystem health.
Connect With the Collaborative
Have questions about the Lake Superior Collaborative (LSC) or want to get involved? We'd love to hear from you.
Program Coordinator
Catie Geib
Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center
29270 County Highway G, Ashland, WI 54806
715-820-1852
catie.geib@wisc.edu