The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has reviewed the final nomination package submitted by the state of Wisconsin and determined that the bay of Green Bay meets all regulatory requirements for accepting the nomination of natural area sites for a National Estuarine Research Reserve.
This nomination moves Green Bay one step closer to becoming a designated NERR site. Acceptance of the nomination will enable the state and NOAA to begin the next steps of designating the reserve: conducting public outreach, tribal engagement and developing a draft environmental impact statement and management plan. The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay leads the state’s efforts towards NERR designation.
“This nomination embodies the collaboration with partners and the public that is the backbone of the research reserve system,” said Nicole LeBoeuf, director of NOAA’s National Ocean Service. “As we move through the designation process, NOAA is committed to hearing from partners about how research, education and stewardship opportunities can help make this estuarine ecosystem and Great Lakes communities more resilient.”
The Green Bay ecosystem is the largest freshwater estuary in the world, in the largest reservoir of freshwater on the planet.
“This is an exciting next step for our region. UW-Green Bay is committed to studying, preserving and protecting the area that includes the largest freshwater estuary in the world,” said University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Chancellor Michael Alexander. “The partnership that can happen by bringing in a national network of coastal research experts will provide information that is locally relevant and nationally significant and bring attention and support to the region to help solve some of the challenges facing our great waterways. This is an effort we are proud to lead.”
The designation will enhance the region’s economic, cultural, and recreational connections to the bay, while protecting and restoring the Green Bay water ecosystem. Only publicly owned or lands open to the public are eligible to be included in the NERR and no new land will be purchased for the designation. The reserve will be a non-regulatory, state-managed entity, with program guidance and technical assistance from NOAA.
The site proposal is a culmination of several years of local, grassroots-support for a research reserve in Wisconsin.
A joint public meeting will be held by NOAA and UW-Green Bay March 19 to solicit comments on significant issues related to the development of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Bay of Green Bay NERR. A virtual meeting will be held at 10 a.m. via Zoom, and an in-person meeting will be held at 1:30 p.m. at the STEM Innovation Center on the UW-Green Bay campus. More information on the public meeting will be released in February.
The National Estuarine Research Reserve System is a national network of 30 sites across the coastal US, including the Great Lakes, designed to protect and study estuaries and their coastal wetlands. The mission of the NERR System is, “To practice and promote stewardship of coasts and estuaries through innovative research, education, and training using a place-based system of protected areas.”
NOAA provides funding and national guidance, and each site is managed on a daily basis by a lead state agency or university with input from local partners. For the Bay of Green Bay NERR, UW-Green Bay is the state lead for the designation process. A bay of Green Bay NERR will offer a coordinating force to manage, restore, and protect the Green Bay ecosystem, with a programmatic focus on research, education, stewardship and training.
