The Final Environmental Impact Statement and Management Plan for the proposed Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve in Wisconsin have been published, and the designation ceremony is slated for late October.
The documents describe the proposed 16,697-acre reserve on the Wisconsin side of the St. Louis River, which separates Wisconsin and Minnesota at the western end of Lake Superior.
An extensive site selection process for the Lake Superior Reserve undertaken by University of Wisconsin-Extension, Wisconsin Department of Administration, and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources evaluated 35 candidate sites and included more than 70 people. In June 2008, Governor Jim Doyle on behalf of the state of Wisconsin nominated the St. Louis freshwater estuary as a NERR, and in November 2008 NOAA accepted the nomination.
The Lake Superior Reserve will be the second in the Great Lakes region, joining Old Woman Creek Reserve on Lake Erie in Ohio. It will be the 28th reserve in the national system.
The FEIS and Management Plan are available online.
