Continuing to build on the past decade of work, this project addresses specific needs identified by great lakes states and tribes to further refine the inland lakes site prioritization model, better…

This Project Grant award, totaling $260,000, was provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (CFDA 15.662) federal grant program. The goal of this collaborative project is to advance and support interjurisdictional aquatic invasive species (AIS) surveillance efforts for the Great Lakes region.

Key products and services to be delivered include:

1. Refinement of the inland lakes site prioritization system for AIS surveillance, including a white paper and manuscript on the modeling approach.
2. Alignment of surveillance site prioritization model inputs between the Great Lakes and inland lakes models, including development of a web application and manuscript.
3. Revision and update of the regional communications plan for AIS surveillance, with logistical support for related tools.
4. Facilitation of two annual interjurisdictional AIS surveillance coordination meetings and an online portal to host project outputs.

The award period runs from October 1, 2024 to December 31, 2026, and the prime awardee is the Great Lakes Commission, an interstate compact agency dedicated to environmental management and coordination across the Great Lakes basin.

Continuing to build on the past decade of work, this project addresses specific needs identified by great lakes states and tribes to further refine the inland lakes site prioritization model, better integrate the great lakes and inland lakes models, revise and update the regional communications plan, and continue to support critical annual AIS surveillance coordination meetings.project goals and objectivesthe goal of this collaborative project is to advance and support interjurisdictional AIS surveillance efforts for the great lakes region. IT will address the following objectives:1. Refine the inland lakes site prioritization system 2. Align surveillance site prioritization model inputs between the great lakes and inland lakes models 3. Revise and update the regional communications PLAN4. Support annual interjurisdictional surveillance coordination meetingsobjective 1. Refine the inland lakes site prioritization systemoutputs: site quality and potential impact weight factors for inland lakes model white paper on the similarities and differences in the objectives, available data, and modeling approaches and performance between two state-level models (i.e., minnesota and new york) and this regional model manuscript on modeling AIS surveillance site prioritization for inland lakes submitted to a peer-reviewed journal (e.g., management of biological invasions)objective 2. Align surveillance site prioritization model inputs between the great lakes and inland lakes models outputs: a user-friendly, interrogable web APP that combines both the great lakes and inland lakes site prioritization models identification of possible data gaps and overlaps within the combined great lakes and inland lakes prioritization system (e.g., coastal lake estuaries) and solutions to address each. Manuscript on modeling AIS surveillance site prioritization for great lakes coastline to a peer-reviewed journal (e.g., management of biological invasions)objective 3. Revise and update the regional communications plan outputs: based on feedback from core team members regarding needs for refinement, an updated the existing regional communications plan to better fit regional needs. A review session will be hosted as part of the 2025 annual surveillance coordination meeting (see objective 4, below). Logistical support and input to USFWS on development of other regional communications tools, including but not limited to implications of adoption of edna metabarcoding methods within the services EDM framework, as relevant and appropriate.objective 4. Facilitate interjurisdictional surveillance planning and coordinationoutputs: two annual surveillance coordination meetings (february 2025 and 2026) summary report of surveillance meeting presentations and discussions online portal to host all project outputs, including meeting and workshop documents, and related information to support surveillance planning efforts continued regional coordination of the great lakes panel on aquatic nuisance species with other regional forums