Final Report (~8.3 mb pdf)
Plenary Session Abstract
The Great Lakes Panel on Aquatic Nuisance Species: A Model for Consensus Building to Advance Regional Policy
Katherine Glassner-Shwayder
Great Lakes Commission
Concern over biological invasions is mounting as aquatic invasive species continue to cause ecological and economic impacts in coastal and inland waters throughout the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region. The Great Lakes Panel on Aquatic Nuisance Species, chartered under U.S. federal law, has focused efforts over the past decade in addressing the challenges posed by ANS prevention and control through the development and promotion of regional policy, program and funding priorities and consistency among jurisdictions with regard to laws and programs. Panel products, among many others, have included a model comprehensive management plan; model state legislation, regulation and policy; a research inventory; a regional ballast water management policy; an information/education strategy; a rapid response plan (presently underway); and recommendations that have influenced NANPCA reauthorization and the current NISA reauthorization.
The Great Lakes Panel, staffed by the Great Lakes Commission, operates on the basis of consensus among its diverse membership drawn from state/provincial, U.S./Canadian federal agencies, tribal authorities, regional entities, commercial and recreational user groups environmental groups, and other entities in the region. For the Panel, consensus building has served as a process by which a group of stakeholders come to agreement on how to solve an identified problem/issue. In so doing, stakeholders are vested in the process of solving the problem from cradle to grave (to the extent possible), with consideration for all proposed ideas of stakeholders. Consensus does not guarantee that each and every stakeholder is completely satisfied with the final decision(s), but it does represent a collective intelligence that facilitates balanced solutions to the problems/issues under consideration. It has been observed that in using the consensus building process over the past decade, a strong sense of ownership has been cultivated for Panel initiatives as well as a sense of trust among the Panel stakeholders.
A landmark initiative achieved this past year illustrating the power of a consensus-driven process is the Great Lakes Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Aquatic Nuisance Species. The regional agreement formally recognizes biological pollution as a leading regional concern and pledges the support of the Great Lakes governors and premiers to actively combat the introduction and spread of aquatic invaders. The Action Plan provides a regional policy agreement to better facilitate timely, multi-jurisdictional action on ANS prevention and control. To guide regional prevention and control efforts, the Action Plan articulates a broad vision and a concise series of goals and principles that are supported by objectives and strategic actions as presented in the plan's addendum. Signed by the eight Great Lakes governors and two premiers, the Action Plan raises the profile of the ANS issue in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region and beyond.
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