For more information:        
Ronald Litke, 312.454.0400
or
Alexandra A. (Sandi) Radtke
Director of Governmental Affairs
312/454-0400


UNPRECEDENTED FOUR-STATE COLLABORATIVE MEETS
TO STRATEGIZE IMPROVEMENTS FOR LAKE MICHIGAN

Lake Michigan Watershed Academy meets March 12-14 at WMU in Kalamazoo, Mich.

(CHICAGO, Feb. 25, 2003) -- The Lake Michigan Watershed Academy Leadership Training Workshop will bring together nine regional planning councils and councils of governments from four states for the first time to discuss cooperative programs for Lake Michigan and its environs. These groups work with local governments which control most of the land use within the Lake Michigan basin through legislation and policy. The Academy hopes to educate and influence policies and practices to benefit the lake and its resources, connecting the needs of local planners, managers, elected public officials, engineers, and environmentalists from private groups and pubic agencies surrounding Lake Michigan.

“Each day, Lake Michigan experiences greater demand both on its water supply, and its ability to absorb the byproducts of urban, industrial and agricultural development,” says Ronald Thomas, executive director of the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC), one of the partners in the Academy. “Lake Michigan is the ultimate regional drinking water source for 10 million people. At the same time, a greater population of residents within the region demand more access to other amenities the lake provides such as second homes, recreation and fishing. For these and other reasons, it is critical to the quality of life in four states.”

The sponsoring partners of the Academy are the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission; Western Michigan University Great Lakes Center for Environmental and Molecular Sciences; Great Lakes Commission; Lake Michigan Federation; and Lake Michigan Forum in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Lake Michigan Lakewide Management Plan Partners.

The Academy builds on an innovative relationship created under the Wingspread Accord, signed in April 2002 as a model tri-state regional planning alliance. It includes the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC); Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission (NIRPC); Chicago Area Transportation Study (CATS); and Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SEWRPC). The objective of the accord is to create a forum for local government leadership and to engage business, civic and institutional sectors to support greater regional planning. Together, the agencies cover 17 counties and 8,000 square miles.

During this three-day workshop participants will:

* Learn about the state of Lake Michigan as a valuable resource and ecosystem and the vision and goals of the Lake Michigan Lakewide Management Plan (LaMP).
* Learn why local decision-making and land use is essential to healthy watersheds.
* Learn the key players, roles and activities needed at the local level to sustain effective stewardship of the lake and watershed.
* Learn how the United States Environmental Protection Agency and regional planning councils deliver watershed management tools and resources at the local level.
* Learn how to use the watershed management cycle.
* Establish a network and forum for exchanging information and resources.
* Review case studies of effective regional watershed management activities.

The participating planning councils are:

· Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission

· East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission

· Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission

· Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission

· Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission

· Michiana Area Council of Governments

· Southcentral Michigan Planning Council

· West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission

· Northwest Michigan Council of Governments

The NIPC Web site is www.nipc.org; the Lake Michigan Lakewide Management Plan Web site is www.epa.gov/glnpo/lakemich/ . [To register for the event, contact Barb Wygant at Western Michigan University 269-387-5870 or barbara.wygant@wmich.edu.]

About NIPC: The Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission is the official comprehensive planning agency for the six-county Chicago metropolitan area. The Commission was created by the Illinois General Assembly in 1957 and assigned three broad responsibilities:

* To conduct research required for planning for the region;
* To prepare comprehensive plans and policies to guide the development of the region;
* To advise and assist local governments.-end-