Protect Our Hunting and Fishing Heritage from Climate Change

The Great Lakes have a rich history of hunting and fishing that helps provide a robust outdoor recreational economy for our region. Maintaining this economic driver and our outdoor heritage depends on healthy and sustainable populations of fish and wildlife both now and into the future. Adding to the numerous challenges facing the health and abundance of game species in the Great Lakes region, changes in climate threaten to disrupt generations of fish and wildlife and their habitats. Addressing these growing challenges and mitigating their effects requires wise investments in habitat and infrastructure. Here in the Great Lakes, strengthening our coastal community’s ability to adapt to changing water levels, restoring wildlife habitat, and helping to properly site solar and other renewable resources to avoid high-value wildlife areas are the best path forward to address the adverse impacts of a changing climate.

Specifically:

• Pass the Living Shorelines Act, which will help encourage wetland restoration and natural solutions to deal with high water levels in the Great Lakes;
• Implement the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency Study; and
• Increase funding for habitat restoration projects that help sequester carbon. In addition, provide incentives for local partners to make their on-the-ground conservation projects more resilient in the face of climate change.
• Support the Rural Forests Market Act

Michigan United Conservation Clubs and the National Wildlife Federation have released a new short film on the impacts of climate change to hunting and fishing in Michigan. Changing Seasons features the observations of hunters and anglers and real-world recommendations from biologists and conservation organizations on both policy solutions and how hunters and anglers can mitigate the impacts of climate change to fish and wildlife. The film is a companion to the report of the same name released by the organizations earlier this year.

Climate Change Resources

Learn more about how climate change is impacting hunting and fishing in the Great Lakes region through these excellent resources from our partner organizations:

• Changing Seasons: Climate Impacts on Michigan’s Hunting, Fishing, and Wildlife Heritage (Michigan United Conservation Clubs and National Wildlife Federation)
• Indiana Climate Change: Fishing the White River (Indiana Wildlife Federation)

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