Coastal Centre adds partner across the border
March 14, 2023 9:18am
The Lake Huron Coastal Centre’s Coastal Watchers program now has a partner on the American side of the lake.
Coastal Stewardship Technician Alyssa Bourassa says they expanded their Coast Watcher volunteer base to the Michigan side of Lake Huron in 2022 with the help of Huron Pines. Bourassa says Huron Pines shares many of the same conservation values as the Lake Huron Coastal Centre, which makes them an excellent partner for the Coastal Watcher program. She says their mission is to conserve and enhance Northern Michigan’s natural resources.
“Reports from Michigan Coastal Watchers will help develop a full picture to understand Lake Huron for us. So it’s really great to have some American Coastal Watchers be involved and it’s just a really exciting prospect to grow the program,” said Bourassa.
Many of the situations that exist on the Canadian side of the lake are also present on the American side. But Bourassa says there are also some differences.
“The way that the sediments move on that side of the lake, the way dunes are formed, some of the erosion aspects are flipped, like the way the winds go, the way the water generally goes is flipped because it’s the other side of the lake,” added Bourassa.
Bourassa says as far as invasive species are concerned, they’re similar on both sides of the lake. Bourassa says they only have a handful of Coastal Watchers on the Michigan side of the lake, but they’re hoping to grow the program, and when they get more members they’ll be able to get more information on what things are like on the other side of Lake Huron.
