| "What we wanted to do was get one consistent pile of material and put it together in some form that would be available to people." | |
| Cindy Hagley, University of Minnesota Sea Grant Program |
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Decisions about shoreland and lake management are made at numerous levels, ranging from state and local agencies to neighborhood associations. In Minnesota, the information that all these groups need to make informed decisions is available on a new award-winning Sea Grant Web site.
"I feel very good about this project in terms of how useful it will be for people," says Cindy Hagley, Great Lakes Environmental Quality educator for the University of Minnesota Sea Grant Program. "We have a multi-tiered site where people can find the things they need at the different levels that they need it."
The Minnesota Shoreland Management Resource Guide at www.shorelandmanagement.org includes printer-ready fact sheets, scientific and technical literature, publications that are out of print, as well as new materials. It also profiles citizen lake restoration projects and provides an interactive state map that helps users identify people to contact with shoreland questions. The site includes a glossary defining technical terms, agencies, and acronyms often found in shoreland publications. All the materials were peer-reviewed.
Following a legislative mandate to consolidate all state shoreland management information "under one umbrella," Hagley says, the site was collaboratively developed by the University of Minnesota Sea Grant Program Water Resources Center and a multidisciplinary steering committee under the guidance of the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources.
"That was the initial reason this all started," she explains. "Some of the documents were out of print, some out of date. Many were too hard to get your hands on, or there were different versions floating around. What we wanted to do was get one consistent pile of material and put it together in some form that would be available to people."
The 18-member steering committee, which determined the information to be included on the site, was made up of local lake managers, lake association leaders, local government staff, county soil and water managers, and extension service educators. A Sea Grant graphic designer put the site together, ensuring an attractive and easy-to-navigate format.
The information was compiled on the Internet and CD-ROMs because they are "cheaper, reach more people, and can be easily updated," Hagley says. "We felt that even lake associations would at least have access to a computer where they could print out the material and make copies. We figured in this way it would filter down to the property owners."
On the Web only since July, the site has already won a national competition, earning a gold award from the Association of Natural Resources Extension Professionals. Hagley notes that the steering committee will continue to meet annually to evaluate and update the site.
"We hope it will serve as a model for other states to follow," says Barb Liukkonen, water resources educator for the University of Minnesota Sea Grant Program. "While many of the background materials about lakes and rivers on the site are applicable across the region, other states may choose to customize the fact sheets, contact information, and citizen pages to reflect their shoreland regulations and specific agencies."
For more information on the Minnesota Shoreland Management Resource Guide (www.shorelandmanagement.org), contact Cindy Hagley at (218) 726-8713 or chagley@d.umn.edu.
