Development of the Great Lakes Natural Resource Gateway

The Great Lakes Network (GLKN) will partner with Michigan State University (MSU), Institute of Water Research to gather, summarize and make available a wide range of natural resource information for planning and implementing a long-term ecological monitoring program. GLKN needs to make critical natural resource information readily accessible to the nine parks in the Network and other partners. This includes acquiring regionally significant datasets on climate, water and air resources, human population growth and land use. These important datasets need to be analyzed and summarized to reveal significant trends and concerns relevant to the nine park units. The Network and MSU will work cooperatively to do the following:

• Design and build an interactive web site that provides GLKN parks and partners easy access to a wide variety of natural resource information. We envision a "one stop" clearinghouse of raw data and summary information. This would provide needed information during the planning process in the short tem and as a mechanism for servicing monitoring data in the long term. The web site must include links to other important web sites, access to newly developed information, electronic reports, relational databases, and large spatial themes. Where possible, raw data will be made accessible through an application interface that allows the user to create queries and sort routines to download data. This will likely involve using ArcIMS and a data base platform such as Oracle or SQL Server, but the setup cost and maintenance of such a system will be carefully considered first. Issues of data format, structure, archival and choice of coordinate systems for spatial data will also be addressed.
• Seek out and acquire access to regionally significant data and then examine them for trends and significant events, evaluate gaps, and make recommendations on what the nine parks should monitor in the future. Significant data, summary tables and graphs, and technical reports on this effort will be made available on the web site.
• Develop a long term plan for expanding the web-based information system and determine who conducts maintenance and upkeep. This plan will explore various hosts and means of servicing data and weigh the costs and benefits. Ideally, GLKN would be the sole host and maintainer of the system: however, cost and expertise must be considered. The CESU partner will work closely with the Network to determine the most cost efficient method of providing easy and reliable access to information by the parks and partners.
• Create FGDC-compliant metadata for all databases and GIS products created and served under this agreement. Metadata should include documentation of stewardship and how products were developed.
• Participate in and help facilitate three workshops aimed at building the scientific credibility of GLKN's I&M program and developing lists of indicators to monitor in the Great Lakes parks. This will include a training course aimed at team building, project management, and facilitation focused on ensuring critical outcomes from the three workshops. These workshops will utilize much of the information that will be made available through the analysis and summary phase of the project.