The Lower Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office (LGLFWCO), opened in August 1991, was established by the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 1990 to support and encourage the restoration, protection, maintenance, and enhancement of the fishery resources of the international (lower) Great Lakes. Located in Basom, NY, the LGLFWCO seeks to provide quality technical assistance
to resource management agencies and the public for the protection, restoration, and enhancement of interjurisdictional and international natural resources. The Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act, reauthorized in 1998, guides the activities of the office and outlines the following goals for the Great Lakes basin:
- Restore and maintain self-sustaining fishery resource populations
- Minimize the impacts of contaminants on fish and wildlife populations
- Protect, maintain, and where degraded and destroyed, restore fish and wildlife habitat, including the enhancement and creation of wetlands that result in a net gain of those habitats
- Stop illegal activities adversely impacting fish and wildlife resource
- Restore threatened and endangered species to viable, self-sustaining levels
- Protect, manage, and conserve migratory birds
The Lower Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office along with the Allegheny, Harrison Lake, and White Sulphur Springs National Fish Hatcheries, and the Virginia Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office form the Lower Great Lakes and Central Rivers Complex. Together these offices offer unique expertise and technical assistance to state, federal, and tribal partners in managing aquatic species and their habitats in the Great Lakes and North Atlantic-Appalachian regions of the U.S. Geographically, the bi-national significance of the lower Great Lakes also offers unique opportunities and challenges to reach beyond traditional state and federal partners to Canadian provincial and federal government agencies. The LGLFWCO recognizes the value and necessity of partnership, and hopes that by working together, we can foster a healthy diversity of fish and wildlife and their habitats in the Lower Great Lakes.
