Great Lakes Small Harbors Coalition in NY

Oswego, NY — Great Lakes Small Harbors Coalition Chair Pro-Tem Chuck May is recruiting Lake Erie, Niagara River, Lake Ontario, and St. Lawrence River harbors for the grassroots effort that seeks to secure federal funding for shallow draft and commercial harbors and he is receiving a warm welcome in New York. “This regional coalition will help New York’s recreational and commercial small harbors address management, dredging and funding needs by recognizing the eight Great Lakes states and hundreds of shoreline communities as all part of the greater Great Lakes system,” said New York Sea Grant Recreation and Tourism Specialist Dave White. “This coalition is initially focused on reforming the federal process that funds the needs of our federally-authorized harbors that are in critical condition, however, we already have resolutions from many types of harbors. The work of this coalition will be good for all harbors throughout the Great Lakes region,” May said. The Great Lakes Small Harbors Coalition is an outgrowth of the Michigan Small Harbors Coalition, established in 2007. That grassroots effort last year secured $6 million in omnibus federal funding for federally-authorized shallow draft (also called small) harbors in Michigan. May is now taking the Michigan-based effort Great Lakes-wide. Earlier this week at meetings organized by New York Sea Grant and co-sponsored by Orleans County Planning and Tourism and the Oswego County Department of Community Planning, Tourism and Promotion, May spoke to nearly 50 representatives of New York’s waterfront interests, including harbor masters, elected officials, and representatives of marinas and marine trade associations, yacht clubs, port authorities and government, environmental, and tourism agencies. Read more online at www.nysgextension.org, click on Great Lakes Small Harbors.