Connecting River Systems Restoration Assessment Composite Model

Well-established conservation planning principles and techniques framed by geodesign were used to assess the restorability of areas that historically supported coastal wetlands along the U.S. shore of the connecting rivers (Detroit River and St. Clair River). The resulting analysis supported planning efforts to identify, prioritize, and track wetland restoration opportunity and investment in the region. To accomplish this, publicly available data, criteria derived from the regional managers and local stakeholders, and geospatial analysis were used to form an ecological model for spatial prioritization.