Percent of Existing Coastal Wetlands in Protected Status by State/Province

This map presents the percentage of Coastal Wetlands that are protected for each state or province in the Great Lakes Basin (except Québec, due to data limitations). The percentages vary from a high of 91% to a low of 4%, but the number of coastal wetland acres also varies widely. The five states with the highest total wetland acreage have protected between 37% and 54% of coastal wetlands, while Ontario has protected 17%. *Coastal Wetlands defined here as connected to the Great Lakes and >2 ha (5 acres) in size. Data Sources We used the following database for coastal wetland area: Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands 2004 Polygons (Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Consortium): https://www.glc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/CWC-GreatLakesCoastalWetlandsInventory-Metadata.pdf We used the following databases for protected area: Nature Conservancy Canada (data agreement) Commission for Environmental Cooperation (databasin.org)- Canada Protected Terrestrial Areas 2012 (Ontario) Ontario GeoHub- Ontario Federal Protected Lands (Ontario) 2018: PAD-US (Protected Areas Database of the U.S.) 2018. CARL (Conservation and Recreation Lands) 2017. Feature Service for Conservation and Recreation Lands in the Great Lakes Atlantic Region (Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa). This layer contains fee lands, preserves, designated lands and other protected lands. This layer does not contain easements. Consultations with regional land experts (The Nature Conservancy GIS Managers) for the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.