TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – Working together on the federal, state and local levels to restore areas of concern in the Great Lakes region. That’s the focus of the AOC Cross-Agency Partnership Summit here in Toledo this week.
The Maumee Area of Concern, or AOC, is the largest in Ohio. But significant investment has been made to change that. The workshop is highlighting that effort and working to help ensure we stay the course.
The Maumee River and Lake Erie are among the main reasons this area was attractive to early settlers. Of course, they continue to be driving forces today for recreation and the economy. Hundreds of people from around the Great Lakes are in Toledo this week, focused on the effort to restore areas of concern within the region.
“We’re bringing together federal, state and local partners to really talk about how we can improve the Areas of Concern. An AOC are designated geographic areas all across the Great Lakes where there has been some historic pollution or degradation and we are working really hard with our federal and state partners to improve all that,” Kris Patterson said.
Kris Patterson is the program administrator for the Ohio Lake Erie Commission.
“We work to help improve tourism and economic uses for Lake Erie as well as all the environmental benefits we gain from the lake,” Patterson said.
Patterson said the Maumee Area of Concern is one of the largest within the Great Lakes region, covering more than 780 square miles.
“It’s the lower Maumee River plus a lot of these other smaller watersheds we have, like the Ottawa River and in those areas we’re working to improve the wildlife habitat as well as the in-water and near-stream habitat because we want people to be able to enjoy it and recreate on it and for our wildlife to thrive,” Patterson said.
One of the local success stories is a more than $13 million project that was just finished near Walbridge Park in Toledo.
“The Clark, Delaware/Horseshoe Islands were ribboned in stone to recreate the footprints and return some of the lost acres and then the water will be able to move through some of those areas and capture nutrients. They also built the islands back with plants and native vegetation so the wildlife gets to use them,” Patterson said.
There were tours of some of the local success stories by bus and boat Tuesday.
“The summit really highlights the collaboration and how much work can be done when you bring federal, state and local partners to the table. You ask them for solutions and we provide resources needed to move toward those solutions,” Patterson said.
The field trips on Tuesday included Howard Marsh, the Oak Openings Region and stops along the Maumee River.
The summit continues through Thursday.
If you’d like to learn more, click here.
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This article was published by WTVG on 2025-09-16 18:19:00
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