Great Lakes Pipeline Cooridor Project

The Great Lakes Pipeline spans nearly 1,000 miles from northwest Minnesota to eastern Michigan. The corridor traverses flat agricultural fields on the former bed of Glacial Lake Aggasiz, aspen forests, northern swamps and alder thickets, poorly drained soils of northern Wisconsin, and the sand dune country of Michigan’s upper peninsula.

SER was part of a team effort to provide both wetland delineation and rare plant and animal identification services for a portion of the 1,000 mile long corridor. The SER team surveyed a difficult stretch of corridor containing extensively cropped agricultural lands. SER’s area had just experienced record flooding and showed evidence of considerable surface flooding. Our portion also contained vast areas of hydric soils.

Wetlands were successfully delineated in an efficient manner. The botanical and wildlife observation skills of the SER team were used to evaluate habitat suitability for state and federally protected plants and animals. We noted and recorded information about several areas of potential state and federally protected species habitat.

The SER team’s experience and landscape knowledge resulted in the identification of jurisdictional wetlands under existing federal and state law using the nationally recognized hydrology, soils, and vegetation criteria. Our work consistently met the rigorous reporting standards required by control reviewers.