The AGLP: Working to foster maritime commerce on the Great Lakes

If you are going to tackle big issues, you need a committed team of dedicated professionals. Today the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway System is at a crossroads, facing issues that require a coordinated effort from a diverse group of stakeholders. And the choices we make today will have a profound impact on our quality of life within the entire Great Lakes Basin for years to come.

Communication and shared responsibility are the keys to success. Just as these groups have discovered the value of working in unison, the Great Lakes ports have recognized the value of leveraging their assets to deal with the complex issues facing the Great Lakes and the communities they serve.

The American Great Lakes Ports (AGLP), with a full-time executive director in Washington, D.C., is an association of 12 U.S. port authorities representing the eight Great Lakes states. The association was loosely formed in 1977 to lobby for international food-aid cargoes on the Great Lakes. Today's AGLP works with public officials in both Washington and at state capitols to address a variety of policies that impact maritime commerce on the Great Lakes.

AGLP member ports include: Duluth, Burns Harbor, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Erie, Green Bay, Milwaukee, Monroe, Oswego, Superior and Toledo. Since the Great Lakes are an internationalwaterway, the AGLP also works closely with our Canadian partners and the greater world maritime community to develop and advocate policies of common interest.

Today's successful transportation systems connect major population and resource centers through multiple modes of transportation and leverage each mode to optimize efficiency. The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway already play a major role in trade, but to realize our full potential and contribution, we are strengthening our ties and building new relationships with commercial, academic and environmental groups.

Although the Association has been very effective, additional resources and focus are required to articulate today's message and better define issues. The bridges we need to build, and relationships we need to develop, are more local than national. In recent discussions our port members have identified a basic lack of understanding by the general public, and local and state governments, regarding the impact of waterborne transportation on their regions as well as the issues and threats confronting the maritime community. It is clear that for maritime transportation to be optimized, and for us to develop the most comprehensive and forward thinking transportation policies, we must work closely with all interested stakeholders. Special emphasis is being placed on creating stronger ties between local and state governments as well as regional environmental organizations. Our recent work through the Great Lakes Collaboration on Sustainable Transportation has highlighted this need to help local groups better understand the complexities of the Great Lakes Transportation System.

So where does this all lead? TheAGLP will continue its mission to educate our Great Lakes Congressional delegation and improve our effectiveness in Washington D.C., and we will re-double our efforts to provide a coordinated message to local and state government representatives and policy makers. To do this, the AGLP will intensify its role in education and participate more actively in regional maritime events to better articulate our positions. In addition, we will continue to strengthen our dialogue with local and regional environmental organizations, and where appropriate, engage these organizations in joint projects. Lastly, we will establish a coordinated media and communications capability to address issues as they arise and disperse information more effectively.

Since its inception, the AGLP has evolved to meet the changing needs of its members and the policy issues facing Great Lakes states and the maritime industry. We have broadened our scope and expanded participation to address a wide range of economic, social and environmental concerns. Today, the AGLP is working with its members and communities to assure the viability of Great Lakes transportation systems not only for the present, but for future generations as well.

Just as it takes many columns to support the weight of a great building, we must make a coordinated effort to support the weight of our common goal: the well-being of the Great Lakes and the 100 million people living within its basin. We must embrace and value diversity as we focus on a greater good.

What we need is more pillars to bolster the support for Great Lakes issues at the national level, and we at the Association of Great Lakes Ports look forward to working with all of our constituents.