America’s Great Lakes — Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario — hold 21 percent of the world’s surface fresh water and host habitat for a variety of fish and wildlife species of concern. They provide drinking water for more than 40 million people and economic benefits from fishing and recreation. The Great Lakes Region is also a major agricultural area, with more than 55 million acres of land under production.

All of these uses impact the Great Lakes ecosystem. With the CCA designation, USDA will build on existing strong partnerships in the Great Lakes Region to provide approaches and tools for producers to better manage nutrients and sediment on agricultural land. Accelerated conservation on private lands will help improve water quality, leading to better habitat for fish and wildlife and increased economic opportunities, including maintaining agricultural productivity in this vital region.

This dataset includes a printer-friendly CCA map and shapefiles for GIS.