The State of the Strait is a binational (Canada-United States) collaboration that hosts a meeting every two years to bring together government managers, researchers, students, environmental and conservation organizations, and concerned citizens. Participants work to understand historical ecosystem conditions and assess current ecosystem status in order to achieve a better future for the Detroit River and western Lake Erie. Please take a look at presentations from our previous meetings for more information.
News and Events
September 2020
Now Available for Download
Checkup: Assessing Ecosystem Health of the Detroit River and Western Lake Erie
State of the Strait 2020
Download the 4 page Executive SummaryOctober 2019
Registration is now closed. The conference is fully subscribed. Please send a message to one of the co-organizers if you must cancel you registration.
Final 2019 Conference Program [PDF]
DIRECTIONS TO THE MEETING AND PARKING INSTRUCTIONS [PDF]
October 2018
Now Available for Download
State of the Strait - Urban Bird Summit:
Status, Trends, and Risks to Species that Call the Corridor Home 2018
Proceedings from the 2017 Urban Bird Summit can now be found on the 2017 SOFTS Conference page. A list of summit presentations, as well as links to presentation PDFs, are also available on the conference page.
To visit the 2017 SOFTS Urban Bird Summit page
October 2017
In coordination with Detroit’s 2017 designation as an Urban Bird Treaty City, the State of the Strait, the Detroit Zoo, and the Metro Detroit Nature Network have partnered to present a conference with the theme “Urban Bird Summit: Status, Trends, and Risks to Species that Call the Corridor Home”.Save the Date Announcement
Full Summit Program
August 2017
Welcome to the redesigned website for the State of the Strait group. This site contains information on past SOFTS conferences, SOFTS publications, and other media. Also included are subsites on soft shoreline engineering and the The Detroit River-Western Lake Erie indicator project (previously hosted on the Environmental Protection Agency website).
State of the Strait Sponsors