a new federal estuarine reserve in the Great Lakes?

Maybe. But while the subject's on the table, why don't the Great Lakes states do a more aggressive job of naming underwater reserves or freshwater sanctuaries? Michigan, for example, has a statute allowing these for a variety of reasons, including ecological ones, but only shipwreck sites have won the designation. Surely somewhere out there in 38,000 square miles of submerged Great Lakes land, Michigan has good reason to designate some critical habitats for research and conservation.

http://www.piercecountyherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=25908&section=homepage&property_id=9

The St. Louis River Estuary in Douglas County could be designated a National Estuarine Research Reserve...

Currently, there are 27 federally designated research reserves in the nation. All but one — Old Woman Creek Research Reserve in Huron, Ohio, on the shore of Lake Erie — are the typical estuaries where rivers meet the sea.

However, freshwater or Great Lakes-type estuaries are chemically distinct where the river and lake waters meet, according to NOAA. Unlike brackish estuaries, which are tidally driven, freshwater estuaries are storm-driven.