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2013 Series, Issue One
In thIs Issue: ChicagoRestaurants
SeekOutFreshwaterFutureasaCharityPartner
BelowtheBrilliantBlueWater
Root-PikeWatershedInitiativeNetwork’sRainGardenGrantProgram
OntarioGreatLakesGathering
GrassrootsCitizenAdvocateAwards
Wisconsin’sMiningMoratoriumUnderAttack
Freshwater FutureP.O. Box 2479
Petoskey, MI 49770Phone: (231) 348-8200
www.freshwaterfuture.org
ChrIStIna CarSOn ~ lake SuPerIOr PrOvInCIal Park
EnsuringtheHealthyFutureofOurWaters
In the months follow-ing the birth of my daughter, I came to
truly appreciate the say-ing “It takes a village to raise a child.” Had it not been for the support of midwives, grandparents, and siblings, my partner and I surely would have succumbed to insanity
due to sleep deprivation!
The lessons I’m learning from raising my (now 2 year old) daughter, are serving me well in my work in the environmental field. I absolutely believe that a collaborative approach is vital to achieving any environmental goal. I’m a big fan of working “by committee,” and have seen so many examples of projects enriched by the variety of opinions brought by different organizations and individuals.
Grassroots groups bring irreplaceable on-the-ground knowledge, connection to their commu-nities, enormous passion, and dedication to their causes. Larger NGO’s offer technical expertise, links to government, and experience in both policy and
mass communication. Funders provide, of course, funding, but also trend-spotting and the big pic-ture view. Government agencies play a vital role as decision- and policy-makers, as well as often hav-ing access to more resources. I could go on and on about the many types of groups that contribute to an effective collaboration.
As the newly-hired Canadian staff member for Freshwater Future, I’m looking forward to continu-ing our collaborative style in Ontario. With support from the Trillium Foundation, we’re organizing a gathering in the spring to bring together represen-tatives of the Ontario Great Lakes community, to discuss shared and strategic priorities and identify opportunities for collaboration. I’ve already had the pleasure of meeting many knowledgeable and passionate staff and volunteers from organizations across the province, and I very much look forward to spending time with many of you this spring.
This is just one example of the exciting work that Freshwater Future has planned for Ontario this year. Please feel free to get in touch with me at [email protected]—I look forward to learning more about your work, and how we can protect our Great Lakes, together.
S tA F F V I E W S — WhatParenthoodisteachingMeAboutCollaboration
April Weppler
“Grassroots groups bring irreplaceable on-the-ground knowledge, connection to their communities, and enormous
passion and dedication to their causes. ”
Follow Freshwater Future on Facebook and twitter!
printed on recycled paper
MoreCitiesShowingSupporttoFindaSolutiontoSTOPAsianCarp!
In partnership with the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, Freshwater Future created a reso-
lution (“Keep Asian Carp Out of the Great Lakes”) municipalities can pass to grow the chorus of support for find-ing a solution that will stop Asian carp. Over the past few years our efforts have shown that when we, the Great Lakes Community, speak up, decision mak-ers listen. Demonstrated by the Stop Invasive Species Act, which passed last summer after tens of thousands
of Great Lakes citizens contacted their Members of Congress calling for a so-lution. But, there is more to do.
The latest municipal leaders to pass the resolution include Milwaukee and Rhinelander, WI; Erie, PA and the townof Collingwood, ON. Want to know who else has passed the resolution? Visit freshwaterfuture.org/asiancarp to view a map of communities and find out how your community can be part of this effort!
Congratulations to Freshwater Future’s 2012 Grant Recipients! ClimateGrant Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper Cayuga Lake Watershed Network, Inc. Ecolibrium3 environmentERIE FLOW Canada Izaak Walton League of America,
W. J. McCabe Chapter Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership, Inc. Nature Abounds NY Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Ojibway Defence Onondaga Creek Conservation Association Religious Coalition for the Great Lakes Sierra Club, Great Lakes Project St. Louis River Alliance West Grand Boulevard Collaborative Wisconsin Wetlands Association
HealingOur Blanchard River Watershed Partnership WatersGrant Center for Environmental Initiatives Clinton River Watershed Council Ducks Unlimited, Inc. environmentERIE Huron Pines Alliance for the Great Lakes Lake Erie Waterkeeper H2Opportunities
InsightGrant Blacks in Green Detroit River Public Advisory Council East Algoma Stewardship Council Ecolibrium3 Izaak Walton League of America,
W. J. McCabe Chapter Milwaukee Riverkeeper Muskoka Conservancy Raven Hill Discovery Center Religious Coalition for the Great Lakes River Raisin Institute Rogue River Watershed Council
ProjectGrant Concerned Citizens of Big Bay environmentERIE Environment Minnesota Research and Policy Center Faith in Place Friends of the Land of Keweenaw Highway J Citizens Group Ohio Chapter Sierra Club Ojibway Defence Mohican Advocates, Inc. Native American Educational Technologies, Inc. Protect Our Water and Environmental Resources Sierra Club Ontario-Great Lakes Section Sled Dogs to Saint Paul Water Legacy Wisconsin Resources Protection Council Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve
Special Two Rivers Coalition Opportunity Blanchard River Watershed Partnership Grant Great Lakes United Kalamazoo River Cleanup Coalition MADION West Grand Boulevard Collaborative Bad River Watershed
Freshwater Voices is published quarterly and distributed by Freshwater Future, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization. Fund-ing for the publication is provided by our members.
STaff
ANN BAUGHMAN Associate Director for Development [email protected]
CHERYL KALLIO Associate Director for Policy [email protected]
LISA MATTS Office Manager [email protected]
JILL RYAN Executive Director [email protected]
BECCA TURNER Program Associate [email protected]
MELANIE NAPOLEON WELCH Associate Director of Program [email protected]
APRIL WEPPLER Program Innovator, Canada [email protected]
MAIN OFFICE: (231) 348-8200
BOard Of direcTOrS
GARY BELAN American RiversGLEN DALE
Great Lakes CitizenDEBORAH DORSEY
West Grand Boulevard Collaborative
KRISTY MEYER The Ohio Environmental Council
MICHELLE PARKER John G. Shedd Aquarium
AMY JO SMITH Economic Development Council of Erie County
TERRY SWIER Michigan Citizens for
Water Conservation
LINDSAY TELFER Canadian Freshwater Alliance
DISCLAIMER: Freshwater Voices is in-tended to provide a forum for the free exchange of ideas among citizens and organizations working to protect aquatic habitats in the Great Lakes Basin. The in-terpretations and conclusions presented in this newsletter represent the opinions of the individual authors. They in no way represent the views of Freshwater Future, funders, members, donors, or any orga-nization mentioned in this publication.
February 2013 F r e S h wat e r F u t u r e M e M B e r n e w S 7
Thank You to All of Our Donors from November 2012 through January 2013d I R E C t O R ’ S N O t E SWhyCollaborate?
Jill Ryan,Executive Director
In this issue I’ve noticed that even the articles that don’t focus on collaboration have an underlying
theme of how collaboration helped move the work forward. Freshwater Future places a high value on work-ing together to find common ground, which is one of the reasons the orga-
nization was designed eighteen years ago to support the work of other groups and bring those separate voices to-gether to make a collective impact.
While your organizational goals might be focused on en-vironmental issues, not specifically on ensuring collabo-ration along the way, I am willing to bet many of you have developed critical collaborative relationships with organizations with similar missions. By learning from each other, working together where you have common goals and realizing the benefits of more voices in the chorus, you have no doubt realized the benefits of tak-ing the time to understand others working on your issue.
Because collaboration also requires investing time into your relationships with collaborators, I want to share some of the benefits of collaboration that may not be as top of mind as we consider new relationships. First, by bringing more ideas into our discussions we can develop better solutions; second, by engaging more people and groups in the decision making process, we can create lon-ger lasting solutions; third, we can utilize the strengths of each collaborator, reducing the need for duplication and maximizing the capacity of each group and finally, it can improve the health of our communities by building common understandings and spreading the power for decision making more broadly.
As you think spring, I hope you will also think about expanding your ability to accomplish your goals by con-sidering new collaborative relationships.
ChrIStIna CarSOn ~ lake SuPerIOr PrOvInCIal Park ChrIStIna CarSOn ~ lake MIChIgan, M119
Freshwater Future is the fortunate beneficiary of two Chicago restaurants’ charitable activities.
In December 2012, Fish Bar (www.fishbarchicago.com) featured us as their “Friends of Fish” partner. For one week, a portion of the proceeds from the purchase of a special Black Cod dish were set aside for Freshwater Future’s work to ensure the healthy future of our Great Lakes waters. In addition, information about our organization and work was distributed to restaurant patrons.
Tavernita (www.tavernita.com) launched their year-long “Taps for Tap” pro-gram in January, a new charitable series featuring kegged cocktails and ben-efitting the protection of fresh water. The restaurant joined forces with some of the country’s best mixologists to offer a monthly signature kegged cocktail. A different libation will be featured each month at Tavernita and a portion of the proceeds will benefit Freshwater Future. This program will run throughout 2013, which gives you plenty of opportunities to stop by Tavernita if you are in the Chicago area. Be sure to ask for the “Taps for Tap” special!
Freshwater Future thanks these fantastic restaurants for choosing to give and help the Great Lakes!
ChicagoRestaurantsSeekOutFreshwaterFutureasaCharityPartner
FOUNdAtIONSANdGRANtSAnonymous Fund of the
Community Foundation for Muskegon County
C. S. Mott Foundation, Environment Program
Frey FoundationJ. A. Woollam FoundationThe Kresge FoundationNew Prospect Foundation
FOUNdERSCIRCLE($1000andabove)
Bissell, Inc.Mike and Rhea DowBill Fritz, Jr. and Kathleen
FrenchWilliam A. Fisher, II Family
Foundation
SUStAINER’SCIRCLE($1000orgreaterthroughmonthlygiving)
Bonnie Danni
FRIENdSOFtHELAkES($500-999)
Joey ArbaughGlen and Bev DaleJan and Christine Deur Fund of
the Community Foundation of Muskegon County
Molly FlanaganJohn HuntingAl and Mary Polk
MONtHLyGIVINGAnn BaughmanCathy BradyJill RyanBecca Turner
SPONSOR($250-499)
AnonymousGary BelanDeborah Fritz-Elliott and
Robert ElliottLewis KleinConnie and Steve VorenkampFred Wilder
SUPPORtER($100-249)
Jeff AlexanderScott BrownRobert BrownElain BurkeHugh CalkinsJanet ChafeMary Jo Cullen and
Torfinn HansenAudrey FergusonTom and Bette IrwinGail McCarthy
Eeva MillerJulie O’LearySusie SchreiberRichard L. and Jean
Marie ShoquistMary Lou and John TantonRodger ThomannJudith and Dennis WilliamsAnnerose Zorn-West
MEMBER($50-99)
Todd AmbsBrenda ArchamboRichard AskelandDuane AskewRon BaconRuby BeilEllis BoalCharles BoardmanSandra BoeghRonald BoehmBreezesweptSue Maynard and
Richard BreverKathy and Jim BrickerLynn D. BuffingtonRobert and Anne ButcherBrian CampbellMary CariveauPaula CathcartJerryand Betty ChesnessRuth ClausenJill CraftonKenneth CromerKevin CronkGeorge DaisyKira Davis and FamilyWilliam DelnickiSuzanne DixonLeslie EdikauskasDave FoersterCarol GagliardiLaura GaugerDonald GeigerDorothy GradenLinda HardieGeorge HarpurHoward HeckmannRyan HilbertJudith HodellDiane HofnerDavid and Patricia HubbardDr. John HuttoRobert JohnstonMort and Maxine KantorGrace KayeRenee KivikkoBruce KlosnerAdam JohnMartha Lancaster and
Doug FullerWilliam LavigneMary LeonardiPeter LeschakNancy MalvickJeanette MateerCarol McCarusElizabeth and Terry McCloskeyPeter MehrenKristy Meyer
Jane and William MillarMichael MillerDr. Kirby and Kathryn MiltonJulie MisegadesBrad MosherKathy MurraySandra NeveMargaret NolanWilliam OberleMark OberschmidtSuzanna RakerCharly RayDora and Winfred RitchieCarol and Paul RoseCarl SandersMark SchilbergJames SheaHelen SmithRobert and Gail StegmierNancy and Gig StewartWilliam StraubJim SweeneyShirley TaylorLawrence TuckerWilliam Vanden ElzenJohn Vander PloegRobin VidoniApril WepplerCynthia WestermanKay WilliamsDennis Zimmerman
HONORARIUMSInHonorofdavidB.tyler,
Betsy NorthrupInHonorof Beccaturner’sBirthday,
Nancy and Bruce Turner
MEMBERORGANIzAtIONSAnnis Water Resources
Institute, Grand Valley State University
Blue Mountain Watershed TrustBrule River PreservationColumbia InstituteConcerned Citizens of
Seneca CountyEcolibrium3environmentERIEFLOW CanadaFriends of Big CreekFriends of the Detroit RiverFriends of the Jordan River
WatershedFront FortyHighway J Citizens GroupLake Huron Centre for
Coastal ConservationLakeshore Natural Resource
PartnershipLibrary of Michigan,
Serials SectionMichigan Lakes & Stream
AssociationsMichigan State University
LibrariesMiller Vanwinkle Trout Unlimited
Muskoka ConservancyNational Parks of Lake Superior
FoundationOhio Chapter Sierra ClubParadise Lake AssociationRaisin Valley Land TrustSave Our Shoreline ParksSave the Wild UPSeneca Lake Pure Waters
AssociationSilver Creek InstituteSisters Of St. Francis of SylvaniaSt. Louis River AllianceThe Leelanau ForumUniversity of Toronto at
Mississauga UTM LibraryWatershed WatchersWawasee Area Conservancy
FoundationWest Grand Boulevard
CollaborativeWisconsin Resources
Protection CouncilWisconsin Wetlands
AssociationYellow Dog Watershed
Preserve
WALk,PAddLE&ROLLdONAtIONS
FRESHWAtERFUtUREBOARdAnthony Friona
FRESHWAtERFUtUREStAFFAnnoesjka Steinman
OjIBWAydEFENCEAnna Lynn Meloche
IN-kINddONAtIONSAnonymousChristina CarsonGary and Mary Street
ASIANCARPCAMPAIGNAnonymous (2)Hildy FeenDavid KoslowDenise MarxJerome and Olga OlsenB. Richard VogtDeborah WagnerMichael Willis
Chicago’s Tavernita is located at 151 W. Erie.
2 F r e S h wat e r F u t u r e u P d at e S Freshwater Future
Manyideasgrowbetterwhentransplantedintoanothermindthantheonewheretheysprangup. ~OliverWendellHolmes
We’llbeRockin’andRollin’onLakeEriefortheSpringClimateSymposium!Cleveland,Ohio|April2013,checkwww.freshwaterfuture.orgfordates
How is climate change impacting your community and what can you do about it?
Join Freshwater Future and EcoAdapt in Cleveland—home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—to learn aboutthe impacts of climate change, how communities can adapt, and how our climate grants program can help. It’s a great opportunity to learn, network, and connect with resources like our Climate Adaptation Toolkit.
More details and registration will be on our website soon at www.freshwaterfuture.org.
Far below the Mack-inac Bridge and the surface of the bril-
liant blue water, lies a set of pipelines that have the potential to become a disaster.
In the last is-sue of Fresh-
water Voices I wrote about En-bridge’s operational record. One that includes a spill of nearly one million gallons of heavy diluted bitumen, aka “dilbit,” into Tal-madge Creek, near Marshall, MI. (Dilbit is tar sand oil diluted with a material such as naptha or syn-thetic crude to make the tar sand “pumpable”) Dilbit is heavier than water, sinking to the bottom, mak-ing cleanup especially difficult.
Enbridge has two 20 inch lines that lie underneath the waters of
the Straits, near the Mackinac Bridge. The lines are nearly 60 years old. Between them, they carry 491,000 barrels per day of crude. Enbridge plans to increase the amount by 50,000 barrels per day in early 2013. This increased flow will increase the line oper-ating pressure by roughly 25%. Can these
old lines withstand the increased pressure? Enbridge thinks so. Others, including Fresh-water Future, are not so sure. What are the potential impacts on our waters?
If just ONE of the two 20 inch lines cross-ing the Straits were to rupture, and IF the
shut off valves at either side of the Straits were to be closed IM-MEDIATELY, the spill would still amount to over 380,000 gallons of crude being released directly into lakes Michigan and Huron!
The National Wildlife Federation has prepared a map of how fast the oil plume would spread. Although this projection only simulates a 3, 6, and 12 hour elapsed spill, at “worst case” discharge conditions, the reality would be much worse.
In the future, I’ll explore the pipe-line issue further.
Deemed a serious threat to water qual-ity by the U.S. Environmental Protec-tion Agency, acid mine drainage from
sulfide mining has already polluted more than 12,000 miles of rivers and streams and over 180,000 acres of lakes and impoundments in the United States. Until recently, Wisconsin has shown some of the strongest leadership in the world protecting their environment from the devastating impacts of sulfide mining with their “Prove it First” law. This law requires that before the state will allow new sulfide mine, there needs to be proof that a sulfide mine has been successfully reclaimed and not polluted nearby waters.
Proponents of mining in Wisconsin tout the closed Flambeau Mine in Ladysmith, Wis-consin as safe so that some lawmakers, with strong support from Governor Walker, are quickly moving to get rid of the “Prove it First” law, and want to replace it with new regula-tion that dramatically weakens environmental protections. However, a recent lawsuit found the reclamation of the Flambeau Mine is not the success some proclaim. The Wisconsin Re-sources Protection Council, Center for Biolog-ical Diversity, and citizen Laura Gauger sued Flambeau Mining Company in a federal court over violations of the Clean Water Act. The Court found numerous violations that were
subject to penalties. The chief concerns are related to the toxic copper and zinc discharges that have been running off the site for the past 14 years and con-tinue today. Recently, in this once pris-tine area, a stream has been listed as “impaired” because of this pollution. These findings conclude that indeed the Ladysmith mine is not the success many had hoped, further proving that sulfide mining is a serious threat to our waters.
Simultaneously, a massive open pit sulfide mine is being proposed in the Bad River wa-tershed’s Penokee Range. The Penokee Range extends 25 miles, covering 22,000 acres through some of the designated highest qual-ity rivers in Wisconsin and the largest unde-veloped wetland complex in the upper Great Lakes. The Range includes 71 miles of rivers and streams that empty into the Bad River and continues on to Lake Superior. The sur-face and groundwater originating there is the source drinking water for six municipalities.
As decision makers in Wisconsin consider making changes to open a new sulfide mine and get rid of their “Prove it First” law, we hope they look at the facts the Flambeau mine offers—sulfide mining has not been
proven safe and Wisconsin’s waters are pol-luted because of it. At the time of writing this, over 70 environmental and conserva-tion organizations have signed a letter to legislators asking that they reject the chang-es to Wisconsin’s mining laws.
Dave Blouin, the Mining Committee Chair, Si-erra Club—John Muir Chapter and Al Gedicks, the Executive Secretary of the Wisconsin Re-sources Protection Council, are helping lead ef-forts in Wisconsin to protect the “Prove it First Law” and protect Wisconsin’s waters from the harmful impacts of sulfide mining. If you want to learn more about their efforts, contact Dave at [email protected] or visit http://wis-consin.sierraclub.org/PenokeeMine.asp or Al at [email protected] or visit www.wrpc.net.
BelowtheBrilliantBlueWater
February 2013 F r e S h wat e r F u t u r e B O a r d v I e w S 3
ChrIStIna CarSOn ~ PICtured rOCkS
JuStIn CalkInS ~ Pere Marquette Park navy Break wall
6 F r e S h wat e r F u t u r e u P d at e S Freshwater Future
1http://www.pipelinelaw.com/files/Uploads/Documents/PipelineLaw/Enbridge_PHMSA_NOPV.pdf2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diluted_bitumen3http://www.enbridge.com/DeliveringEnergy/OurPipelines/~/media/www/Site%20Documents/Delivering%20Energy/2012_Q1%20System%20Config.ashx4http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/enbridge-energy-partners-declares-distribution-reports-earnings-third-quarter-2011-nyse-eep-1579280.htm5It is not practical to shut a large valve “immediately” or even rapidly without causing “water hammer.” Water hammer may in turn cause a line to rupture.6http://blog.nwf.org/2012/10/enbridge-threatens-freshwater-drinking-source-for-million-of-people/
Remember the Exxon Valdez disaster at Prince William Sound in 1989? Remember the BP Gulf of Mexico oil disaster in 2010? We don’t want to remember a pipeline rupture in the Straits of Mackinac!
Wisconsin’sMiningMoratoriumUnderAttackAs new confirmation that sulfide mining is unsafe surfaces, Wisconsin lawmakers move forward plans to open new sulfide mining
Gary Street
MaCkInaC BrIdge
The National Wildlife Federation’s projected oil spill spread depicts elapsed time for travel for a potential spill.
BOB OlSgard
Root-Pike Water-shed Initiative Network earned
a Girl Scouts Forever Green badge in 2012… well, not exactly. It was actually Brownie Troop 9132 of Milwaukee who built a 170 square foot rain garden at a child
care center. However, they built the garden thanks to Root-Pike WIN’s Rain Garden Grant program and the generous support of funders, including Freshwater Future.
The grant program celebrated its fifth anniver-sary in 2012. In five years, Root-Pike WIN has
funded 103 public and home-owner rain gardens. Freshwater Future has funded four of them with a combined square footage of 921 holding back approximately 36,840 gallons of rain water and snow-ice melt annually. Of the 103 gardens, 97 gardens remain func-tional and are holding back and infiltrating 872,240 gallons annually—a 95% success rate.
Root-Pike WIN credits their success to their educational focus. Those receiving Root Pike WIN grants must attend one of six pub-lic workshops taught by Root-Pike WIN in partnership with UW-Extension Coopera-tive. The workshops teach attendees about climate change and adaptive practices. They
learn how to properly build a rain garden, install a rain barrel and many more actions they can take in their yards to reduce storm-water runoff.
A total of eleven rain gardens totaling 3,047 square feet and projected to infiltrate 117,880 gallons of rain water and snow-ice melt annually were funded through Root-Pike WIN’s program in 2012. Of those, three gardens, including the one established by the Girl Scouts, received funding that is di-rectly attributable to Freshwater Future’s funding. Perhaps Freshwater Future deserves a Girl Scout badge too—but everyone knows a cookie will suffice.
4 g r a S S r O Ot S I n aC t I O n Freshwater Future February 2013 g r a S S r O Ot S I n aC t I O n 5
StaCy nIedzwIeCkI ~ POIntS OF lIght
Root-PikeWatershedInitiativeNetwork’sRainGardenGrantProgram Susan Greenfield
SUCC
ESSStORy
L A U R A G A U G E R
What have youdone for your river today?
For Laura Gauger, the answer is easy. She sued the Flambeau Mining Company (FMC) last year with the Wisconsin Resources Protection
Council and the Center for Biological Diversity.
The federal court ruled in July 2012 that the Flambeau Mining Company had violated the Clean Water Act on multiple occasions by allowing pollution from the Flambeau Mine site to enter the Flambeau River. Con-cerned about fish and other aquatic species, Laura and her partners focused on toxic lev-els of copper found in discharge waters.
It isn’t often that an individual has the courage to join a lawsuit as a plaintiff in an environmental case. We applaud Laura for her passion and dedication to demand the mining company be held responsible for its actions. The results of this lawsuit will have benefits to waters around the Great Lakes re-gion. We are pleased to present Laura Gauger with a Grassroots Citizen Advocate Award.
C Ay U G A L A k EWAt E R S H E d N E t W O R k
The Great Lakes states and provinces experiencing fracking are taking dif-ferent approaches to dealing with it.
Being proactive, the Cayuga Watershed Net-work in New York wanted to protect their waters from the impacts of fracking in case their state’s moratorium was dropped. They promoted the adoption of local zoning or-dinances to regulate fracking activities.
In just one month, four towns around Cayuga Lake adopted the zoning ordinance amend-ments that “affirm the inappropriateness of natural-gas drilling within their border” which, in other words, placed a local ban on fracking. Combined, the ordinances protect 65% of the water flowing into Cayuga Lake.
Cayuga Lake Watershed Network didn’t hesi-tate to look at local solutions to protect their waters. We are pleased to award Cayuga Lake Watershed Network with an organizational Grassroots Advocate Award.
I R E N E P H E L P S
If you get a papercopy of our news-letter in the mail
or our brochure about grant opportunities from Freshwater Fu-ture, our good friend and loyal volunteer, Irene Phelps, helped
to get it to you. Irene started volunteering for Freshwater Future when we formed in 1996. A native of northern Michigan, Irene raised a family, had a career in physical therapy and has been volunteering for over 30 years.
She has helped with countless mailings for us and other organizations that she KNOWS how to do it, often catching our mistakes. We love having Irene join us in the Petos-key office to help. She shares stories—from sledding down the big hills in Bliss, Michi-
gan as a child to her recent adventures around town. Irene is one of our best com-munity ambassadors, proudly wearing her Freshwater Future garb, spreading the word about our work and efforts.
Freshwater Future is extremely grateful for the loyal and dedicated service Irene has given us. We are proud to present Irene Phelps with one of our Grassroots Citizen Advocate Awards.
j A N d E U R
Every year whilewatching the Academy Awards,
we’re reminded that it takes a huge crew of talented people to make an award win-ning blockbuster. And most of them do their
work behind the scenes. Freshwater Future has been extremely fortunate to have “be-hind the scenes” help from Jan Deur for the last four years on our Finance Committee.
Reviewing monthly financial statements, overseeing audits, and developing finance policies are essential to building a strong organization. Jan provided his profession-al expertise to help Freshwater Future grow and establish a solid financial foundation. Jan was always available to answer ques-tions, as well as ask the tough questions.
Thanks to Jan Deur’s guidance and leader-ship, Freshwater Future is ready to take on more challenging projects. We are pleased to thank Jan for his last four years and pres-ent him with one of our Grassroots Citizen Advocate Awards.
GrassrootsCitizenAdvocateAwards
Susan Greenfield
Members from Cayuga Lake Watershed Network and Drayden Resource Awareness Coalition cel-ebrate and plan for projects to ban gas drilling and fracking.
OntarioGreatLakesGathering
The Canadian Freshwater Alliance and Freshwater Future are partnering to convene representatives of Ontario’s
Great Lakes non-profit community in a stra-tegic discussion about water issues. This fo-rum will be an opportunity to network, build relationships, share experiences, and discuss collective priorities, activities and strategic
directions. The weekend will also offer some tremendous capacity building opportuni-ties that will support your efforts by offering tools and resources to strengthen your en-gagement efforts on the ground. Building on the recommendations of the Ontario Great Lakes Needs Assessment that was completed in 2012, this gathering will give those pas-
sionate about the Great Lakes an opportuni-ty to come together and celebrate their com-mitment to protect our legacy.
Stay tuned for more details! To be added to the email update list for information per-taining to the Ontario Great Lakes Needs Assessment, email April Weppler at [email protected]
Thank You!
Root-Pike Water-shed Initiative Network earned
a Girl Scouts Forever Green badge in 2012… well, not exactly. It was actually Brownie Troop 9132 of Milwaukee who built a 170 square foot rain garden at a child
care center. However, they built the garden thanks to Root-Pike WIN’s Rain Garden Grant program and the generous support of funders, including Freshwater Future.
The grant program celebrated its fifth anniver-sary in 2012. In five years, Root-Pike WIN has
funded 103 public and home-owner rain gardens. Freshwater Future has funded four of them with a combined square footage of 921 holding back approximately 36,840 gallons of rain water and snow-ice melt annually. Of the 103 gardens, 97 gardens remain func-tional and are holding back and infiltrating 872,240 gallons annually—a 95% success rate.
Root-Pike WIN credits their success to their educational focus. Those receiving Root Pike WIN grants must attend one of six pub-lic workshops taught by Root-Pike WIN in partnership with UW-Extension Coopera-tive. The workshops teach attendees about climate change and adaptive practices. They
learn how to properly build a rain garden, install a rain barrel and many more actions they can take in their yards to reduce storm-water runoff.
A total of eleven rain gardens totaling 3,047 square feet and projected to infiltrate 117,880 gallons of rain water and snow-ice melt annually were funded through Root-Pike WIN’s program in 2012. Of those, three gardens, including the one established by the Girl Scouts, received funding that is di-rectly attributable to Freshwater Future’s funding. Perhaps Freshwater Future deserves a Girl Scout badge too—but everyone knows a cookie will suffice.
4 g r a S S r O Ot S I n aC t I O n Freshwater Future February 2013 g r a S S r O Ot S I n aC t I O n 5
StaCy nIedzwIeCkI ~ POIntS OF lIght
Root-PikeWatershedInitiativeNetwork’sRainGardenGrantProgram Susan Greenfield
SUCC
ESSStORy
L A U R A G A U G E R
What have youdone for your river today?
For Laura Gauger, the answer is easy. She sued the Flambeau Mining Company (FMC) last year with the Wisconsin Resources Protection
Council and the Center for Biological Diversity.
The federal court ruled in July 2012 that the Flambeau Mining Company had violated the Clean Water Act on multiple occasions by allowing pollution from the Flambeau Mine site to enter the Flambeau River. Con-cerned about fish and other aquatic species, Laura and her partners focused on toxic lev-els of copper found in discharge waters.
It isn’t often that an individual has the courage to join a lawsuit as a plaintiff in an environmental case. We applaud Laura for her passion and dedication to demand the mining company be held responsible for its actions. The results of this lawsuit will have benefits to waters around the Great Lakes re-gion. We are pleased to present Laura Gauger with a Grassroots Citizen Advocate Award.
C Ay U G A L A k EWAt E R S H E d N E t W O R k
The Great Lakes states and provinces experiencing fracking are taking dif-ferent approaches to dealing with it.
Being proactive, the Cayuga Watershed Net-work in New York wanted to protect their waters from the impacts of fracking in case their state’s moratorium was dropped. They promoted the adoption of local zoning or-dinances to regulate fracking activities.
In just one month, four towns around Cayuga Lake adopted the zoning ordinance amend-ments that “affirm the inappropriateness of natural-gas drilling within their border” which, in other words, placed a local ban on fracking. Combined, the ordinances protect 65% of the water flowing into Cayuga Lake.
Cayuga Lake Watershed Network didn’t hesi-tate to look at local solutions to protect their waters. We are pleased to award Cayuga Lake Watershed Network with an organizational Grassroots Advocate Award.
I R E N E P H E L P S
If you get a papercopy of our news-letter in the mail
or our brochure about grant opportunities from Freshwater Fu-ture, our good friend and loyal volunteer, Irene Phelps, helped
to get it to you. Irene started volunteering for Freshwater Future when we formed in 1996. A native of northern Michigan, Irene raised a family, had a career in physical therapy and has been volunteering for over 30 years.
She has helped with countless mailings for us and other organizations that she KNOWS how to do it, often catching our mistakes. We love having Irene join us in the Petos-key office to help. She shares stories—from sledding down the big hills in Bliss, Michi-
gan as a child to her recent adventures around town. Irene is one of our best com-munity ambassadors, proudly wearing her Freshwater Future garb, spreading the word about our work and efforts.
Freshwater Future is extremely grateful for the loyal and dedicated service Irene has given us. We are proud to present Irene Phelps with one of our Grassroots Citizen Advocate Awards.
j A N d E U R
Every year whilewatching the Academy Awards,
we’re reminded that it takes a huge crew of talented people to make an award win-ning blockbuster. And most of them do their
work behind the scenes. Freshwater Future has been extremely fortunate to have “be-hind the scenes” help from Jan Deur for the last four years on our Finance Committee.
Reviewing monthly financial statements, overseeing audits, and developing finance policies are essential to building a strong organization. Jan provided his profession-al expertise to help Freshwater Future grow and establish a solid financial foundation. Jan was always available to answer ques-tions, as well as ask the tough questions.
Thanks to Jan Deur’s guidance and leader-ship, Freshwater Future is ready to take on more challenging projects. We are pleased to thank Jan for his last four years and pres-ent him with one of our Grassroots Citizen Advocate Awards.
GrassrootsCitizenAdvocateAwards
Susan Greenfield
Members from Cayuga Lake Watershed Network and Drayden Resource Awareness Coalition cel-ebrate and plan for projects to ban gas drilling and fracking.
OntarioGreatLakesGathering
The Canadian Freshwater Alliance and Freshwater Future are partnering to convene representatives of Ontario’s
Great Lakes non-profit community in a stra-tegic discussion about water issues. This fo-rum will be an opportunity to network, build relationships, share experiences, and discuss collective priorities, activities and strategic
directions. The weekend will also offer some tremendous capacity building opportuni-ties that will support your efforts by offering tools and resources to strengthen your en-gagement efforts on the ground. Building on the recommendations of the Ontario Great Lakes Needs Assessment that was completed in 2012, this gathering will give those pas-
sionate about the Great Lakes an opportuni-ty to come together and celebrate their com-mitment to protect our legacy.
Stay tuned for more details! To be added to the email update list for information per-taining to the Ontario Great Lakes Needs Assessment, email April Weppler at [email protected]
Thank You!
We’llbeRockin’andRollin’onLakeEriefortheSpringClimateSymposium!Cleveland,Ohio|April2013,checkwww.freshwaterfuture.orgfordates
How is climate change impacting your community and what can you do about it?
Join Freshwater Future and EcoAdapt in Cleveland—home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—to learn aboutthe impacts of climate change, how communities can adapt, and how our climate grants program can help. It’s a great opportunity to learn, network, and connect with resources like our Climate Adaptation Toolkit.
More details and registration will be on our website soon at www.freshwaterfuture.org.
Far below the Mack-inac Bridge and the surface of the bril-
liant blue water, lies a set of pipelines that have the potential to become a disaster.
In the last is-sue of Fresh-
water Voices I wrote about En-bridge’s operational record. One that includes a spill of nearly one million gallons of heavy diluted bitumen, aka “dilbit,” into Tal-madge Creek, near Marshall, MI. (Dilbit is tar sand oil diluted with a material such as naptha or syn-thetic crude to make the tar sand “pumpable”) Dilbit is heavier than water, sinking to the bottom, mak-ing cleanup especially difficult.
Enbridge has two 20 inch lines that lie underneath the waters of
the Straits, near the Mackinac Bridge. The lines are nearly 60 years old. Between them, they carry 491,000 barrels per day of crude. Enbridge plans to increase the amount by 50,000 barrels per day in early 2013. This increased flow will increase the line oper-ating pressure by roughly 25%. Can these
old lines withstand the increased pressure? Enbridge thinks so. Others, including Fresh-water Future, are not so sure. What are the potential impacts on our waters?
If just ONE of the two 20 inch lines cross-ing the Straits were to rupture, and IF the
shut off valves at either side of the Straits were to be closed IM-MEDIATELY, the spill would still amount to over 380,000 gallons of crude being released directly into lakes Michigan and Huron!
The National Wildlife Federation has prepared a map of how fast the oil plume would spread. Although this projection only simulates a 3, 6, and 12 hour elapsed spill, at “worst case” discharge conditions, the reality would be much worse.
In the future, I’ll explore the pipe-line issue further.
Deemed a serious threat to water qual-ity by the U.S. Environmental Protec-tion Agency, acid mine drainage from
sulfide mining has already polluted more than 12,000 miles of rivers and streams and over 180,000 acres of lakes and impoundments in the United States. Until recently, Wisconsin has shown some of the strongest leadership in the world protecting their environment from the devastating impacts of sulfide mining with their “Prove it First” law. This law requires that before the state will allow new sulfide mine, there needs to be proof that a sulfide mine has been successfully reclaimed and not polluted nearby waters.
Proponents of mining in Wisconsin tout the closed Flambeau Mine in Ladysmith, Wis-consin as safe so that some lawmakers, with strong support from Governor Walker, are quickly moving to get rid of the “Prove it First” law, and want to replace it with new regula-tion that dramatically weakens environmental protections. However, a recent lawsuit found the reclamation of the Flambeau Mine is not the success some proclaim. The Wisconsin Re-sources Protection Council, Center for Biolog-ical Diversity, and citizen Laura Gauger sued Flambeau Mining Company in a federal court over violations of the Clean Water Act. The Court found numerous violations that were
subject to penalties. The chief concerns are related to the toxic copper and zinc discharges that have been running off the site for the past 14 years and con-tinue today. Recently, in this once pris-tine area, a stream has been listed as “impaired” because of this pollution. These findings conclude that indeed the Ladysmith mine is not the success many had hoped, further proving that sulfide mining is a serious threat to our waters.
Simultaneously, a massive open pit sulfide mine is being proposed in the Bad River wa-tershed’s Penokee Range. The Penokee Range extends 25 miles, covering 22,000 acres through some of the designated highest qual-ity rivers in Wisconsin and the largest unde-veloped wetland complex in the upper Great Lakes. The Range includes 71 miles of rivers and streams that empty into the Bad River and continues on to Lake Superior. The sur-face and groundwater originating there is the source drinking water for six municipalities.
As decision makers in Wisconsin consider making changes to open a new sulfide mine and get rid of their “Prove it First” law, we hope they look at the facts the Flambeau mine offers—sulfide mining has not been
proven safe and Wisconsin’s waters are pol-luted because of it. At the time of writing this, over 70 environmental and conserva-tion organizations have signed a letter to legislators asking that they reject the chang-es to Wisconsin’s mining laws.
Dave Blouin, the Mining Committee Chair, Si-erra Club—John Muir Chapter and Al Gedicks, the Executive Secretary of the Wisconsin Re-sources Protection Council, are helping lead ef-forts in Wisconsin to protect the “Prove it First Law” and protect Wisconsin’s waters from the harmful impacts of sulfide mining. If you want to learn more about their efforts, contact Dave at [email protected] or visit http://wis-consin.sierraclub.org/PenokeeMine.asp or Al at [email protected] or visit www.wrpc.net.
BelowtheBrilliantBlueWater
February 2013 F r e S h wat e r F u t u r e B O a r d v I e w S 3
ChrIStIna CarSOn ~ PICtured rOCkS
JuStIn CalkInS ~ Pere Marquette Park navy Break wall
6 F r e S h wat e r F u t u r e u P d at e S Freshwater Future
1http://www.pipelinelaw.com/files/Uploads/Documents/PipelineLaw/Enbridge_PHMSA_NOPV.pdf2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diluted_bitumen3http://www.enbridge.com/DeliveringEnergy/OurPipelines/~/media/www/Site%20Documents/Delivering%20Energy/2012_Q1%20System%20Config.ashx4http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/enbridge-energy-partners-declares-distribution-reports-earnings-third-quarter-2011-nyse-eep-1579280.htm5It is not practical to shut a large valve “immediately” or even rapidly without causing “water hammer.” Water hammer may in turn cause a line to rupture.6http://blog.nwf.org/2012/10/enbridge-threatens-freshwater-drinking-source-for-million-of-people/
Remember the Exxon Valdez disaster at Prince William Sound in 1989? Remember the BP Gulf of Mexico oil disaster in 2010? We don’t want to remember a pipeline rupture in the Straits of Mackinac!
Wisconsin’sMiningMoratoriumUnderAttackAs new confirmation that sulfide mining is unsafe surfaces, Wisconsin lawmakers move forward plans to open new sulfide mining
Gary Street
MaCkInaC BrIdge
The National Wildlife Federation’s projected oil spill spread depicts elapsed time for travel for a potential spill.
BOB OlSgard
Freshwater Voices is published quarterly and distributed by Freshwater Future, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization. Fund-ing for the publication is provided by our members.
STaff
ANN BAUGHMAN Associate Director for Development [email protected]
CHERYL KALLIO Associate Director for Policy [email protected]
LISA MATTS Office Manager [email protected]
JILL RYAN Executive Director [email protected]
BECCA TURNER Program Associate [email protected]
MELANIE NAPOLEON WELCH Associate Director of Program [email protected]
APRIL WEPPLER Program Innovator, Canada [email protected]
MAIN OFFICE: (231) 348-8200
BOard Of direcTOrS
GARY BELAN American RiversGLEN DALE
Great Lakes CitizenDEBORAH DORSEY
West Grand Boulevard Collaborative
KRISTY MEYER The Ohio Environmental Council
MICHELLE PARKER John G. Shedd Aquarium
AMY JO SMITH Economic Development Council of Erie County
TERRY SWIER Michigan Citizens for
Water Conservation
LINDSAY TELFER Canadian Freshwater Alliance
DISCLAIMER: Freshwater Voices is in-tended to provide a forum for the free exchange of ideas among citizens and organizations working to protect aquatic habitats in the Great Lakes Basin. The in-terpretations and conclusions presented in this newsletter represent the opinions of the individual authors. They in no way represent the views of Freshwater Future, funders, members, donors, or any orga-nization mentioned in this publication.
February 2013 F r e S h wat e r F u t u r e M e M B e r n e w S 7
Thank You to All of Our Donors from November 2012 through January 2013d I R E C t O R ’ S N O t E SWhyCollaborate?
Jill Ryan,Executive Director
In this issue I’ve noticed that even the articles that don’t focus on collaboration have an underlying
theme of how collaboration helped move the work forward. Freshwater Future places a high value on work-ing together to find common ground, which is one of the reasons the orga-
nization was designed eighteen years ago to support the work of other groups and bring those separate voices to-gether to make a collective impact.
While your organizational goals might be focused on en-vironmental issues, not specifically on ensuring collabo-ration along the way, I am willing to bet many of you have developed critical collaborative relationships with organizations with similar missions. By learning from each other, working together where you have common goals and realizing the benefits of more voices in the chorus, you have no doubt realized the benefits of tak-ing the time to understand others working on your issue.
Because collaboration also requires investing time into your relationships with collaborators, I want to share some of the benefits of collaboration that may not be as top of mind as we consider new relationships. First, by bringing more ideas into our discussions we can develop better solutions; second, by engaging more people and groups in the decision making process, we can create lon-ger lasting solutions; third, we can utilize the strengths of each collaborator, reducing the need for duplication and maximizing the capacity of each group and finally, it can improve the health of our communities by building common understandings and spreading the power for decision making more broadly.
As you think spring, I hope you will also think about expanding your ability to accomplish your goals by con-sidering new collaborative relationships.
ChrIStIna CarSOn ~ lake SuPerIOr PrOvInCIal Park ChrIStIna CarSOn ~ lake MIChIgan, M119
Freshwater Future is the fortunate beneficiary of two Chicago restaurants’ charitable activities.
In December 2012, Fish Bar (www.fishbarchicago.com) featured us as their “Friends of Fish” partner. For one week, a portion of the proceeds from the purchase of a special Black Cod dish were set aside for Freshwater Future’s work to ensure the healthy future of our Great Lakes waters. In addition, information about our organization and work was distributed to restaurant patrons.
Tavernita (www.tavernita.com) launched their year-long “Taps for Tap” pro-gram in January, a new charitable series featuring kegged cocktails and ben-efitting the protection of fresh water. The restaurant joined forces with some of the country’s best mixologists to offer a monthly signature kegged cocktail. A different libation will be featured each month at Tavernita and a portion of the proceeds will benefit Freshwater Future. This program will run throughout 2013, which gives you plenty of opportunities to stop by Tavernita if you are in the Chicago area. Be sure to ask for the “Taps for Tap” special!
Freshwater Future thanks these fantastic restaurants for choosing to give and help the Great Lakes!
ChicagoRestaurantsSeekOutFreshwaterFutureasaCharityPartner
FOUNdAtIONSANdGRANtSAnonymous Fund of the
Community Foundation for Muskegon County
C. S. Mott Foundation, Environment Program
Frey FoundationJ. A. Woollam FoundationThe Kresge FoundationNew Prospect Foundation
FOUNdERSCIRCLE($1000andabove)
Bissell, Inc.Mike and Rhea DowBill Fritz, Jr. and Kathleen
FrenchWilliam A. Fisher, II Family
Foundation
SUStAINER’SCIRCLE($1000orgreaterthroughmonthlygiving)
Bonnie Danni
FRIENdSOFtHELAkES($500-999)
Joey ArbaughGlen and Bev DaleJan and Christine Deur Fund of
the Community Foundation of Muskegon County
Molly FlanaganJohn HuntingAl and Mary Polk
MONtHLyGIVINGAnn BaughmanCathy BradyJill RyanBecca Turner
SPONSOR($250-499)
AnonymousGary BelanDeborah Fritz-Elliott and
Robert ElliottLewis KleinConnie and Steve VorenkampFred Wilder
SUPPORtER($100-249)
Jeff AlexanderScott BrownRobert BrownElain BurkeHugh CalkinsJanet ChafeMary Jo Cullen and
Torfinn HansenAudrey FergusonTom and Bette IrwinGail McCarthy
Eeva MillerJulie O’LearySusie SchreiberRichard L. and Jean
Marie ShoquistMary Lou and John TantonRodger ThomannJudith and Dennis WilliamsAnnerose Zorn-West
MEMBER($50-99)
Todd AmbsBrenda ArchamboRichard AskelandDuane AskewRon BaconRuby BeilEllis BoalCharles BoardmanSandra BoeghRonald BoehmBreezesweptSue Maynard and
Richard BreverKathy and Jim BrickerLynn D. BuffingtonRobert and Anne ButcherBrian CampbellMary CariveauPaula CathcartJerryand Betty ChesnessRuth ClausenJill CraftonKenneth CromerKevin CronkGeorge DaisyKira Davis and FamilyWilliam DelnickiSuzanne DixonLeslie EdikauskasDave FoersterCarol GagliardiLaura GaugerDonald GeigerDorothy GradenLinda HardieGeorge HarpurHoward HeckmannRyan HilbertJudith HodellDiane HofnerDavid and Patricia HubbardDr. John HuttoRobert JohnstonMort and Maxine KantorGrace KayeRenee KivikkoBruce KlosnerAdam JohnMartha Lancaster and
Doug FullerWilliam LavigneMary LeonardiPeter LeschakNancy MalvickJeanette MateerCarol McCarusElizabeth and Terry McCloskeyPeter MehrenKristy Meyer
Jane and William MillarMichael MillerDr. Kirby and Kathryn MiltonJulie MisegadesBrad MosherKathy MurraySandra NeveMargaret NolanWilliam OberleMark OberschmidtSuzanna RakerCharly RayDora and Winfred RitchieCarol and Paul RoseCarl SandersMark SchilbergJames SheaHelen SmithRobert and Gail StegmierNancy and Gig StewartWilliam StraubJim SweeneyShirley TaylorLawrence TuckerWilliam Vanden ElzenJohn Vander PloegRobin VidoniApril WepplerCynthia WestermanKay WilliamsDennis Zimmerman
HONORARIUMSInHonorofdavidB.tyler,
Betsy NorthrupInHonorof Beccaturner’sBirthday,
Nancy and Bruce Turner
MEMBERORGANIzAtIONSAnnis Water Resources
Institute, Grand Valley State University
Blue Mountain Watershed TrustBrule River PreservationColumbia InstituteConcerned Citizens of
Seneca CountyEcolibrium3environmentERIEFLOW CanadaFriends of Big CreekFriends of the Detroit RiverFriends of the Jordan River
WatershedFront FortyHighway J Citizens GroupLake Huron Centre for
Coastal ConservationLakeshore Natural Resource
PartnershipLibrary of Michigan,
Serials SectionMichigan Lakes & Stream
AssociationsMichigan State University
LibrariesMiller Vanwinkle Trout Unlimited
Muskoka ConservancyNational Parks of Lake Superior
FoundationOhio Chapter Sierra ClubParadise Lake AssociationRaisin Valley Land TrustSave Our Shoreline ParksSave the Wild UPSeneca Lake Pure Waters
AssociationSilver Creek InstituteSisters Of St. Francis of SylvaniaSt. Louis River AllianceThe Leelanau ForumUniversity of Toronto at
Mississauga UTM LibraryWatershed WatchersWawasee Area Conservancy
FoundationWest Grand Boulevard
CollaborativeWisconsin Resources
Protection CouncilWisconsin Wetlands
AssociationYellow Dog Watershed
Preserve
WALk,PAddLE&ROLLdONAtIONS
FRESHWAtERFUtUREBOARdAnthony Friona
FRESHWAtERFUtUREStAFFAnnoesjka Steinman
OjIBWAydEFENCEAnna Lynn Meloche
IN-kINddONAtIONSAnonymousChristina CarsonGary and Mary Street
ASIANCARPCAMPAIGNAnonymous (2)Hildy FeenDavid KoslowDenise MarxJerome and Olga OlsenB. Richard VogtDeborah WagnerMichael Willis
Chicago’s Tavernita is located at 151 W. Erie.
2 F r e S h wat e r F u t u r e u P d at e S Freshwater Future
Manyideasgrowbetterwhentransplantedintoanothermindthantheonewheretheysprangup. ~OliverWendellHolmes
2013 Series, Issue One
In thIs Issue: ChicagoRestaurants
SeekOutFreshwaterFutureasaCharityPartner
BelowtheBrilliantBlueWater
Root-PikeWatershedInitiativeNetwork’sRainGardenGrantProgram
OntarioGreatLakesGathering
GrassrootsCitizenAdvocateAwards
Wisconsin’sMiningMoratoriumUnderAttack
Freshwater FutureP.O. Box 2479
Petoskey, MI 49770Phone: (231) 348-8200
www.freshwaterfuture.org
ChrIStIna CarSOn ~ lake SuPerIOr PrOvInCIal Park
EnsuringtheHealthyFutureofOurWaters
In the months follow-ing the birth of my daughter, I came to
truly appreciate the say-ing “It takes a village to raise a child.” Had it not been for the support of midwives, grandparents, and siblings, my partner and I surely would have succumbed to insanity
due to sleep deprivation!
The lessons I’m learning from raising my (now 2 year old) daughter, are serving me well in my work in the environmental field. I absolutely believe that a collaborative approach is vital to achieving any environmental goal. I’m a big fan of working “by committee,” and have seen so many examples of projects enriched by the variety of opinions brought by different organizations and individuals.
Grassroots groups bring irreplaceable on-the-ground knowledge, connection to their commu-nities, enormous passion, and dedication to their causes. Larger NGO’s offer technical expertise, links to government, and experience in both policy and
mass communication. Funders provide, of course, funding, but also trend-spotting and the big pic-ture view. Government agencies play a vital role as decision- and policy-makers, as well as often hav-ing access to more resources. I could go on and on about the many types of groups that contribute to an effective collaboration.
As the newly-hired Canadian staff member for Freshwater Future, I’m looking forward to continu-ing our collaborative style in Ontario. With support from the Trillium Foundation, we’re organizing a gathering in the spring to bring together represen-tatives of the Ontario Great Lakes community, to discuss shared and strategic priorities and identify opportunities for collaboration. I’ve already had the pleasure of meeting many knowledgeable and passionate staff and volunteers from organizations across the province, and I very much look forward to spending time with many of you this spring.
This is just one example of the exciting work that Freshwater Future has planned for Ontario this year. Please feel free to get in touch with me at [email protected]—I look forward to learning more about your work, and how we can protect our Great Lakes, together.
S tA F F V I E W S — WhatParenthoodisteachingMeAboutCollaboration
April Weppler
“Grassroots groups bring irreplaceable on-the-ground knowledge, connection to their communities, and enormous
passion and dedication to their causes. ”
Follow Freshwater Future on Facebook and twitter!
printed on recycled paper
MoreCitiesShowingSupporttoFindaSolutiontoSTOPAsianCarp!
In partnership with the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, Freshwater Future created a reso-
lution (“Keep Asian Carp Out of the Great Lakes”) municipalities can pass to grow the chorus of support for find-ing a solution that will stop Asian carp. Over the past few years our efforts have shown that when we, the Great Lakes Community, speak up, decision mak-ers listen. Demonstrated by the Stop Invasive Species Act, which passed last summer after tens of thousands
of Great Lakes citizens contacted their Members of Congress calling for a so-lution. But, there is more to do.
The latest municipal leaders to pass the resolution include Milwaukee and Rhinelander, WI; Erie, PA and the townof Collingwood, ON. Want to know who else has passed the resolution? Visit freshwaterfuture.org/asiancarp to view a map of communities and find out how your community can be part of this effort!
Congratulations to Freshwater Future’s 2012 Grant Recipients! ClimateGrant Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper Cayuga Lake Watershed Network, Inc. Ecolibrium3 environmentERIE FLOW Canada Izaak Walton League of America,
W. J. McCabe Chapter Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership, Inc. Nature Abounds NY Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Ojibway Defence Onondaga Creek Conservation Association Religious Coalition for the Great Lakes Sierra Club, Great Lakes Project St. Louis River Alliance West Grand Boulevard Collaborative Wisconsin Wetlands Association
HealingOur Blanchard River Watershed Partnership WatersGrant Center for Environmental Initiatives Clinton River Watershed Council Ducks Unlimited, Inc. environmentERIE Huron Pines Alliance for the Great Lakes Lake Erie Waterkeeper H2Opportunities
InsightGrant Blacks in Green Detroit River Public Advisory Council East Algoma Stewardship Council Ecolibrium3 Izaak Walton League of America,
W. J. McCabe Chapter Milwaukee Riverkeeper Muskoka Conservancy Raven Hill Discovery Center Religious Coalition for the Great Lakes River Raisin Institute Rogue River Watershed Council
ProjectGrant Concerned Citizens of Big Bay environmentERIE Environment Minnesota Research and Policy Center Faith in Place Friends of the Land of Keweenaw Highway J Citizens Group Ohio Chapter Sierra Club Ojibway Defence Mohican Advocates, Inc. Native American Educational Technologies, Inc. Protect Our Water and Environmental Resources Sierra Club Ontario-Great Lakes Section Sled Dogs to Saint Paul Water Legacy Wisconsin Resources Protection Council Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve
Special Two Rivers Coalition Opportunity Blanchard River Watershed Partnership Grant Great Lakes United Kalamazoo River Cleanup Coalition MADION West Grand Boulevard Collaborative Bad River Watershed
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