By Peter M. Wege
The Great Lakes are an extraordinary natural resource – a national
treasure for both the United States and Canada. The Great Lakes make up
one-fifth of the world’s surface fresh water. They provide drinking
water to more than 35 million Americans and are an unparalleled recreational
and economic resource as well. For decades dedicated environmental groups
and philanthropists have worked hard to protect the Great Lakes. But, in
the fall of 2003, I realized that a more coordinated effort bringing together
national, regional, state and local groups was needed if we were going
to heal our Great Lakes. I knew it would be the single most important project
I have undertaken since creating the Wege Foundation in 1968.
In
late May 2004, the Wege Foundation convened over seventy of the leading
environmentalists, ecologists, scientists and academicians in the country
at Steelcase University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Over two long days of
intense work sessions, these high-powered thinkers drafted a call for restoring
the lakes so significant, I call it the “Magna Carta for the Great
Lakes.” They said:
Our magnificent Great Lakes are under siege. Containing over 90 percent
of America’s surface fresh water, the lakes sustain millions of people
and diverse wildlife. The lakes are vital to the region’s economy
and way of life. But we have contaminated the water, sediments and fish;
we have introduced alien invasive species that are destroying the Lakes’ natural
ecology. To save our national treasure, governments, businesses and citizens
need to cooperate now in protecting and restoring the Great Lakes.
To restore the Great Lakes, they identified three
priority threats and called for federal government leadership to take
the lead in addressing them:
Great Lakes restoration and protection
strategies must be designed and implemented to address the whole integrated
ecosystem. We must insure that the waters are safe for drinking and
swimming, the fish are safe to eat, native fish are healthy and reproducing,
and the system supports a vibrant economy. The federal government must
take a leading role to focus federal agencies on the agenda at hand.
Invasive species in
the Great Lakes are destroying our environment and economy. Immediate actions
need to be taken to prevent the introduction of new invasive species and
remediate the problems caused by those already here. These steps require
the federal government to establish accountability, authority and adequate
funding. Without their action, the Great Lakes’ ecosystem will
crash.
The health
of people, fish and wildlife and our economy are adversely affected
daily by a legacy of toxic pollution sites throughout the Great Lakes.
Seventeen years ago the U.S. Government identified 31 U.S. areas
of concern and to date none have been cleaned up and restored. Federal
actions to deal with their restoration and the restoration of other
toxic hot spots have failed because they have not been well directed
or adequately funded.
Detailed recommendations for the federal role in addressing these
threats were developed by the experts and included in Healing Our
Waters: An Agenda for Great Lakes Restoration.
Finally, and perhaps most important, the experts
called for a new coordinated effort among environmental groups to enhance
awareness of the Great Lakes – among
residents of the region and elsewhere – and to build
a national constituency for federal action to restore the lakes.
Responding to this challenge, over 50 national, regional, state
and local environmental groups have launched the Healing Our Waters-Great
Lakes (HOW-GL) coalition. Funded by a five-year, $5 million grant by
the Wege Foundation, the coalition is loosely modeled on other successful
environmental coalitions such as the Everglades Coalition and the Clean
Water Network. According to Coalition Regional Co-Chair Andy Buchsbaum,
director of National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes office, “the coalition is an expression
of the public’s will to protect and restore the defining feature
of the region, our Great Lakes. It’s the driving force in shaping
the restoration plan and in securing the necessary resources from Congress
and the states to get it done.” National Co-chair Tom Kiernan, President
of National Parks Conservation Association, was extensively involved in
developing and securing congressional approval of the comprehensive Everglades
restoration plan. The Coalition’s 15-member steering
committee develops an annual workplan based on which the
Wege Foundation funds are distributed to member groups for
specific tasks, including public opinion research, grassroots
organizing, public education and staffing the Coalition.
The
Coalition has played a critical role working with a new federal task force
to develop an ambitious $20 billion draft restoration plan for the Great
Lakes. The interagency task force was created in 2004 by a presidential
executive order and is chaired by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
In addition to other federal agencies, the task force involves
the Council of Great Lakes Governors, Great Lakes tribes, the
Great Lakes Cities Initiative, the Great Lakes Congressional
Task Force and representatives of various stakeholders, including
member environmental groups of the new HOW-GL Coalition. The
resulting restoration plan for the Great Lakes was endorsed
by federal, state and local officials at a December 2005 press
conference in Chicago. It’s an ambitious plan, but one that would leave
our children healthy Great Lakes if only it’s fully implemented. And
there’s
the challenge.
Now, the Healing Our Waters – Great Lakes Coalition
is turning its attention to broad public outreach.
Unless citizens across the country who love their home watersheds
appreciate the significance of the Great Lakes, members
of Congress from outside the region are unlikely
to support the federal resources required for restoration. Building
on Great Lakes congressional leaders like U.S. Rep.
Vernon Ehlers of West Michigan, we must introduce all members
of Congress to the Great Lakes and convince them
that restoring the Lakes is a national priority.
We all want to leave a legacy of clean water, healthy
habitat and flourishing wildlife. With the pending
restoration plans, we have an historic opportunity
to join our voices to achieve this goal through the
restoration plans for the Great Lakes and other great
waters.
More information on the Healing Our Waters-Great
Lakes Coalition and the restoration plan is available at www.restorethelakes.org
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