Restoring and preserving our Great Lakes

by: jcherry

Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 15:46:32 PM EDT

On Thursday, the reauthorization of the Great Lakes Legacy Act was passed in the U.S. House of Representatives. This Act has been the cornerstone of our work to preserve and protect the Great Lakes and it has already proven effective in those efforts. I applaud the U.S. House of Representatives and their commitment to expand and continue this vital program. Now we have to keep pushing to make sure the United States Senate passes the legislation as well.

During the next month I will be participating in public meetings conducted by the Office of the Great Lakes. We are seeking your input on the draft framework that will serve as Michigan's action agenda for Great Lakes restoration.

Also, the Great Lakes Town Hall has asked me to be a guest blogger this week. Starting today, I'll be writing about the upcoming hearings and the Commission's work thus far. Later in the week, I'll explore the main issue areas covered in the Commission Draft Action Plan, and the need for continued collaboration at the local, regional, and national levels.

I hope you will all join the conversation at the Great Lakes Town Hall!

Great Lakes Tour: Port Austin and Caseville

by: jcherry

Mon Aug 18, 2008 at 17:10:37 PM EDT

Saturday's stop was completely unscheduled.  After returning from Tawas on Thursday, my wife Pam and I went to an event on Lake Fenton for Congressman Dale Kildee.  At the Congressman's event, we ran into State Representative Terry Brown and his wife Carol.  Terry represents Tuscola and Huron Counties in Michigan's thumb area.

We decided that Pam and I would meet the Browns in Port Austin on Saturday to browse through the Saturday morning farmers' market.  It has become quite an event for locals and the thousands of annual campers and summer residents who enjoy the Saginaw Bay and Michigan's thumb.  The market was organized, developed and marketed by retired State Senator John Pridnia, who I had served with in both the Senate and Michigan House.  John had represented Northeast Michigan around the Harrisville area, which lies well to the north of the Saginaw Bay.  However, after he retired, John and his wife Lisa toured the United States and Canada by motor home until they chose several years ago to settle in Port Austin.

Great Lakes Tour: Thunder Bay National Maritime Sanctuary

by: jcherry

Thu Aug 14, 2008 at 12:16:49 PM EDT

Above: NOAA divers explore a Lake Huron shipwreck in the Thunder Bay National Maritime Sanctuary

Back in the early 1980's, State Senator William Faust led an effort in the Michigan Legislature to establish a network of underwater preserves.  Bill Faust was a respected legislative leader who in his pre-political life edited a newspaper in western Wayne County.  He had a life long passion for history.  One of his other significant accomplishments was rescuing the state library from years of financial neglect by transferring its management directly to the legislature.

The looting of Great Lakes' shipwrecks had been brought to the attention of Senator Faust.  To protect the shipwrecks and preserve them for future exploration and research, he authored legislation creating the Michigan underwater preserves.  Subsequently in 1980, Thunder Bay and the nearly 250 shipwrecks that lie within the boundaries of the Thunder Bay preserve were designated a National Maritime Sanctuary.  Today, I had the opportunity to tour the Sanctuary's Historical Center, a gold LEED certified building that houses the Sanctuary's administrative offices and a historical maritime museum.  The Sanctuary is managed by a partnership of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Michigan Department of History, Arts, and Libraries (HAL).  Consequently, Thunder Bay has become the data collection center for much of NOAA's Great Lakes research.  Several of NOAA's research vessels operate out of Alpena and the National Maritime Sanctuary.  Interestingly, NOAA's Great Lakes fleet has converted to bio-diesel fuel.

Protecting the Great Lakes: Non-point source pollution

by: jcherry

Fri Aug 08, 2008 at 10:06:19 AM EDT

Non-point source pollution is a major contributor to the sediment load that is annually deposited in the Great Lakes.  It can carry with it nutrients and pollutants that can drastically alter the ecosystem of the Lakes and its watersheds.  Elimination of non-point source pollution has been a major focus of the State's Soil Conservation Districts.  While the Districts work extensively with the agricultural community to instill good soil management practices, not all non-source pollution originates with agricultural activity.

Tuesday's stop in Christmas, Michigan was a case in point.  Christmas is the location of Kolbus Motor Sports Park-a racetrack for motocross competition.  The racing oval sits on a 27 acre site.  When the track was constructed, it was stripped of vegetation and top soil.  The spring melt-off collects in the depression of the oval and then ultimately drains off site into the headwaters of Gangeau Creek, then into Furnace Lake and finally Lake Superior.  Each spring the residents along the shore of Furnace Lake see their waters turn orange and a clear soil plume in Lake Superior is visible from the air.

Great Lakes Tour: Macomb

by: jcherry

Wed Jul 30, 2008 at 13:37:43 PM EDT

The Mt. Clemens Water Treatment Plant also hosts one of the region's real time monitoring stations.  It is the most sophisticated regional monitoring system in the world and is capable of measuring the level of 28 specific chemicals every 15 minutes.  Just over a dozen stations stretch from Port Huron on Lake Huron along both the St. Clair River and Lake and all the way south to Wyandotte on the Detroit River.  The Real Time Monitoring Program provides early detection of drinking water contamination from chemical spills or other polluting events.  For the three million residents of southeast Michigan that depend on this water course for their drinking water, the system is critical to their public health.

Saturday in Traverse City

by: jcherry

Mon Jul 14, 2008 at 14:04:22 PM EDT

Senator Carl Levin was the morning's keynote speaker.  He pumped the crowd up, and talked about the dramatic moment in the United States Senate last week when Senator Ted Kennedy returned to the Senate floor to cast the deciding vote to bring an end to the filibuster on the Medicaid appropriation.  Democrats have struggled the past two years to muster the 60 votes to break filibusters on critical issues that advance the Democratic Agenda.  For the most part, they have regularly fallen short, but not this time.  With Ted Kennedy present, they broke the filibuster and went on to pass the Medicaid appropriation with a comfortable majority.  This all shows you how legislators often hide behind procedural votes; but when you can't hide any longer and the light of day shines strong, justice can prevail.