2013 Series, Issue Two

In thIs Issue: StaffViews:My

FreshwaterFutureElevatorSpeech

GreatLakesDayinWashington,DC

TarSandsandOilPipelines

FreshwaterFutureJoinedbyThreeMemberOrganizationsforaPanelatNationalPlanningConference

PatienceandCollaborationPaysOff

Hydrofracking—ItsImpactstotheGreatLakesRegion

GreatLakesSpringRefresh

FreshwaterFutureAnnouncesPartnershipwith1%forthePlanet

Freshwater FutureP.O. Box 2479

Petoskey, MI 49770Phone: (231) 348-8200

www.freshwaterfuture.org

Becca FOrd ~ VIew FrOM SleePIng Bear duneS

EnsuringtheHealthyFutureofOurWaters

On Thursday, April 11th,the White House honored Jodi Slick,

Founder and CEO of Ecolib-rium3, a Freshwater Future or-ganizational member, as one of twelve citizens, businesses, and community leaders who are Champions of Change. Jodi was recognized for tire-

lessly building community climate resilience by preparing for increasingly extreme weather and other costly climate-related impacts.

“As we take action to reduce carbon pollution and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy, we must also take action to prepare for the impacts of climate change we are already see-ing, including more frequent and severe extreme weather,” said Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. She said that the Champions of Change “are doing smart, innovative work to protect the health, safety and prosperity of their communities in the face of climate change.”

The Champions of Change program, created as a part of President Obama’s Winning the Future initiative, recognizes a group of Americans—indi-viduals, businesses and organizations—who are

doing extraordinary things to empower and inspire members of their communities.

Ecolibrium3 is a Duluth, MN based nonprofit orga-nization working to create economic and environ-mental balance through the smart application of design thinking and strategic collaboration. Their Duluth Energy Efficiency Program (DEEP) helps residents of all-income levels by assessing their homes, prioritizing improvements, bundling avail-able financial resources, contracting with trained and qualified companies, and conducting quality assurance through their one-stop shop.

Last summer’s 500-year rain event flooded the City of Duluth and seven counties in northern Minneso-ta and Wisconsin. Ecolibrium3 had no experience in disaster recovery, but it was clear that the cross-sec-tor partnerships built through DEEP were the type of resources a community would need to rebuild. Ecolibrium3 created a flood-recovery model that es-tablished standards for rebuilding that emphasizes energy efficiency and is saving some households more than $2,000 a year on heating costs.

Freshwater Future is proud to support Ecolibri-um3’s work through our Community Climate Pro-gram and Insight Services, and we offer Jodi and her team our congratulations. To learn more about how you can access these programs and services for your organization, visit freshwaterfuture.org.

WhiteHouseHighlightsEcolibrium3’sJodiSlickasaCommunityResilienceLeaderand“ChampionofChange”

Jodi Slick

“ChampionsofChangearedoingsmart,innovativeworktoprotectthehealth,safetyandprosperityof

theircommunitiesinthefaceofclimatechange.”Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality

FollowFreshwaterFutureonFacebookandTwitter!

chrISTIna carSOn ~ lake SuPerIOr PrOVIncIal Park

printed on recycled paper

B E A M M E U P S COT T I E !AChancetoWinNewTechnologyforYourOrganization

What type of innovative new technology could your organization use? What amazing thing could you do to restore or protect the environment with new technology? Imagine the possibilities!

Freshwater Future would like to hear what new technologies your organization could put to use. Send us a one page description by July 31st, presenting your idea and the technology you would need to complete it, and that new technology could be yours! We will review your proposals and select the most creative use, providing this tech-nology to your organization. Then we’ll share these ideas in future issues of Freshwater Voices to help spread the good work. For examples, visit our website.

GreatLakesDayinWashington,D.C.

Even with wintry conditions that delayed and cancelled flights and caused a shutdown of the federal govern-ment for a day, advocates from across the Great Lakes

converged on the capital to educate our legislators about the needs for Great and maintaining funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Jill Ryan, Executive Director of Freshwater Future, participated in the event, leading hill visits and discussions about current Great Lakes priori-ties. Ryan commented that “Great Lakes advocates always find a way to get their message across, even the weather couldn’t stop this delegation.”

Since the event, the President released his 2014 budget, which includes $300 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, showing the importance the administration places on the Great Lakes even in tough budget times. We look forward to continuing to work on Great Lakes Restoration issues this year and helping to connect local voices to that work.

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.

staffAnn BAughmAn Associate Director for Development ann@freshwaterfuture.orgBonnie DAnni Fiscal Specialist bonnie@freshwaterfuture.orgCheryl kAllio Associate Director for Policy cheryl@freshwaterfuture.orgliSA mAttS office manager lisa@freshwaterfuture.orgJill ryAn executive Director jill@freshwaterfuture.orggAry Street engineering Consultant Volunteer gary@freshwaterfuture.orgBeCCA turner Program Associate becca@freshwaterfuture.orgmelAnie nAPoleon WelCh Associate Director of Program melanie@freshwaterfuture.orgAPril WePPler Program innovator, Canada april@freshwaterfuture.orgemily WhittAker Policy Specialist emily@freshwaterfuture.org

mAin oFFiCe: (231) 348-8200

Board of directorsgAry BelAn American riversglen DAle

great lakes CitizenDeBorAh DorSey

West grand Boulevard Collaborative

kriSty meyer the ohio environmental CouncilmiChelle PArker

John g. Shedd AquariumAmy Jo Smith economic Development Council of erie Countyterry SWier michigan Citizens for

Water ConservationlinDSAy telFer

Canadian Freshwater Alliance

DiSClAimer: Freshwater Voices is intended 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 interpretations 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 organization mentioned in this publication.

June 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 February 2013 through April 2013chrISTIna carSOn ~ agawa Bay Brenda JOneS ~ glOwIng rOckS, lake SuPerIOr

I recently celebrated my one-year anniversary with Fresh-water Future in April. During this first year, I did what all people do when starting a new job—I found myself climb-

ing the learning curve, asking lots of questions and learning from my mistakes. I have enjoyed every minute as a part of the Freshwater Future team, and am proud to provide support to the great work that our organizational members do.

During this first year, I spent a lot of time thinking about Freshwater Future and what we do. How do I explain it to people if I have 15 minutes? Five min-utes? Thirty seconds? I’ve been working on boiling our organization down to its essence, and I think I’ve hit on it.

Freshwater Future works as a Movement-Builder—we work on both policy and capacity-building for the Great Lakes region. We specialize in the needs of grass-roots and citizens groups, providing personalized services that tailor-fit the needs of each group; provide unique, and much needed, grant funding opportunities to these groups for grassroots environmental advocacy work; and connect these groups and efforts to policy issues we’re engaged in, as we understand Great Lakes issues like no other support-provider.

Freshwater Future is engaged in this critical work because we are dedicated to the belief that individuals can, and do, make a difference in their communities every day. Grassroots groups are the sentinels, sounding the alarm, and they need support. They have a lot of passion and local knowledge, and Freshwater Future is able to as-sist them with financial resources, strategy, implementation and policy knowledge.

The more presentations I give, people I meet and reports I write, the more I get to practice my “elevator speech.” It’s very fulfilling to work at an organization like Freshwater Future, and I am proud of the accomplishments of our organizational members. What a joy it is to share your success.

S TA F F V I E W SMyFreshwaterFutureElevatorSpeech Melanie Welch

FOUNDATIONSANDGRANTSJ.A. Woollam FoundationC. S. mott Foundation

FUNDERSCIRCLE($1000andabove)molly FlanaganBiSSell inc.

SUSTAINER’SCIRCLE($1000ofgreaterthoughmonthlygiving)Bonnie Danni

FRIENDSOFTHELAkES($500-999)Fish Bar

MONTHLYGIVINGAnn BaughmanCheryl kallioJill ryanBecca turnermelanie Welch

SPONSOR($250-499)michelle Parker

SUPPORTER($100-249)Janet Chafemary Jo Cullen and

torfinn hansenAudrey Fergusonmolly FrontfelterDoug holem

MEMBER($50-99)AnonymousCharles Boardmankristina Clark

george harpurnancy Ann hellmanlinda millerDr. kirby and kathryn miltonkathleen mullinsJohn VancoCarole VialDavid Watt

CONTRIBUTORS($1-$49)Anonymous (2)richard AskelandJay Foleymarv and Bert howellhilary lambertmary leonardiSusan mullinsnan myers & george

myers, Jr.Sandra neveWilliam oberleorville PetersonAnne SarazinArt Wezel

HONORARIUMSInHonorofGlenDale’sBrithday,Deanne lee and kevin Schylter

MEMBERORGANIzATIONSBlacks in greenBlue mountain Watershed

trustBrule river PreservationCayuga lake Watershed

network

Clinton river Watershed Council

Cool learning experiencedetroit contemporaryFinger lakes learning, inc.FloW for WaterFor our grandchildrenFriends of the Crooked

riverFriends of the land–

keweenaw (Folk)gratiot lake Conservancygreater Woodward

Community Development Corporation

grosse ile nature & land Conservancy

John g. Shedd Aquariumkalamazoo river Cleanup

Coalitionkalamazoo river

Watershed CouncillakeDancemid-michigan environmental

Action Councilmilwaukee riverkeepermullett lake Area

Preservation Societynational Parks of lake

Superior Foundationnative American

educational technologiesneighbors Building

Brightmoornorthern michigan

environmental Action Council

ojibway Defencerescue lake Simcoe

Coaltionrouge river Watershed

CouncilSave lake Superior

AssociationSave our Sky Blue WatersSt. louis river AllianceStafford house incSugar law Center for

economic and Social Justice

thornapple river Watershed Council

thousand island land trustthree lakes AssociationWawasee Area

Conservancy Foundation

WALk,PADDLE&ROLLDONATIONS:

OJIBWAYDEFENCEelise ClarkCherie martinAnna lynn melochekaren melochemargaret melocheDanielle PerryDr. Penelopy Pottertom Preneyeva robitailleJackie robitaille

IN-kINDDONATIONSChristina Carsongary and mary Street

2 F r e S h waT e r F u T u r e S Ta F F V I e w S Freshwater Future

D I R E C TO R ’S N OT EYes,And...Jill Ryan, Executive Director

The amount of energy it takes to oppose something is as-tounding. Often, because we

want to say yes to protecting the earth that sustains us, we find our-selves in the position of saying no to

plans to extract resources, dispose of resources, build infrastructure and more.

In order to prevent burning out and feeling over-whelmed by the projects we are undertaking, I believe it is important to try to reframe our work by using the simple tool of “Yes, And…” Rather than saying no to a proposal for a particular project, we can say Yes, we should undertake that project, And at the same time ensure our resources are protected as well.

For example, rather than opposing a road project because it is routed through important wetlands, we can say: Yes, let’s build that needed road, And move its path so that we also retain our protections from flooding, our ability to treat runoff and our habitat for fish and wildlife! Al-though we will no doubt still need to participate in work to make that happen, we can do it with the energy created from making something better and protecting something.

While Yes, And won’t work all of the time, it at least gives us a way to frame what we are trying to achieve in a posi-tive light, and it also helps us consider whether there are innovative ways to meet the goal others are trying to achieve while still maintaining our environment.

Jill’s visit with Congressman Dingell

FreshwaterFutureAnnouncesPartnershipwith1%forthePlanet

Freshwater Future is a new nonprofit partner of 1% for the Planet, an alliance of over 1,380 companies in 43 countries that give one percent of revenues to environmental causes.

We are now eligible to receive donations from 1% member companies, which places Freshwater Future among a diverse, global network of environmental organizations. 1% member businesses fuel this non-profit network through their annual contributions. Over 2,300 non-profits worldwide are included in the 1% network, and over $70 million has been provided to nonprofit partners to date.

If you are part of a 1% member company, we hope you will consider including Freshwater Future as one of your non-profit partners. And if you are a customer of a 1% member company, we hope you will encourage them to learn more about Freshwater Future as a potential recipient of their 1% for the Planet funding. Thanks!

To learn more about 1% go to: onepercentfortheplanet.org

What do Marshall, Michigan; Mayflower, Arkansas; and Park-ers Prairie, Minnesota all have

in common? They have pipelines carrying tar sands oil through their community and have had a break in the pipeline, causing spills and harming resources.

Tar sands oil (commonly called dilbit or bi-tuminous sands) comes from an unconven-tional petroleum deposit made up of loose sand or naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay and water saturated with a dense and sticky form of petroleum. This type of oil is a threat to our lakes, rivers, wetlands and

streams, because it is heavier than water, sinking to the bottoms of waterways when leaks occur.

The pipelines in the Great Lakes were not constructed to transport this type of oil. It is heavy, requiring a much higher pressure to move. In addition, many of these pipelines are over 60 years old, and likely weakened by corrosion.

Pipelines lay across the Great Lakes Region. Not all carry tar sands oil. However, know-ing about the 2010 Enbridge pipeline spill of nearly one million gallons of tar sands oil into Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River in Michigan, proved transportation of tar sands oil through Great Lakes pipelines does exist. Companies such as Enbridge appear they are positioning to expand the transportation of tar sands oil far beyond their current capacity.

If there is concern with the pipelines, are there other ways to transport tar sands?

A proposed refinery on the shores of Lake Superior would allow Enbridge to expand transportation of 13 billion gallons of tar sands oil on oil tankers. Experience tells us that ships are not any safer than pipelines and would leave our precious waters that hold 20% of the Earth’s fresh surface water vulnerable.

How are we protecting our waters? By taking action NOW. Freshwater Future, along with 48 other groups, seized a limited opportuni-ty to provide comments to the U.S. Depart-ment of State on an environmental impact statement for one of the pipelines crossing the Great Lakes.

You can help too! Make sure you are signed up to receive our emails and we’ll keep you informed about opportunities to push for stronger regulations, reviews of pipeline expansions, and status of a refinery and tar sands oil shipping on our Great Lakes.

June 2013 F r e S h waT e r F u T u r e S Ta F F V I e w S 3

PaSSage IS TwIlIghT © rOBerT de JOngePyraMId PT © rOBerT de JOnge

6 F r e S h waT e r F u T u r e u P d aT e S Freshwater Future

TarSandsandtheGreatLakes

gary Street Cheryl kallio

In mid-April Freshwater Future and the Canadian Fresh-water Alliance hosted nearly 40 representatives of On-tario’s Great Lakes non-profit community came togeth-

er to contribute to a strategic discussion about water issues. The group was inspired from the start by Mark Mattson of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, urging groups to work together towards Great Lakes that are “swimmable, drinkable, fish-able.” Speakers gave a lay of the land of Great Lakes policy issues in Ontario, discussed models of collaboration, and round-table discussions allowed participants to share their strategic priorities, goals and needs. The following day fea-tured capacity-building workshops.

To learn more about the Great Lakes Spring Refresh, or to receive updates about the Great Lakes Needs Assessment and Freshwater Future’s work in Ontario, please email April Weppler at april@freshwaterfuture.org.

GreatLakesSpringRefresh

StaffChangesTwo Freshwater Future staff, Cathy Brady and Julie O’Leary moved on to new opportunities, and we thank them for their hard work and

wish them luck! In the months since their departure, we have brought on some new talent.

Thank youtoourCollaboratorsandSteeringCommitteeMembersfortheGreatLakesSpringRefresh

FreshwaterFutureandThreeMemberOrganizationsEducatePlannersatNationalConference

w Freshwater Alliancew ontario trillium Foundation w tides Canadaw John Jackson, great lakes united

w Claire malcolmson, environmental Defence

w Sarah miller, Canadian environmental law Association

w theresa mcClenaghan, Canadianenvironmental law Association

w terry rees, Federation of ontarioCottagers’ Association

w Anastasia lintner, ecojusticew Wendy Cooper, tides Canada

Freshwater Future was pleased to have the opportunity to present to urban planners from across North America at the National Planning Conference. Our panelists were (Left to Right): Valerie

Olinik-Damstra of Bad River Watershed Association, Marcy Colclough of Two Rivers Coalition, Melanie Napoleon Welch of Freshwater Fu-ture, and Deborah Dorsey of West Grand Boulevard Collaborative. Their session, Citizen Involvement in Decision-Making for Water, demonstrated the need for citizen involvement in local-level decisions to ensure stronger protections and increased community stewardship.

Lisa Matts, our new office manager, utilizes her previous experience as an entrepreneur to lead our office administration and bookkeeping. When not multi-tasking and assisting with our day-to-day operations, she can be found spending time with her family, which includes an 18 year old calico cat, in Boyne City and summers at her second home on the shores of Lake Superior.

Emily Whittaker is our new policy specialist and is assisting communities throughout the region with organizing, communications and strategy. Previously, Emily served as Executive Director of the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve. She resides in her off the grid home along the Yellow Dog River in the UP.

We are excited to have this new group of people join our team! More details about all our staff can be found at freshwaterfuture.org/about/board-staff.html.

Hilary Lambert, steward and executive director of Cayuga Lake Watershed Network, and recent Freshwater Future

Grassroots Advocate Award recipient, knows what it means to work together. Since July of 2009 she has been working with the Dryden Resource Awareness Coalition (DRAC) to pro-tect Dryden, NY from gas drilling and fracking.

What does DRAC know? They know that per-sistence, patience, and hard work produce results. For nearly four years they have been meeting and creating online communication tools to share information with their members and the wider public. This allows them to provide information, as well as gather perspectives from lo-cal residents on the issue of fracking. This led to holding informational events and expressing their concerns to the Dryden Town Board.

As DRAC was engaging the citizens of Dryden, they were simultaneously meeting with other communities in the area organizing to repel fracking from New York State’s southern bor-der with Pennsylvania, working cooperatively with these groups, and developing links with groups in already-impacted areas in Pennsyl-vania, Ohio, Michigan and beyond. Learning from attorneys Helen and David Slottje that New York towns may not regulate gas drilling and fracking, DRAC found out they are able to pass land-use laws that exclude these activities.

Using this information, in 2010 they collected peti-tion signatures from Dryden residents to ask the Dryden Town Board to develop an industrial noise ordinance, making a firm statement against gas drilling. By spring 2011 they had collected 1600 signatures, presenting them to the Dryden Town Board with

a clear message: Please write and vote in favor of a gas drilling and fracking zoning ordinance that will exclude these activities from our town, and please do it quickly.

The town board listened, and with the devel-opment of an ordinance written by the Dryden Town Attorney in cooperation with the Slottjes and others, in August 2011, the board voted a unanimous “Yes!”

To learn more about DRAC, the 2011 Town Board vote, and what has happened since then, visit: draconline.wordpress.com.

4 g r a S S r O OT S I n ac T I O n Freshwater Future June 2013 g r a S S r O OT S I n ac T I O n 5

STeVen huySer-hOnIg ~ SaugaTuck duneS

leSTer grahaM ~ ISle rOyale VIew

PatienceandCollaborationPaysOff

SUCC

ESSSTORY

Many of our members, both individuals and organizations, have expressed concerns to

Freshwater Future about a new type of drilling: horizontal hydrofracking. Are the chemicals used in fracking danger-ous? Will it harm my drinking water? Is there a way to regulate it?

Community based groups around the region told us it would help them artic-ulate the impact of fracking on our wa-ter resources if they could “demonstrate the bigger picture.” As a result, Freshwa-ter Future created the following tools to help protect our water resources from this threat.

Oil and Gas Development and Disposal MapBecause oil and gas development is complex, our mapping tool allows you to look in your neighborhood or region to see if there are existing wells, dispos-

als wells, or proposed fracking wells. We hope our groups can use this to ad-dress risks to our drinking water, lakes, and rivers.

Fact SheetsAs with most resources, extraction has both positive and negative impacts on the environment and society. Freshwa-ter Future developed fact sheets to ex-plain the pros and cons of hydrofrack-ing. To learn more about this resource, contact cheryl@freshwaterfuture.org

Monitoring ProgramTo address concerns about the effects fracking has on our drinking water, Freshwater Future is developing a citizen monitoring program. Citizens will be able to test their own drinking water and report their results back to us. To learn how you can become a citizen monitor, contact cheryl@freshwaterfuture.org.

H Y D R O F R AC k I N G :FreshwaterFutureLaunchesNewProgramtoMonitorImpacts

Communities all across the great lakes are passing the Asian Carp resolution.

Since the last issue of Freshwater Voices, 19 additional communities joined in signing the Asian Carp Resolution. These resolutions

have been presented to decision makers in the U.S. Congress, showing support in their districts and from around the region for their efforts to ensure the Asian carp are stopped. Congratulations to these communities on taking a stand against Asian carp—thank you for being proactive!

The latest to join in signing the resolution:

Michigan Saint Charles, Spring Lake Village

Quebec Beauharnois, Becancour, Gaspe,

Quebec City, Vercheres

Ontario Carling Township, Durham Region, Essex

County, Huron-Kinloss, Leamington, Niagara Region, Oshawa, Pickering, Port Colborne, Township of the Archipelago, Tiny, Windsor

Will your community be next?

Please help Freshwater Future reach our goal of 100 cities.

Visit freshwaterfuture.org/resources/Asian-carp.html to learn how.

Dryden community involvement. PhOTOS: hIlary laMBerT OF cayuga lake waTerShed neTwOrk.

Freshwater Future created an interactive map so citizens can see the location and status of fracking and other wells.

U P D AT E !

MorecommunitiestakeastandagainstAsiancarp.Willyours?

ClevelandClimateSymposiumRecap

Participants at Freshwater Future’s Climate Symposium in Cleve-land on April 26, had a great time learning about climate adapta-tion and getting assistance about how to incorporate it into their

work. This fun interactive workshop covered climate change trends in the Great Lakes, how to talk about climate change, and most impor-tantly chances to apply newly gained knowledge to their projects.

Are you feeling like you missed out? Don’t fret, Freshwater Future will be offering another Climate Symposium this fall near Toronto, Ontario.

Thanks to our colleagues at EcoAdapt and River Network for helping with this event, as well as Matt Gray from the City of Cleveland’s Office of Sustainability.

LocalFrackingBanUpheldinNewYorkChallengenorse energy challenged the town of Dryden’s ban on fracking. new york State law says that regulation of oil and gas industry rests solely with the state Department of environ-mental Conservation. however, the court ruled the law doesn’t pre-empt a municipality’s power to enact zoning laws that would ban gas drilling. norse energy plans to appeal.

Hilary Lambert, steward and executive director of Cayuga Lake Watershed Network, and recent Freshwater Future

Grassroots Advocate Award recipient, knows what it means to work together. Since July of 2009 she has been working with the Dryden Resource Awareness Coalition (DRAC) to pro-tect Dryden, NY from gas drilling and fracking.

What does DRAC know? They know that per-sistence, patience, and hard work produce results. For nearly four years they have been meeting and creating online communication tools to share information with their members and the wider public. This allows them to provide information, as well as gather perspectives from lo-cal residents on the issue of fracking. This led to holding informational events and expressing their concerns to the Dryden Town Board.

As DRAC was engaging the citizens of Dryden, they were simultaneously meeting with other communities in the area organizing to repel fracking from New York State’s southern bor-der with Pennsylvania, working cooperatively with these groups, and developing links with groups in already-impacted areas in Pennsyl-vania, Ohio, Michigan and beyond. Learning from attorneys Helen and David Slottje that New York towns may not regulate gas drilling and fracking, DRAC found out they are able to pass land-use laws that exclude these activities.

Using this information, in 2010 they collected peti-tion signatures from Dryden residents to ask the Dryden Town Board to develop an industrial noise ordinance, making a firm statement against gas drilling. By spring 2011 they had collected 1600 signatures, presenting them to the Dryden Town Board with

a clear message: Please write and vote in favor of a gas drilling and fracking zoning ordinance that will exclude these activities from our town, and please do it quickly.

The town board listened, and with the devel-opment of an ordinance written by the Dryden Town Attorney in cooperation with the Slottjes and others, in August 2011, the board voted a unanimous “Yes!”

To learn more about DRAC, the 2011 Town Board vote, and what has happened since then, visit: draconline.wordpress.com.

4 g r a S S r O OT S I n ac T I O n Freshwater Future June 2013 g r a S S r O OT S I n ac T I O n 5

STeVen huySer-hOnIg ~ SaugaTuck duneS

leSTer grahaM ~ ISle rOyale VIew

PatienceandCollaborationPaysOff

SUCC

ESSSTORY

Many of our members, both individuals and organizations, have expressed concerns to

Freshwater Future about a new type of drilling: horizontal hydrofracking. Are the chemicals used in fracking danger-ous? Will it harm my drinking water? Is there a way to regulate it?

Community based groups around the region told us it would help them artic-ulate the impact of fracking on our wa-ter resources if they could “demonstrate the bigger picture.” As a result, Freshwa-ter Future created the following tools to help protect our water resources from this threat.

Oil and Gas Development and Disposal MapBecause oil and gas development is complex, our mapping tool allows you to look in your neighborhood or region to see if there are existing wells, dispos-

als wells, or proposed fracking wells. We hope our groups can use this to ad-dress risks to our drinking water, lakes, and rivers.

Fact SheetsAs with most resources, extraction has both positive and negative impacts on the environment and society. Freshwa-ter Future developed fact sheets to ex-plain the pros and cons of hydrofrack-ing. To learn more about this resource, contact cheryl@freshwaterfuture.org

Monitoring ProgramTo address concerns about the effects fracking has on our drinking water, Freshwater Future is developing a citizen monitoring program. Citizens will be able to test their own drinking water and report their results back to us. To learn how you can become a citizen monitor, contact cheryl@freshwaterfuture.org.

H Y D R O F R AC k I N G :FreshwaterFutureLaunchesNewProgramtoMonitorImpacts

Communities all across the great lakes are passing the Asian Carp resolution.

Since the last issue of Freshwater Voices, 19 additional communities joined in signing the Asian Carp Resolution. These resolutions

have been presented to decision makers in the U.S. Congress, showing support in their districts and from around the region for their efforts to ensure the Asian carp are stopped. Congratulations to these communities on taking a stand against Asian carp—thank you for being proactive!

The latest to join in signing the resolution:

Michigan Saint Charles, Spring Lake Village

Quebec Beauharnois, Becancour, Gaspe,

Quebec City, Vercheres

Ontario Carling Township, Durham Region, Essex

County, Huron-Kinloss, Leamington, Niagara Region, Oshawa, Pickering, Port Colborne, Township of the Archipelago, Tiny, Windsor

Will your community be next?

Please help Freshwater Future reach our goal of 100 cities.

Visit freshwaterfuture.org/resources/Asian-carp.html to learn how.

Dryden community involvement. PhOTOS: hIlary laMBerT OF cayuga lake waTerShed neTwOrk.

Freshwater Future created an interactive map so citizens can see the location and status of fracking and other wells.

U P D AT E !

MorecommunitiestakeastandagainstAsiancarp.Willyours?

ClevelandClimateSymposiumRecap

Participants at Freshwater Future’s Climate Symposium in Cleve-land on April 26, had a great time learning about climate adapta-tion and getting assistance about how to incorporate it into their

work. This fun interactive workshop covered climate change trends in the Great Lakes, how to talk about climate change, and most impor-tantly chances to apply newly gained knowledge to their projects.

Are you feeling like you missed out? Don’t fret, Freshwater Future will be offering another Climate Symposium this fall near Toronto, Ontario.

Thanks to our colleagues at EcoAdapt and River Network for helping with this event, as well as Matt Gray from the City of Cleveland’s Office of Sustainability.

LocalFrackingBanUpheldinNewYorkChallengenorse energy challenged the town of Dryden’s ban on fracking. new york State law says that regulation of oil and gas industry rests solely with the state Department of environ-mental Conservation. however, the court ruled the law doesn’t pre-empt a municipality’s power to enact zoning laws that would ban gas drilling. norse energy plans to appeal.

What do Marshall, Michigan; Mayflower, Arkansas; and Park-ers Prairie, Minnesota all have

in common? They have pipelines carrying tar sands oil through their community and have had a break in the pipeline, causing spills and harming resources.

Tar sands oil (commonly called dilbit or bi-tuminous sands) comes from an unconven-tional petroleum deposit made up of loose sand or naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay and water saturated with a dense and sticky form of petroleum. This type of oil is a threat to our lakes, rivers, wetlands and

streams, because it is heavier than water, sinking to the bottoms of waterways when leaks occur.

The pipelines in the Great Lakes were not constructed to transport this type of oil. It is heavy, requiring a much higher pressure to move. In addition, many of these pipelines are over 60 years old, and likely weakened by corrosion.

Pipelines lay across the Great Lakes Region. Not all carry tar sands oil. However, know-ing about the 2010 Enbridge pipeline spill of nearly one million gallons of tar sands oil into Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River in Michigan, proved transportation of tar sands oil through Great Lakes pipelines does exist. Companies such as Enbridge appear they are positioning to expand the transportation of tar sands oil far beyond their current capacity.

If there is concern with the pipelines, are there other ways to transport tar sands?

A proposed refinery on the shores of Lake Superior would allow Enbridge to expand transportation of 13 billion gallons of tar sands oil on oil tankers. Experience tells us that ships are not any safer than pipelines and would leave our precious waters that hold 20% of the Earth’s fresh surface water vulnerable.

How are we protecting our waters? By taking action NOW. Freshwater Future, along with 48 other groups, seized a limited opportuni-ty to provide comments to the U.S. Depart-ment of State on an environmental impact statement for one of the pipelines crossing the Great Lakes.

You can help too! Make sure you are signed up to receive our emails and we’ll keep you informed about opportunities to push for stronger regulations, reviews of pipeline expansions, and status of a refinery and tar sands oil shipping on our Great Lakes.

June 2013 F r e S h waT e r F u T u r e S Ta F F V I e w S 3

PaSSage IS TwIlIghT © rOBerT de JOngePyraMId PT © rOBerT de JOnge

6 F r e S h waT e r F u T u r e u P d aT e S Freshwater Future

TarSandsandtheGreatLakes

gary Street Cheryl kallio

In mid-April Freshwater Future and the Canadian Fresh-water Alliance hosted nearly 40 representatives of On-tario’s Great Lakes non-profit community came togeth-

er to contribute to a strategic discussion about water issues. The group was inspired from the start by Mark Mattson of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, urging groups to work together towards Great Lakes that are “swimmable, drinkable, fish-able.” Speakers gave a lay of the land of Great Lakes policy issues in Ontario, discussed models of collaboration, and round-table discussions allowed participants to share their strategic priorities, goals and needs. The following day fea-tured capacity-building workshops.

To learn more about the Great Lakes Spring Refresh, or to receive updates about the Great Lakes Needs Assessment and Freshwater Future’s work in Ontario, please email April Weppler at april@freshwaterfuture.org.

GreatLakesSpringRefresh

StaffChangesTwo Freshwater Future staff, Cathy Brady and Julie O’Leary moved on to new opportunities, and we thank them for their hard work and

wish them luck! In the months since their departure, we have brought on some new talent.

Thank youtoourCollaboratorsandSteeringCommitteeMembersfortheGreatLakesSpringRefresh

FreshwaterFutureandThreeMemberOrganizationsEducatePlannersatNationalConference

w Freshwater Alliancew ontario trillium Foundation w tides Canadaw John Jackson, great lakes united

w Claire malcolmson, environmental Defence

w Sarah miller, Canadian environmental law Association

w theresa mcClenaghan, Canadianenvironmental law Association

w terry rees, Federation of ontarioCottagers’ Association

w Anastasia lintner, ecojusticew Wendy Cooper, tides Canada

Freshwater Future was pleased to have the opportunity to present to urban planners from across North America at the National Planning Conference. Our panelists were (Left to Right): Valerie

Olinik-Damstra of Bad River Watershed Association, Marcy Colclough of Two Rivers Coalition, Melanie Napoleon Welch of Freshwater Fu-ture, and Deborah Dorsey of West Grand Boulevard Collaborative. Their session, Citizen Involvement in Decision-Making for Water, demonstrated the need for citizen involvement in local-level decisions to ensure stronger protections and increased community stewardship.

Lisa Matts, our new office manager, utilizes her previous experience as an entrepreneur to lead our office administration and bookkeeping. When not multi-tasking and assisting with our day-to-day operations, she can be found spending time with her family, which includes an 18 year old calico cat, in Boyne City and summers at her second home on the shores of Lake Superior.

Emily Whittaker is our new policy specialist and is assisting communities throughout the region with organizing, communications and strategy. Previously, Emily served as Executive Director of the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve. She resides in her off the grid home along the Yellow Dog River in the UP.

We are excited to have this new group of people join our team! More details about all our staff can be found at freshwaterfuture.org/about/board-staff.html.

GreatLakesDayinWashington,D.C.

Even with wintry conditions that delayed and cancelled flights and caused a shutdown of the federal govern-ment for a day, advocates from across the Great Lakes

converged on the capital to educate our legislators about the needs for Great and maintaining funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Jill Ryan, Executive Director of Freshwater Future, participated in the event, leading hill visits and discussions about current Great Lakes priori-ties. Ryan commented that “Great Lakes advocates always find a way to get their message across, even the weather couldn’t stop this delegation.”

Since the event, the President released his 2014 budget, which includes $300 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, showing the importance the administration places on the Great Lakes even in tough budget times. We look forward to continuing to work on Great Lakes Restoration issues this year and helping to connect local voices to that work.

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.

staffAnn BAughmAn Associate Director for Development ann@freshwaterfuture.orgBonnie DAnni Fiscal Specialist bonnie@freshwaterfuture.orgCheryl kAllio Associate Director for Policy cheryl@freshwaterfuture.orgliSA mAttS office manager lisa@freshwaterfuture.orgJill ryAn executive Director jill@freshwaterfuture.orggAry Street engineering Consultant Volunteer gary@freshwaterfuture.orgBeCCA turner Program Associate becca@freshwaterfuture.orgmelAnie nAPoleon WelCh Associate Director of Program melanie@freshwaterfuture.orgAPril WePPler Program innovator, Canada april@freshwaterfuture.orgemily WhittAker Policy Specialist emily@freshwaterfuture.org

mAin oFFiCe: (231) 348-8200

Board of directorsgAry BelAn American riversglen DAle

great lakes CitizenDeBorAh DorSey

West grand Boulevard Collaborative

kriSty meyer the ohio environmental CouncilmiChelle PArker

John g. Shedd AquariumAmy Jo Smith economic Development Council of erie Countyterry SWier michigan Citizens for

Water ConservationlinDSAy telFer

Canadian Freshwater Alliance

DiSClAimer: Freshwater Voices is intended 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 interpretations 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 organization mentioned in this publication.

June 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 February 2013 through April 2013chrISTIna carSOn ~ agawa Bay Brenda JOneS ~ glOwIng rOckS, lake SuPerIOr

I recently celebrated my one-year anniversary with Fresh-water Future in April. During this first year, I did what all people do when starting a new job—I found myself climb-

ing the learning curve, asking lots of questions and learning from my mistakes. I have enjoyed every minute as a part of the Freshwater Future team, and am proud to provide support to the great work that our organizational members do.

During this first year, I spent a lot of time thinking about Freshwater Future and what we do. How do I explain it to people if I have 15 minutes? Five min-utes? Thirty seconds? I’ve been working on boiling our organization down to its essence, and I think I’ve hit on it.

Freshwater Future works as a Movement-Builder—we work on both policy and capacity-building for the Great Lakes region. We specialize in the needs of grass-roots and citizens groups, providing personalized services that tailor-fit the needs of each group; provide unique, and much needed, grant funding opportunities to these groups for grassroots environmental advocacy work; and connect these groups and efforts to policy issues we’re engaged in, as we understand Great Lakes issues like no other support-provider.

Freshwater Future is engaged in this critical work because we are dedicated to the belief that individuals can, and do, make a difference in their communities every day. Grassroots groups are the sentinels, sounding the alarm, and they need support. They have a lot of passion and local knowledge, and Freshwater Future is able to as-sist them with financial resources, strategy, implementation and policy knowledge.

The more presentations I give, people I meet and reports I write, the more I get to practice my “elevator speech.” It’s very fulfilling to work at an organization like Freshwater Future, and I am proud of the accomplishments of our organizational members. What a joy it is to share your success.

S TA F F V I E W SMyFreshwaterFutureElevatorSpeech Melanie Welch

FOUNDATIONSANDGRANTSJ.A. Woollam FoundationC. S. mott Foundation

FUNDERSCIRCLE($1000andabove)molly FlanaganBiSSell inc.

SUSTAINER’SCIRCLE($1000ofgreaterthoughmonthlygiving)Bonnie Danni

FRIENDSOFTHELAkES($500-999)Fish Bar

MONTHLYGIVINGAnn BaughmanCheryl kallioJill ryanBecca turnermelanie Welch

SPONSOR($250-499)michelle Parker

SUPPORTER($100-249)Janet Chafemary Jo Cullen and

torfinn hansenAudrey Fergusonmolly FrontfelterDoug holem

MEMBER($50-99)AnonymousCharles Boardmankristina Clark

george harpurnancy Ann hellmanlinda millerDr. kirby and kathryn miltonkathleen mullinsJohn VancoCarole VialDavid Watt

CONTRIBUTORS($1-$49)Anonymous (2)richard AskelandJay Foleymarv and Bert howellhilary lambertmary leonardiSusan mullinsnan myers & george

myers, Jr.Sandra neveWilliam oberleorville PetersonAnne SarazinArt Wezel

HONORARIUMSInHonorofGlenDale’sBrithday,Deanne lee and kevin Schylter

MEMBERORGANIzATIONSBlacks in greenBlue mountain Watershed

trustBrule river PreservationCayuga lake Watershed

network

Clinton river Watershed Council

Cool learning experiencedetroit contemporaryFinger lakes learning, inc.FloW for WaterFor our grandchildrenFriends of the Crooked

riverFriends of the land–

keweenaw (Folk)gratiot lake Conservancygreater Woodward

Community Development Corporation

grosse ile nature & land Conservancy

John g. Shedd Aquariumkalamazoo river Cleanup

Coalitionkalamazoo river

Watershed CouncillakeDancemid-michigan environmental

Action Councilmilwaukee riverkeepermullett lake Area

Preservation Societynational Parks of lake

Superior Foundationnative American

educational technologiesneighbors Building

Brightmoornorthern michigan

environmental Action Council

ojibway Defencerescue lake Simcoe

Coaltionrouge river Watershed

CouncilSave lake Superior

AssociationSave our Sky Blue WatersSt. louis river AllianceStafford house incSugar law Center for

economic and Social Justice

thornapple river Watershed Council

thousand island land trustthree lakes AssociationWawasee Area

Conservancy Foundation

WALk,PADDLE&ROLLDONATIONS:

OJIBWAYDEFENCEelise ClarkCherie martinAnna lynn melochekaren melochemargaret melocheDanielle PerryDr. Penelopy Pottertom Preneyeva robitailleJackie robitaille

IN-kINDDONATIONSChristina Carsongary and mary Street

2 F r e S h waT e r F u T u r e S Ta F F V I e w S Freshwater Future

D I R E C TO R ’S N OT EYes,And...Jill Ryan, Executive Director

The amount of energy it takes to oppose something is as-tounding. Often, because we

want to say yes to protecting the earth that sustains us, we find our-selves in the position of saying no to

plans to extract resources, dispose of resources, build infrastructure and more.

In order to prevent burning out and feeling over-whelmed by the projects we are undertaking, I believe it is important to try to reframe our work by using the simple tool of “Yes, And…” Rather than saying no to a proposal for a particular project, we can say Yes, we should undertake that project, And at the same time ensure our resources are protected as well.

For example, rather than opposing a road project because it is routed through important wetlands, we can say: Yes, let’s build that needed road, And move its path so that we also retain our protections from flooding, our ability to treat runoff and our habitat for fish and wildlife! Al-though we will no doubt still need to participate in work to make that happen, we can do it with the energy created from making something better and protecting something.

While Yes, And won’t work all of the time, it at least gives us a way to frame what we are trying to achieve in a posi-tive light, and it also helps us consider whether there are innovative ways to meet the goal others are trying to achieve while still maintaining our environment.

Jill’s visit with Congressman Dingell

FreshwaterFutureAnnouncesPartnershipwith1%forthePlanet

Freshwater Future is a new nonprofit partner of 1% for the Planet, an alliance of over 1,380 companies in 43 countries that give one percent of revenues to environmental causes.

We are now eligible to receive donations from 1% member companies, which places Freshwater Future among a diverse, global network of environmental organizations. 1% member businesses fuel this non-profit network through their annual contributions. Over 2,300 non-profits worldwide are included in the 1% network, and over $70 million has been provided to nonprofit partners to date.

If you are part of a 1% member company, we hope you will consider including Freshwater Future as one of your non-profit partners. And if you are a customer of a 1% member company, we hope you will encourage them to learn more about Freshwater Future as a potential recipient of their 1% for the Planet funding. Thanks!

To learn more about 1% go to: onepercentfortheplanet.org

2013 Series, Issue Two

In thIs Issue: StaffViews:My

FreshwaterFutureElevatorSpeech

GreatLakesDayinWashington,DC

TarSandsandOilPipelines

FreshwaterFutureJoinedbyThreeMemberOrganizationsforaPanelatNationalPlanningConference

PatienceandCollaborationPaysOff

Hydrofracking—ItsImpactstotheGreatLakesRegion

GreatLakesSpringRefresh

FreshwaterFutureAnnouncesPartnershipwith1%forthePlanet

Freshwater FutureP.O. Box 2479

Petoskey, MI 49770Phone: (231) 348-8200

www.freshwaterfuture.org

Becca FOrd ~ VIew FrOM SleePIng Bear duneS

EnsuringtheHealthyFutureofOurWaters

On Thursday, April 11th,the White House honored Jodi Slick,

Founder and CEO of Ecolib-rium3, a Freshwater Future or-ganizational member, as one of twelve citizens, businesses, and community leaders who are Champions of Change. Jodi was recognized for tire-

lessly building community climate resilience by preparing for increasingly extreme weather and other costly climate-related impacts.

“As we take action to reduce carbon pollution and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy, we must also take action to prepare for the impacts of climate change we are already see-ing, including more frequent and severe extreme weather,” said Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. She said that the Champions of Change “are doing smart, innovative work to protect the health, safety and prosperity of their communities in the face of climate change.”

The Champions of Change program, created as a part of President Obama’s Winning the Future initiative, recognizes a group of Americans—indi-viduals, businesses and organizations—who are

doing extraordinary things to empower and inspire members of their communities.

Ecolibrium3 is a Duluth, MN based nonprofit orga-nization working to create economic and environ-mental balance through the smart application of design thinking and strategic collaboration. Their Duluth Energy Efficiency Program (DEEP) helps residents of all-income levels by assessing their homes, prioritizing improvements, bundling avail-able financial resources, contracting with trained and qualified companies, and conducting quality assurance through their one-stop shop.

Last summer’s 500-year rain event flooded the City of Duluth and seven counties in northern Minneso-ta and Wisconsin. Ecolibrium3 had no experience in disaster recovery, but it was clear that the cross-sec-tor partnerships built through DEEP were the type of resources a community would need to rebuild. Ecolibrium3 created a flood-recovery model that es-tablished standards for rebuilding that emphasizes energy efficiency and is saving some households more than $2,000 a year on heating costs.

Freshwater Future is proud to support Ecolibri-um3’s work through our Community Climate Pro-gram and Insight Services, and we offer Jodi and her team our congratulations. To learn more about how you can access these programs and services for your organization, visit freshwaterfuture.org.

WhiteHouseHighlightsEcolibrium3’sJodiSlickasaCommunityResilienceLeaderand“ChampionofChange”

Jodi Slick

“ChampionsofChangearedoingsmart,innovativeworktoprotectthehealth,safetyandprosperityof

theircommunitiesinthefaceofclimatechange.”Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality

FollowFreshwaterFutureonFacebookandTwitter!

chrISTIna carSOn ~ lake SuPerIOr PrOVIncIal Park

printed on recycled paper

B E A M M E U P S COT T I E !AChancetoWinNewTechnologyforYourOrganization

What type of innovative new technology could your organization use? What amazing thing could you do to restore or protect the environment with new technology? Imagine the possibilities!

Freshwater Future would like to hear what new technologies your organization could put to use. Send us a one page description by July 31st, presenting your idea and the technology you would need to complete it, and that new technology could be yours! We will review your proposals and select the most creative use, providing this tech-nology to your organization. Then we’ll share these ideas in future issues of Freshwater Voices to help spread the good work. For examples, visit our website.