Muskegon Save Our Shoreline

Dear Clean Water Action Member,

We invite you to join us for the first showing in Grand Rapids of the
award-winning documentary:


REQUIEM FOR A STREAM

Tuesday, March 21 at 7:00 pm
Wealthy Theatre, 1130 Wealthy SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506
Cost: $7 for general public

The Federal Environmental Protection Agency drops the ball. The
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality is running out of money and manpower.
Corporations with deep pockets use financial strength to speed
deregulation and weaken laws that protect human health and the
environment. Despite these odds, citizens are fighting to save what is
sacred.

On the grassroots level, people and organizations are fighting to
protect our Great Lakes and other precious water resources. They
continue to win and evoke positive change.

Filmmaker David J. Ruck explores the challenges faced by these
ordinary individuals who work to accomplish extraordinary things in a
society that nurtures the concepts of disposability and instant gratification.

Local groups highlighted include:
* Clean Water Action
* Muskegon Save Our Shoreline
* The Grand Valley Annis Institute's past and current work
measuring the levels of life in the highly contaminated White Lake,
providing evidence that grassroots efforts can make a difference.
White Lake is coming back.!
Discussion with David Ruck follows the film. 2006, 54 minutes

Questions or directions contact Kym Spring,
grandrapids@cleanwater.org or (616)
742-4084.

Program Description
www.northland.edu/pathfinders
Application deadline: May 1, 2006 (brochure attached)

Be one of the selected high school students who
will live and learn on Lake Superior, the world's
largest freshwater lake! Learn more about your
personal leadership style using low and high
ropes courses and climbing walls that offer safe,
but challenging activities to build your skills.
Get immersed in the Lake Superior environment.
Explore its estuaries. Kayak to its sea caves.
Investigate Lake Superior's critical issues based
on a sustainability model that balances social,
environmental, and economic perspectives. Gain
insight into Lake's cultural significance and the
Anishinabe or Chippewa Tribe's reliance on it as
you interact with Tribal elders and educators. Let
us guide you in developing the knowledge to take
action on environmental issues that concern you.

Students will lodge at Northland College's
Environmental Living and Learning Center
dormitory, located in Ashland, Wisconsin,
which recently became the second city in the
nation to adopt a resolution to become an Eco-
Municipality. Some nights will be spent camping
on secluded beaches along the lake! Northland
College's Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute
and University of Wisconsin-Extension educators,
faculty, and field counselors, will facilitate your
experiences in small groups together with guest
speakers, and area natural resource professionals.

To apply, a student must:
. Complete the application
(preferably using the on-line form found at
www.northland.edu/pathfi nders)
. Provide at least one letter of recommendation
from a teacher, counselor or other appropriate
adult.
. Be a motivated individual dedicated to making
a difference in their community
. Have interest in learning about the
environmental issues impacting Lake Superior.
. Be a freshman, sophomore, junior or senior in
high school as of fall 2006.

Summer 2006 Dates

Session I: July 9th - 15th

Session II: July 23rd - 29th

Session III: July 30th - August 5th

Application deadline: May 1, 2006.

Cost: $250/student or $195 on partial scholarship
Full Scholarships also available. Please go to our website
for more information on fi nancial aid. Includes Room,
board, and instruction for six days. Participants must
provide their own transportation to and from Ashland,
Wisconsin.

Deadline: All applications and letters of reference
are due May 1, 2006.

Refer a Student: Do you know a youth that would be
interested in this program? You can go to our website
and fi ll out a referral and we'll send them information on
Pathfi nders!

For more information contact:

Elizabeth Post, Lake Superior Pathfinders Program Director
Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute
Northland College, 1411 Ellis Avenue, Ashland, WI 54806
(715) 682-1482 email: pathfinders@northland.edu
www.northland.edu/pathfinders

Sponsored by the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, UW Extension and
Northland College.

2/28/06


Today, Governor Granholm signed into law important new protections
for Michigan's waterways, after a 15 month campaign initiated by
members of Michigan's environmental community. For the first time,
major water users in Michigan will need to get a permit from the state
that proves they will not adversely impact waterways.

"Though we still have a ways to go, this takes us leaps and bounds
beyond where we were and we thank the legislature and the Governor for
their leadership," said Cheryl Mendoza of the Alliance for the Great
Lakes. "Michigan is finally taking real steps toward being a leader in
caring for the Great Lakes waters."

A coalition of over 50 organizations gained critical support from a
bipartisan coalition in the House for improving the bills that
originated in the Senate. It was the support of these legislators, led
by State Rep. Brandenburg, Rep. Sak, Rep. Law, Rep. Kahn, Rep. Steward
and Rep. Gillard, that made stronger bills a reality. These bills also
stemmed from the Governor's Water Legacy Act and include significant
components of her proposed law.

"Michigan citizens should be proud of this victory for Michigan's
waters," said Becky Beauregard of the Michigan League of Conservation
Voters Education Fund. "Through the combined effort of hundreds of
thousands of citizens, we were able to win new and significant
protections for Michigan's waterways."

The new laws include:

* Permits for new withdrawals over 2 million gallons per day for
inland lakes and streams and 5 million gallons per day from the Great
Lakes.

* An immediate prohibition against new large-scale water
withdrawals (100,000 g/d averaged over 30 days) that threaten fish
populations in Michigan's waterways, starting with trout streams and
expanding to all inland waterways in 2 years.

* Uniform reporting requirements for all large capacity
withdrawals with a reporting accuracy requirement within 25 feet of the
well.

* A definition of diversions as water sent out of the Great Lakes
basin in containers of 5.7 gallons or more. Under 5.7 gallons
container sizes are considered consumptive uses.

* A new, first-of-its-kind permit system for water bottlers that
has higher standards than other withdrawals. The permit system also
protects riparian rights and reinforces the public trust doctrine
through public notice and hearing procedures.

* A dispute resolution process that creates a forum for citizen
participation when water resources are threatened, and encourages water
users to avoid adverse resource impacts.

* Authority for the Department of Environmental Quality to
temporarily restrict (for 30 days with a possibly additional 30-day
extension) water withdrawals before they have devastating effects.

* Authorization via legislative approval for all water diversion
projects if the current Michigan law against diversions is overturned.

* A requirement that each sector develop water conservation
standards for their sector.

* Appointment of additional representative to the Groundwater
Advisory Council from an agricultural organization, a registered well
driller with hydrological expertise, municipal water supplier, and a
statewide conservation organization.

* A charge that the Groundwater Advisory Council will develop
criteria and indicators to evaluate the suitability of the groundwater,
the development of assessment tools to review withdrawal proposals and
projects, and recommendations for a timetable to update the assessment
tool.

* Assurance that existing legal protections, including those
afforded by the Michigan Environmental Protection Act, will continue to
apply to water withdrawals.

"A paramount issue in this package is protecting all of Michigan's
water resources , not just those with a certain fish population."
stated E. John Trimberger of the Dwight Lydell Chapter of the Izaak
Walton League of America. "Though we still need to focus on more than
fish to measure the health of a waterway, this is still a huge step forward."

"The next step is for our legislature to pass what will be a regional
water use law that has been in the making over the past four years with
the other seven Great Lakes states." According to Mendoza.

For more information, contact Cheryl Mendoza, Water Conservation
Program Manager at
Email or 616-850-0745.


Jamie Morton
Alliance for the Great Lakes (Formerly Lake Michigan Federation)
Manager of Outreach Programs 700 Washington Ave., Suite 150
Grand Haven, MI 49417
616-850-0745
jmorton@greatlakes.org