Sierra Club Offers Ways to Explore, Enjoy, Protect Environment in Traverse City Region

Public Invited to July 17 Organizing Meeting at TADL; July 21 Outing at Sand Lake Quiet Area

People who enjoy the outdoors or are concerned about the quality of their water, air and natural resources or their family’s health are invited to join a conversation about local environmental issues at a Sierra Club organizing meeting Wed., July 17, at 7 pm at the Traverse Area District Library, McGuire Room, 610 Woodmere, Traverse City. The event is free and open to the public.

Sierra Club Michigan Chapter staff and volunteer leaders will explore ways that local residents can get involved in the effort to protect the area’s great natural heritage through outings, legislative and political efforts and educational programs. The event will also offer the chance for people with common interests and concerns to enjoy refreshments and good conversation.

“Sierra Club has been involved in northwest Michigan for nearly five decades, since local residents mobilized to protect Sleeping Bear Dunes back in the ‘60s,” said Gail Philbin, Chapter assistant director. “The area has a strong tradition of active citizens who will fight to protect the environment but who also enjoy and engage in it through hiking, fishing and other outdoor activities. We hope they will come to this meeting and find out how we can work together.”

To RSVP for this event, email gail.philbin@sierraclub.org or call 312-493-2384.

On Sunday, July 21, at Noon, the Sierra Club will also host a hike at Sand Lake Quiet Area, a place of deep forests, lakes and wetlands where all motorized vehicles are prohibited. The event is free and open to the public. The 2-3 hour trek will wind through a serene portion of the Pere Marquette State Forest with five lakes surrounded by rolling hills of oak-pine forest.  To RSVP and for details, contact Lorne Beatty, Michigan Chapter Outings Leader, lorne.beatty@michigan.sierraclub.org or 810-632-7766.

Sierra Club Hosts Free Screening of The Sky is Pink at Kalamazoo Public Library

Media Contact: Gail Philbin, gail.philbin@sierraclub.org, 312-493-2384

Event Focuses on Environmental Issues in Southwest Michigan

The Sierra Club Michigan Chapter presents a screening of The Sky is Pink, a short film about horizontal hydraulic fracturing (a.k.a. “fracking”) by Josh Fox, the Oscar-nominated director of Gasland, Tuesday, Dec. 4, from 7-8 pm at the Kalamazoo Central Library, Van Deusen Room, 315 Rose St., Kalamazoo.

Southwest Michigan residents concerned about the quality of their water, air and natural resources are invited to this free event, which will focus on important regional environmental issues such as fracking and the Kalamazoo River Tar Sands oil spill  and how concerned citizens can get involved. The “25x25” effort – getting utilities to use 25% renewable energy and energy efficiency by 2025 -- to make Michigan a leader in renewable energy and energy efficiency will also be discussed. To RSVP, email William Strong at williamstrong@sbcglobal.net.

The Sky is Pink is an 18-minute documentary about New York state’s urgent crisis of drilling and fracking, a brutal but increasingly popular method of extracting deep-seated natural gas that recently has come to southwest Michigan. Exempt from environmental regulations, fracking blasts 3-7 million gallons of chemical-laced water into rock to release gas.  The result is air pollution and toxic water wells that can produce flaming faucets, as shown in “Gasland,” and even earthquakes.

The Sierra Club Michigan Chapter has been working with legislators on a package of bills to delay its actual practice in order to strengthen regulations to protect people from the fallout of this dangerous process. Learn more at www.michigan.sierraclub.org/issues/greatlakes/Hydrofracking.html

For more information, email williamstrong@sbcglobal.net.

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Michigan Wilderness Celebration Series Concludes at Horseshoe Bay Aug 18

The Michigan Wilderness Act Celebration concludes at Horseshoe Bay Wilderness on Saturday, Aug. 18, from 10 am-Noon with a program at St. Ignace Township Hall, N4298 Gorman Rd, St, Ignace, MI 49781. The event will feature reminiscences by key players in the political drama who successfully fought to protect 10 wilderness areas in Michigan in 1987 and will include a light brunch buffet.

In order to attend, please RSVP by Aug. 13. Email gail.philbin@sierraclub.org or call 517-484-2372, ext. 10.

Program speakers will include Chapter Director Anne Woiwode, who was a young environmentalist at the time, and Jo Reyer, USFS Hiawatha National Forest Supervisor, as well as past and current local activists involved in protecting the area.

Twenty-five years ago, a bruising 10-year battle over the wilderness designation of less than one percent of Michigan’s three million acres of national forest lands split the state’s conservation community and challenged lawmakers to take a stand on a political hot potato issue.

Despite the difficulty, in 1987 Congress passed the Michigan Wilderness Act, protecting 90,000 acres of spectacular old growth forests, lakes and dunes around the state that became these beloved wilderness areas: Big Island Lake, Delirium, Horseshoe Bay, Mackinac, McCormick, Nordhouse Dunes, Rock River Canyon, Round Island, Sturgeon River Gorge, and Sylvania.

In honor of the 25th anniversary of the Act, Sierra Club’s Michigan Chapter has been hosting several events to tell the story behind this legislation. The series kicked off at Nordhouse Dunes on May 19 and continued July 15 at Sylvania Wilderness. Congressman Dale Kildee was also honored for his leadership in getting the Act passed at a special event in Flint on June 13.

The Michigan Wilderness Act has its roots in the USFS’s Roadless Area Review and Evaluation 2 (RARE 2), a national process it started in 1977 to identify and propose qualifying areas in national forests for potential wilderness designation. In Michigan, teams of Sierra Club volunteers got involved and visited all areas under consideration, recording their observations on a comprehensive checklist used to rate them.

“In an era of typewriters and the exotic new technology of photocopiers, Jane and dozens of volunteers were the point people on organizing the information and the activists to push for passage of the areas identified,” says Woiwode. “But politics got complicated early on, and it became an enormous battle.”

By 1980, Congressman Bob Carr and Senator Donald Riegle had sponsored Michigan wilderness bills in the U.S. House and Senate respectively, but Representative Carr lost his seat in 1982, and Senator Riegle reversed his support for some areas under pressure from wilderness opponents, delaying enactment for another Congress. Fortunately, Congressman Dale Kildee took up the banner in the House and stewarded it through to passage, along with Senator Carl Levin’s able help.

“The beauty of the wilderness law is that nothing man had done has changed the lands; they are managed much as they came from the hand of God,” said Kildee. “I know not everyone is going to visit a wilderness area, but it is nice to know in today’s high-tech society, there will always be areas where people can ski, snowshoe or paddle a canoe in an absolutely motorless area.

“This is all possible because 25 years ago we had the foresight and wisdom to understand that some parts of a forest are too precious to develop.”

In Michigan, opposition to the bill was strong among UP legislators, and the Michigan United Conservation Clubs refused to support the wilderness designation. The arguments given back then sound familiar today: wilderness and old growth have no value; you can’t manage wildlife (i.e. cut timber for deer or grouse habitat) in protected areas; we need to harvest valuable timber, and we have a right to use our motorized vehicles on public land.

“These are common themes of opposition today,” says Woiwode. “It demonstrates the battle to protect Michigan’s natural heritage will never be over—we have to remain vigilant.”

“A decade-long campaign was an incredible undertaking, but none of us involved will ever question whether or not it was worth it when we look at the splendid shores and wild heart of Michigan that are this heroic effort’s living legacy,” says Jane Elder, a passionate advocate who walked the halls of Congress and hiked wilderness trails to help win the fight.

“Even though this was, at times, a divisive and emotionally charged issue, over the years we found common ground across rural and urban areas, in both parties, and in both houses of Congress,” she adds. “This momentum carried us to a presidential signature in 1987.”

To view essays and reminiscences by Elder, Woiwode and others written about Michigan wilderness and the historic act that protected it, visit www.michiganwilderness.blogspot.com.

In addition to the Aug. 18, program, Sierra Club is offering a Horseshoe Bay Wilderness Camp-Out from Aug. 17-19. For details and to RSVP, email Carol Ward at saltpt@lighthouse.net. For questions, contact 517-484-2372, ext. 10.

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Directions:

To get to St. Ignace Township Hall, take I75 north of the Mackinac Bridge and St. Ignace about 9 miles to exit M123. Exit right and drive .3 mile  until you come to a stop sign, turn left onto the Mackinac Trail.  Go 2.6 miles north until you come to Gorman Road and turn right. The township hall is about 1.8 miles down on the left at N4298 Gorman Rd. Mapquest directions are here: http://mapq.st/Q6Ap6j

Celebration Spotlights Michigan Wilderness Protected by Historic 1987 Legislation Events at Sylvania Wilderness on July 15 and Horseshoe Bay on Aug. 18

Clark Lake panorama, Sylvania Wilderness, by John Rebers

Twenty-five years ago, a bruising 10-year battle over the wilderness designation of less than one percent of Michigan’s three million acres of national forest lands had split the state’s conservation community in two and challenged lawmakers to take a stand on an issue considered a political hot potato.

Within this contentious climate, in 1987 Congress passed the Michigan Wilderness Act, protecting 90,000 acres of spectacular old growth forests, lakes and dunes around the state that became these beloved wilderness areas:  Big Island Lake, Delirium, Horseshoe Bay, Mackinac, McCormick, Nordhouse Dunes, Rock River Canyon, Round Island, Sturgeon River Gorge, and Sylvania.

“A decade-long campaign was an incredible undertaking, but none of us involved will ever question whether or not it was worth it when we look at the splendid shores and wild heart of Michigan that are this heroic effort’s living legacy,” says Jane Elder, a passionate advocate who walked the halls of Congress and hiked wilderness trails to help win the fight.

“Even though this was, at times, a divisive and emotionally charged issue, over the years we found common ground across rural and urban areas, in both parties, and in both houses of Congress,” she adds.  “This momentum carried us to a presidential signature in 1987.”

In honor of the 25th anniversary of the Act, the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter is hosting several events to tell the gripping story behind this historic legislation that began unfolding in 1977 when the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) started looking for areas for potential wilderness designation. The series kicked off at Nordhouse Dunes on May 19th. 

The Michigan Wilderness Act Celebration continues at Sylvania Wilderness on Sunday, July 15, from Noon-2 pm CST. The first half of the event will take place at the Ottawa National Forest Visitors Center, US Hwy. 2 and Hwy. 45, Watersmeet, and will feature reminiscences by key players in the political drama who fought to protect these wilderness areas. This presentation will be followed at 1 pm CST by a catered picnic at the Day Use Building at the north end of Clark Lake next to Sylvania Wilderness.  (See directions at end of story.)

RSVP by July 12 required for the picnic.  Email gail.philbin@sierraclub.org or call 517-484-2372, ext. 10.

Speakers at Sylvania will include Chapter Director Anne Woiwode, who was a young environmentalist at the time, representatives from the US Forest Service, and activists who fought for the designation including Jane Elder, the Chapter’s first staff person back in the 1980s. Waltraud Brinkmann of the Friends of Sylvania will also participate in the program.

The Michigan Wilderness Act has its roots in the USFS’s Roadless Area Review and Evaluation 2 (RARE 2), a national process it started in 1977 to identify and propose qualifying areas in national forests for potential wilderness designation. In Michigan, teams of Sierra Club volunteers got involved and visited all areas under consideration, recording their observations on a comprehensive checklist used to rate them. 

“In an era of typewriters and the exotic new technology of photocopiers, Jane and dozens of volunteers were the point people on organizing the information and the activists to push for passage of the areas identified,” says Woiwode. “But politics got complicated early on, and it became an enormous battle.”

By 1980, Congressman Bob Carr and Senator Donald Riegle had sponsored Michigan wilderness bills in the U.S. House and Senate respectively, but Representative Carr lost his seat in 1982, and Senator Riegle reversed his support for some areas under pressure from wilderness opponents, delaying enactment for another Congress. Fortunately, Congressman Dale Kildee took up the banner in the House and stewarded it through to passage, along with Senator Carl Levin’s able help.

“The beauty of the wilderness law is that nothing man had done has changed the lands; they are managed much as they came from the hand of God,” said Kildee.  “I know not everyone is going to visit a wilderness area, but it is nice to know in today’s high-tech society, there will always be areas where people can ski, snowshoe or paddle a canoe in an absolutely motorless area. 

“This is all possible because 25 years ago we had the foresight and wisdom to understand that some parts of a forest are too precious to develop.”

In Michigan, opposition to the bill was strong among UP legislators, and the Michigan United Conservation Clubs refused to support the wilderness designation. The arguments given back then sound familiar today:  wilderness and old growth have no value; you can’t manage wildlife (i.e. cut timber for deer or grouse habitat) in protected areas; we need to harvest valuable timber, and we have a right to use our motorized vehicles on public land.

“These are common themes of opposition today,” says Woiwode.  “It demonstrates the battle to protect Michigan’s natural heritage will never be over—we have to remain vigilant.”

The Michigan Wilderness Celebration concludes on Aug. 18 with a presentation and hike at Horseshoe Bay Wilderness.

For details on any of these events and to RSVP, email gail.philbin@sierraclub.org or jrebers@gmail.com or call 517-484-2372, ext. 10.

Directions to Picnic at Day Use Building:

From the Ottawa National Forest Visitors Center, go west on Hwy 2 about 4 miles to Thousand Island Lake Rd (County Rd. 535).  Turn left onto Thousand Island Lake Rd. and travel south about 3 miles until you come to the Sylvania Wilderness entrance station.  Tell them you’re there for Sierra Club picnic and you’ll get in for free.

Note:  If you’re using GPS or MapQuest, please be aware they might not afford accurate directions in a wilderness area.  Here is a link to a map of the Sylvania Wilderness entrance (red diamond) and Day Use Building (red triangle): http://www.sylvaniawildernesscabins.com/page04.html#anchor_42

What Does Wilderness Mean to You?

MICHIGAN CHAPTER ESSAY CONTEST
Call for Entries!

This year is the 25th anniversary of the Michigan Wilderness Act, historic legislation that protected 90,000 acres of old growth forest and pristine lakes and dunes we all enjoy today. The Michigan Chapter, which is celebrating its 45th anniversary, has played a significant role in protecting many special places in Michigan since 1967.

Tell us in 500 words or less about your experience in a protected area such as Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Grand Island, or Pictured Rocks. Stories will be judged on their effectiveness in communicating the special qualities of the place and how those qualities affect the visitor. The winning submission will appear in the next Mackinac.

Deadline: August 15

Email submissions to gail.philbin@sierraclub.org with subject line of “Essay Contest,” and please include your name and contact info in the body of the email. The winner will be chosen by Milton J. Bates, author of books and articles on American literature and history. His new book, The Bark River Chronicles: Stories from a Wisconsin Watershed, comes out this fall.

Celebration Spotlights Michigan Wilderness Protected by Historic 1987 Legislation

Celebration Spotlights Michigan Wilderness Protected by Historic 1987 Legislation
Events at Nordhouse Dunes May 19; Sylvania July 15; and Horseshoe Bay Aug. 18

Media Contact: Gail Philbin, 312-493-2384, gail.philbin@sierraclub.org 

Lansing--Twenty-five years ago, a bruising 10-year battle over the wilderness designation of less than one percent of Michigan’s three million acres of national forest lands had split the state’s conservation community in two and challenged lawmakers to take a stand on an issue considered a political hot potato.

Within this contentious climate, in 1987 Congress passed the Michigan Wilderness Act, protecting 90,000 acres of spectacular old growth forests, lakes and dunes around the state that became these beloved wilderness areas:  Big Island Lake, Delirium, Horseshoe Bay, Mackinac, McCormick, Nordhouse Dunes, Rock River Canyon, Round Island, Sturgeon River Gorge, and Sylvania.

“A decade-long campaign was an incredible undertaking, but none of us involved will ever question whether or not it was worth it when we look at the splendid shores and wild heart of Michigan that are this heroic effort’s living legacy,” says Jane Elder, a passionate advocate who walked the halls of Congress and hiked wilderness trails to help win the fight.

“Even though this was, at times, a divisive and emotionally charged issue, over the years we found common ground across rural and urban areas, in both parties, and in both houses of Congress,” she adds.  “This momentum carried us to a presidential signature in 1987.”

In honor of the 25th anniversary of the Act, the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter is hosting three events this spring and summer to tell the gripping story behind this historic legislation that began unfolding in 1977 when the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) started looking for areas for potential wilderness designation.

The Michigan Wilderness Celebration series kicks off Saturday, May 19, from 11 am to Noon with a program celebrating Nordhouse Dunes. The event will feature reminiscences by key players in the political drama who fought to protect these wilderness areas and be followed by guided and individual hikes of Nordhouse Dunes. The program begins at the Lake Michigan Recreation Area adjacent to Nordhouse Dunes between Ludington and Manistee on the Lake Michigan coast (at the end of W. Forest Trail Road).

Speakers at Nordhouse Dunes will include Chapter Director Anne Woiwode, who was a young environmentalist at the time, US Forest Service staff, and local activists who fought for the designation.

The Michigan Wilderness Act has its roots in the USFS’s Roadless Area Review and Evaluation 2 (RARE 2), a national process it started in 1977 to identify and propose qualifying areas in national forests for potential wilderness designation. In Michigan, teams of Sierra Club volunteers got involved and visited all areas under consideration, recording their observations on a comprehensive checklist used to rate them.

“In an era of typewriters and the exotic new technology of photocopiers, Jane and dozens of volunteers were the point people on organizing the information and the activists to push for passage of the areas identified,” says Woiwode. “But politics got complicated early on, and it became an enormous battle.”

By 1980, Congressman Bob Carr and Senator Donald Riegle had sponsored Michigan wilderness bills in the U.S. House and Senate respectively, but Representative Carr lost his seat eventually after redistricting, and Senator Riegle reversed his support for some areas under pressure from wilderness opponents, delaying enactment for another Congress. Fortunately, Congressman Dale Kildee took up the banner in the House and stewarded it through to passage, along with Senator Carl Levin’s able help and Reigle’s renewed support in the Senate.

“The beauty of the wilderness law is that nothing man had done has changed the lands; they are managed much as they came from the hand of God,” said Kildee.  “I know not everyone is going to visit a wilderness area, but it is nice to know in today’s high-tech society, there will always be areas where people can ski, snowshoe or paddle a canoe in an absolutely motorless area.

“This is all possible because 25 years ago we had the foresight and wisdom to understand that some parts of a forest are too precious to develop.”

In Michigan, opposition to the bill was strong among UP legislators, and the Michigan United Conservation Clubs refused to support the wilderness designation. The arguments given back then sound familiar today:  wilderness and old growth have no value; you can’t manage wildlife (i.e. cut timber for deer or grouse habitat) in protected areas; we need to harvest valuable timber, and we have a right to use our motorized vehicles on public land.

“These are common themes of opposition today,” says Woiwode.  “It demonstrates the battle to protect Michigan’s natural heritage will never be over—we have to remain vigilant.”

The Michigan Wilderness Celebration continues on July 15 with a presentation and picnic at Sylvania Wilderness and on Aug. 18 with a presentation and hike at Horseshoe Bay Wilderness.

For details on any of these events, visit www.michigan.sierraclub.org or email gail.philbin@sierraclub.org or call 517-484-2372.

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NOTE: This event begins at the Lake Michigan Recreation Area adjacent to Nordhouse Dunes between Ludington and Manistee on the Lake Michigan coast. Directions below. If you drive, you'll need to purchase a pass for your vehicle at the Recreation Area if you don't have an annual pass already. Details are at the Huron Manistee National Forest website at http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/hmnf/passes-permits/recreation.

Directions to Nordhouse Dunes event:
West Forest Trail Road enters the wilderness area from U.S. 31. Follow W. Forest Trail Road (paved) west about eight miles from U.S. 31 to the group campsite and parking lot on Porter Creek Road. There are signs. The two "loops" at the end of Porter Creek Road are the parking area with access to the dunes and beach as well as the group campsite. The observation tower is also near the parking lot. Map of Lake Michigan Recreation Area campgrounds:  http://binged.it/HAqT32 

BYOC:  Bring your own chair if you’d like to sit during the program and pack a lunch and swimsuit for the beach afterwards or hiking gear to explore the beauty of Nordhouse Dunes.