Green Warriors

March 23, 2008

Who knew? When it came to a vote for “favorite environmentalist,” no fewer than 34 “people” were nominated. Included were “hippies,” “Yule Gibbons” and “Oryana Natural Foods Market,” receiving one vote each.
So we chose a few dedicated folks—knowing, of course, that dozens more should rightfully be honored.
Our question for the environmentalists: What motivates you to work so hard, when it’s clearly not the money.

Jim Olson:
A Traverse City attorney, Jim Olson has taken the lead on the state’s water issues. Specifically, he has fought over the commercialization of the Great Lakes, surface water and groundwater.
“My belief is, so goes the water, so goes freedom and liberty. Underlying the issue of who controls the water is the ultimate question of who owns it. The world is under the weight of people and corporations wanting to own all the resources and to create a monopoly. That’s why water has to remain a public commons. If water isn’t a public commons, it’s a very small jump to water privately held and people having to hold out their plastic card and be of good standing in order to get a drink. That’s what it comes down to.

Monica Evans
Monica Evans of Honor has been the president of the Traverse Group of the Sierra Club since 2000 -- a group which is 850 members strong. The Sierra Club’s biggest victory, she said, was stopping the coal plant in Manistee. “It was the most incredible experience because there were so many people from so many walks of life who came together and did this amazing thing.”
How did she get started in her passionate activism?
“I think it started with my parents. We grew up on a fruit farm in Empire and my mom and dad always reminded us how lucky we were to live in such an amazingly beautiful place, and that just carried over. In 1996, I left the area, and when I came back four years later, I couldn’t believe the changes and all the growth, even in that short of time. Then I learned they wanted to build an amphitheatre and conference center in Leelanau State Park, which is just a beautiful place, and I thought this is not a good idea. That’s how the Sierra Club was re-activated; it was around that issue... It seemed like a good time and place for me to jump in, and I’m still swimming I guess.

John Richter
John Richter is president of the Friends of the Jordan River Watershed. This past year, the group has deeply opposed a plan to sink a deep well near the tiny town of Alba and pour into it 150,000 gallons—each day—of polluted water from the Bay Harbor shoreline. The group joined an appeal last week to challenge permits granted by the DEQ and EPA.
“The whole process of permitting the well has been so dysfunctional that you cannot stay silent and just let the status quo happen.
“One thing that I’ve always been appreciative about in Antrim County and the Jordan Valley is how precious the resource is and how many people hold that very dear. It’s universal. This deep injection well represents an intrusion and a violation of that precious resource. It could potentially contaminate the groundwater and the Jordan River is driven by groundwater... If it’s allowed to go in, it sets a new precedent. I don’t think it’s going to be one well and that’s the end of it.”
Land conservancies have been popular in this area. They aim to protect land—not by laws—but by buying it and setting it aside forever. The oldest conservancy in Northern Michigan, and the state for that matter, is the Little Traverse Conservancy in Petoskey. Last year was a record-breaking year for the group (same with the Grand Traverse Conservancy, the Leelanau Conservancy, and Headwaters Conservancy in the Gaylord area). In the last 36 years, the Little Traverse Conservancy has protected close to 40,000 acres including 98 miles of prized stream, river and lake shoreline.
Tom Lagerstrom and Tom Bailey both hooked up with the Little Traverse Conservancy in 1984. We asked them how they ended up in conservancy work.


Tom Bailey
Tom Bailey, executive director of the Little Traverse Conservancy tells how he got started:
“I decided I wanted a career in conservation when I was nine years old, and I remember the exact day. I was in Glacier National Park and took a guided tour at Two-Medicine Lake with a park ranger. And this guy was so inspiring, and I just decided that’s what I want to be. I want to wear a uniform and take people out to a place like this. Ten years later, I worked at the national park at Isle Royale and put a uniform on for the first time. They called me Baby Ranger.
“On the original Earth Day, I was involved with students at Northern Michigan University. One of the things we did was hold a flush-in. We passed out dye tablets and at 1 p.m., we were all to flush our toilets at the same time to see where the flow from the toilets was going. And that’s how we discovered there was a bypass to Lake Superior. In the ‘70s, so much of the environmental advocacy was against things—pollution, and that’s a good thing. But the vision of the people who started Little Traverse Conservancy was to make it a positive organization and to help interested landowners protect what they love about their land.”

Tom Lagerstrom
Tom Lagerstrom, associate director of the Little Traverse Conservancy, was inspired by Northern Michigan:
“I had just graduated from college with a degree in wildlife management, and I was managing a company that made guards and brackets for the auto industry. I became disenchanted with living in a big city and kind of chasing my tail. We had a cottage up north, that was an anchor for me, and I had always dreamed of Northern Michigan as a place to live and work. I liked the idea of a conservancy… by creating land trusts, we can protect land in a way that’s permanent. People can visit or see it forever as they drive by or boating. There’s a satisfaction that the property will always be open. I think the environment has become a greater focus for the last 15 years. People recognize that we have to put a little extra aside just to protect our quality of life.”

Greg Reisig
Greg Reisig, of Elk Rapids, is the definitive environmental gadfly. He writes about environmental issues, chairs the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council, and shows newbie environmentalists the ropes of getting heard and working with the regulatory agencies, such as the DEQ.
“Most people love this place, and it’s very close to their heart. It’s very close to my heart. My parents brought me up here every summer from Chicago. I moved here and raised a family here, and I don’t want to see it wrecked. I know I can’t do everything so what I try to do is empower other people. Give them the tools and inspiration to go out and do something. And you have all these wonderful people. There’s a very strong environmental network here that’s energized and unified. One helps the other, and no one’s in it for the money.”