The Great Lakes Are National Treasures
You’ve heard of the 7 wonders of the world. We could consider our five Great Lakes 5 more wonders of the world, making them national treaures. On any clear day, there’s no doubt in a person’s mind that the sparkling blue is indeed a miracle, a lake full of fresh water as large as a sea, as as tempermental as one too. Our Lake is not a solitary being, but connected into greater expanses of water, making five great bodies of water that then connect to the St. Lawrence Seaway and eventually connecting to the Atlantic Ocean.
Isn’t it fun to think you could follow a path from the ocean to our piers in South Haven! Then extend it and go on into the Black River and up into the watershed, but, first you’d see our wetland, Celery Pond. Just think of it. Celery Pond links to the Atlantic Ocean, what a wonderful imagination, but true.
The Great Lakes Coalition, mentioned yesterday, is a broad-based network of national, regional, and state organizations dedicated to Great Lakes restoration.. A technical advisory committe of scientists, business leaders, economists and other experts will be pooling information. How important it is for all government officials, from city commissioner to a council person to city manager, to start gathering as much information as they can on the environment. It is the biggest issue on the planet, maybe not recognized as such by some politicians, but it is. Ask Al Gore.
The Great Lakes Coalition assures us information at government levels is critical. The Coalition will be organized by the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) of Washington, DC, which plans to serve as a national fiscal agent for the grant, and the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) will serve as a fiscal agent at the regional level through NWF’s Great Lakes Natural Resources Center in Michigan.
Think beyond tourism at the national focus that will be given to the Great Lakes, and we live on one. A national coalition of concerned Americans will be pooling their talents and resources to restore and protect them. Peter Wege feels that to penetrate into this level of involvement, “It will take close partnerships among all who care for the Lakes, including government and elected officials.” By coordinating efforts of many, many people, a national constituency is building for effective action by the federal government to restore the Great Lakes!
You can almost hear those words echoing into history. We need to work together to preserve and protect our waters and waterways, this includes the Lake on which we live and what feeds into it, Black River and our Celery Pond wetland. We must seek to preserve and protect Celery Pond, as an adjunct commitment to this greater appeal.
If you can join us for our first fundraising event, Saturday, November 18th from 5:30-7pm, we’d love to see you. Tickets are still on sale at Wolverine or Whimsy.
If you cannot join us but would like to contribute monies for our organization, you can send your checks to Celery Pond Advocates, P.O. Box 693, South Haven, Mi 49090. We thank you for your commitment.
