celery pond

Today is the scheduled visit to Celery Pond and the mitigation site with MDEQ officials, the Corps reps, and the developers. The Celery Pond Advocates hope that many wrote letters to the MDEQ asking that the permit be denied. There are many reasons why denial can be justified.

Celery Pond Advocates have a professional team lined up to do a wetland analysis for the MDEQ to review before a final decision is reached.

To raise monies for the analysis we are accepting donations. Checks can be made out to Celery Pond Advocates and sent to CPA at P.O.Box 693, South Haven, MI 49090. We thank you for your support. Our 501(c)(3) status is soon to be confirmed.

We’ll also be having our second fundraiser at the home of Jeff Filbrandt and Annie Brown at 114 Michigan Avenue. Join us to celebrate Earth Day weekend on Friday, April 20th from 6-8pm. An strolling of 16 light dinner and dessert selections, donated by Suzie Blair, will join with wines and champagne, for the artful event. Tickets are $50 and on sale at Wolverine Hardware and Whimsy, both on Phoenix Street.

Celery Pond is a unique wetland whose proximity to Lake Michigan is an essential part of our watershed and our community. No mitigation site, more than 5 miles distant from it, has any relation to the natural geography and hydrology that exists.

We hope that the officials will understand that the development plan is simply not a good plan for this reason, and for the other reasons of disturbance to habitat and migration patterns, etc. A denial of the permit would close the file.

Once the file is closed, CPA can step forward to begin to acquire the lands, working positively to preserve and establish them by establishing a nature center. We will be working towards this goal through fundraising, membership, and eventually, by seeking grants. Please show us your support if you have not already. We really appreciate it.

Look at our unique coastal wetland. It is a wetland that is close to the two piers, which take the outflow of Black River and its watershed of 287 miles of streams and tributaries out to Lake Michigan.

The present environmental situation asks us to be conscious participants in healing rather than depleting the earth’s resources. We need to become aware of the relationships that exist in a healthy ecosystem, and how to make sustainable communities of plants, animals and microorganisms.

The watershed is a reservoir that fills with water and becomes a source for small creeks and streams, and it has an influence on all the organisms in our environment. This water source affects weather, drinking water, wildlife, and even our personal relationship to nature.

When we include our wetland of Celery Pond within the watershed, our environment is much bigger than our house, and our ecosystem much bigger than our family. Looking at these influences we can begin to see the inter-connectedness and how one action affects a part of the whole. We need to realize that we must keep the wetlands and save the watersheds.

To email a letter asking that the MDEQ deny the application for permit to develop Celery Pond, send it to Michelle DeLong, File Manager (delongmc@michigan.gov) or Kameron Jordan, District Supervisor (jordank@michigan.gov). Be sure to include the Celery Pond File # 05-80-0061-P.

While the MDEQ seeks to protect wetlands, it is also the agency to receive applications for permit to develop them. Strict guidelines of the Michigan and federal law (NREPA Act 451 of 1994, Section 303 on Wetlands Protection) give reasons why or why not to approve such applications. This is a strange paradox but is the reason why Celery Pond is such an issue right now.

It is a fact that wetland losses in Southwest Michigan are substantial. Wetland were originally taken by the encroaching needs of agriculture; today it is the demand for more boat slips. Either demand is not a wise choice, proof of this is the fact that the MDEQ is now seeking to restore wetlands that were lost through farming.

Why then would MDEQ think of approving a permit? Refer to the state and federal law for specifics (Natrual Resources & Environmental Proection Act 451 of 1994, Part 303 on Wetlands Protection). The paradox may demand changing the law itself as these questions are becoming moral issues for many people.

Both Van Buren and Kalamazoo Counties have had a 51% loss of wetlands (38,000 ac); St. Joseph County is not far behind, with 46% loss (35,000 ac). These losses may very well be underestimated.

Another paradox is that wetlands provide numerous valuable functions, such as filtration and water quality, that are services at no cost. Yet MDEQ’s restoration program is a costly effort to restore what we have lost in many of our historic wetlands.

If the City of South Haven and its Council really think that their decision for the wetland is going to gain immediate monies, they should consider the long term drain that they may have to face, it they disturb the wetland and open it up with the plan they have approved. You, the reader, can make a difference by voicing your concerns to them. Call them, have a coffee with them, email them. Go to the Council meetings and speak.

The Celery Pond Advocates invites you to join us in a fundraising event on Friday, April 20th from 6-8pm at Jeff Filbrandt and Annie Brown’s lovely remodeled home at 114 Michigan Avenue. A wonderful light dinner of 16 samplings and desserts is being donated by our local culinary artist, Suzie Blair, with wine and champagne included in the price of the $50 ticket. Tickets are available at both Wolverine Hardware and Whimsy on Phoenix Street.