Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News
The Newsletter of the Great Lakes
Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund
Volume 10, Number 3 • May-July 2002
Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat NewsThe Newsletter of the Great Lakes
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Articles by Lynne Olson
In May, the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, Minnesota was the site of an energetic mock Bi-National Forum public hearing on the topic of Lake Superior water diversion. Whether they played the role of venture capitalist, concerned citizen, or other interested party, eighth grade students from Cook County Middle School were enthusiastic participants in this simulation of a real-life forum—forums that are integral parts of the public policy development process.
Prior to the half-day forum, students were assigned to one of five groups: Venture capitalists who wanted to divert water for economic gain; shipping industry executives concerned about low lake levels; “friends of the lake,” representing a broad cross-section of concerned citizens and groups; tourism industry proponents; and a group representing water-starved southwestern states.
Each group conducted their own research, supporting or opposing water diversion from which they prepared opening statements and formal questions to ask other groups. Based on this information gathering process, each group then developed their closing statement. Four adult members of the community played the roles of Bi-National Forum members who, at the conclusion, developed their own recommendation for action – that the issue is far to complex too decide in a single hearing and that further study is needed.
“It was a tremendously productive experience,” says Greg Wright, executive director of North House. “Students experienced the entire public hearing process, including the rewards and frustrations, right up to the emotional reality of the ending – discovering how interconnected and complex environmental issues really are – they’re not just black and white. This expanded their appreciation of perspectives other than their own.”
This public policy-making simulation was the culmination of a five-year process of working with the same students on water issues through North House’s Fresh Water Studies Program. In addition to raising awareness of the water diversion issue, goals included teaching students about the public forum process and helping them recognize the issue complexity and the interconnectedness of differing perspectives and concerns.
“We’ve worked with these students since third grade,” says Peter Barsness, a retired limnologist and college professor who worked with North House to develop the program. “It will be interesting to see how they carry what they’ve learned into their high school years and beyond. Now they realize that when they read about a public meeting in the paper, they know this is one of their opportunities to participate in the public policy process.”
The debate over the future of Spirit Mountain and its old-growth forest and urban trout stream is still in regulatory limbo. Developers want to build a golf course and hotel on the mountain.
However, as an extension to last summer’s endangered and rare plant survey, an inventory of invertebrates in large vernal ponds on Spirit Mountain is underway. In addition, a breeding bird survey taking place in early June is the result of a GLAHNF Special Opportunity Grant. Results of both endeavors will be added to the accumulating body of data being gathered on the Spirit Mountain ecosystem, an ecosystem unique to the area, one that citizens want to preserve for future generations.
In April 2002, over 150 people representing a variety of constituencies along Minnesota’s Lake Superior “North Shore” gathered for a day-long meeting. It continued what has become an annual discussion about the issues facing the North Shore community – and Lake Superior – as increased development pressures continue and the economic landscape of the area changes.
In addition to learning “what and how are we doing”, participants heard about the lessons that the communities in the Lake Tahoe Watershed have been learning in their efforts to “Keep Tahoe Blue.”
Through a decades-long process, a regional agency with regulatory authority — the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency — now controls development, using specific environmental thresholds as guides, within the small Lake Tahoe Watershed.
The agency operates under a guiding principle gleaned from then-Vice President Al Gore at a 1997 meeting in Tahoe – that “the environment is the economy and the economy is the environment.”
| Craig Minowa Environmental Association for Great Lakes Education (EAGLE) Serving as Hub for Minnesota 394 Lake Avenue South, #222 Duluth, MN 55802 (218)-726-1828 (586)-816-1974(fax) E-mail: craig@earthology.net Website: www.EAGLE-EcoSource.org |