Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004
From: "Lissa Radke" lradke@northland.edu

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Environmental Stewardship Awards Presented to Area Recipients

The Lake Superior Binational Program announces six area recipients of its inaugural Environmental Stewardship Awards Program that highlights successful efforts to protect Lake Superior. The awards program recognizes the important contributions that individuals, businesses, industry, communities, and First Nations/Tribes have made to protect and restore the natural resources in the Lake Superior basin in the US and Canada.

Four judges from the Lake Superior Binational Program’s Forum and agency partners choose six winners in three categories from nominees in the US and Canada. “All of the recipients have taken innovative actions that improve the water, land, and air resources used by every person living in the Lake Superior basin,” said Bob Browne, Superior. Browne is the US co-chair of the Lake Superior Binational Forum, a citizen stakeholder group. “We are proud to promote their efforts as examples of the outstanding things that can be done to make Lake Superior’s environment a model for the rest of the world.”

An awards presentation for US winners is scheduled for Sunday, July 18, at 9 a.m. on Wisconsin Point, Superior. July 18 is Lake Superior Day, a day to celebrate the important role the lake has on the region’s environment and economy. Also at the event will be speeches by local dignitaries, a beach clean up, and a picnic. The event is free and open to the public.

The winners in the Individual category include:

In the US: Roy Johnson, Cloverland, WI. Johnson, a lifelong resident of Wisconsin’s Lake Superior basin, has converted 160 acres of farmland to restored wetlands. Through two separate partnerships with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, he has helped to turn cropland into a diverse range of wetland habitat, including shallow ponds, deep marsh, sedge meadows, and mudflats. Once home to crops and cattle, the wetlands now host a number of sensitive wetland birds and plants.

Johnson’s commitment to land stewardship began in the 1950s when he and his father dug a pond in their hay field to establish a home for geese and ducks. In 1995, Johnson sold 80 acres of land to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for the purpose of establishing a wetland mitigation site. In 2001, he signed a permanent limited easement with the WDOT that provided lasting protection for an additional 80 acres of wetlands. The restored wetlands are adjacent to the Brule River State Forest, which links them to over 50,000 acres of public land. The Johnson property is four miles from the Lake Superior shore, which makes it uniquely suited for shorebird habitat restoration.

In Canada: Josephine Mandamin, Thunder Bay, Ontario. Mandamin, 62, an Ojibwe from the Wikwemikong reservation of Thunder Bay, organized a 1,300-mile walk around the entire coast of Lake Superior to honor Anishinabe women’s responsibility to protect water quality. Called “Water Walk 2003”, Mandamin  served as the lead Water Walk “grandmother” by helping to raise awareness about the importance of keeping water clean and free from privatization so that future generations can use it.

During the two-month long walk, numerous community walkers joined Mandamin and addressed some of the current threats to Lake Superior during stops in towns along the walk. They talked about declining groundwater levels, industrial contaminations, impacts from logging and mining, exotic species, and increasing microbe resistance to water treatment chemicals.

Mandamin says the idea came to her while attending a ceremony three years ago. An elder spoke of a prophecy that warned of human and environmental health problems if water wasn’t protected. Mandamin decided the walk would be her way of educating others about the need to protect water quality and quantity.

The winners in the Industry and Business category include:

A tie in the US: Minnesota Power and the Pinehurst Inn at Pikes Creek.

Minnesota Power, Duluth, MN, tackled the issue of mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants from both the production and consumption side of the problem. The company carried out full-scale mercury emissions control technology testing at their Laskin Energy Center (which is within the Lake Superior watershed) as part of an Electrical Power Research Institute study. In the emissions study, Minnesota Power found carbon injection and chemical additives show some promise towards removing mercury from that facility's stack.

To reduce mercury emissions at a consumer level, the company designed and constructed a model energy-saving house called the Millennium Star in Duluth. The model house showed that building design, materials, and construction techniques can significantly reduce energy consumption and costs. The Millennium Star house runs on a yearly heating bill of less than $300. This demonstrated that if more houses were energy-efficient, demand for electricity would decrease, resulting in lower mercury emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants.   

Pinehurst Inn at Pikes Creek, Bayfield, WI, is a bed and breakfast that consists of an historic inn built in 1885 and a one-year-old Garden House offering guest and common rooms. The Garden House was designed to architecturally compliment the main house, yet built using “green building” techniques, materials, and systems the complemented natural systems.

Owners Steve and Nancy Sandstrom wanted to minimize the inn’s impact on Lake Superior and the surrounding environment by reducing its contribution to air and water pollution, minimizing solid wastes, and enhancing the inn’s natural landscaping.

The inn and addition have new, energy-efficient thermo-pane windows, energy-efficient light bulbs and appliances, significantly increased insulation in the attic and walls, and a solar hot water heater for the addition.

Inside the inn, the Sandstroms use only non-toxic, biodegradable laundry and dishwashing detergents and cleaning supplies. The owners also use only eco-friendly, non-toxic fertilizers in the gardens and landscaping.

In Canada: Canadian Pacific Railway, Thunder Bay, Ontario. Several of the company’s railroad water crossings on McKellar Creek (near Terrace Bay, Ontario) had shifted over time, making it difficult for fish to move down river to the lake during their life cycles. On the advice of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the company constructed at their own expense two downstream riffle areas to back flood the culvert. The riffle areas raised the water level and reduced water speed through the structure, making it easier for fish to migrate upstream. Erosion was prevented with extensive use of riprap, silt fences, and erosion blankets. Fish surveys in fall 2003 showed that fish were migrating through the new structures, which indicated that the company had successfully restored important fish habitat.

Community/Organization Category

In the US: City of Superior, WI. Staff at the city’s wastewater treatment facility have conducted extensive reduction and education programs that prevented mercury from entering the lake through wastewater discharges. By working in partnerships with state agencies, regional tribes, area schools, and private businesses, the city has kept 300 pounds of bulk mercury, 400 lab thermometers, 4,000 fever thermometers, and 1,000 vehicle switches that contain mercury out of landfills and waterways.

City staff have incorporated mercury reduction curriculum and activities in public schools, conducted workshops for builders to teach them how to recycle thermostats and other toxic materials during construction, organized free mercury thermometer exchanges for digital devices, organized light bulb collections with area hardware stores, worked with dentists to identify and remove mercury in dental offices, and numerous other programs.

In Canada: EcoSuperior, Thunder Bay, Ontario. EcoSuperior is a not-for-profit organization that provides Ontario residents with information and motivation for building healthy, sustainable communities. Staff delivers programming in a number of areas including water and energy conservation, waste reduction, green space naturalization, and pollution prevention. These projects take place in north shore communities from Thunder Bay to Sault Ste Marie.

By working with partners such as businesses, citizens, and various levels of government, the group has delivered effective outreach programs that help change wasteful or destructive behaviors. By collecting and composting Halloween pumpkins and Christmas trees annually, EcoSuperior has kept thousands of tons of organic waste from landfills. Staff has organized household hazardous waste collections and collection of mercury-containing products in several North Shore communities. EcoSuperior also launched an educational campaign about the dangers of open garbage burning that can create serious air pollution.

The Lake Superior Binational Program consists of a partnership of American and Canadian government agencies, First Nations/Tribes, and citizen stakeholders that work together to protect and restore the natural environment in the Lake Superior basin. The Lake Superior Binational Forum, a volunteer stakeholder group, is funded in the US by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes National Program Office, and in Canada by Environment Canada.

For more information in the US contact Lissa Radke at (715) 682-1489; in Canada contact Barb Nicol at (806) 343-8811.