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WORD COUNT
709
JUNE 28, 2004
GREAT LAKES AUTHORS HAVE
IMPORTANT MESSAGE – by Joyce Braithwaite-Brickley
Like elegant bookends,
two volumes on the history, beauty and mismanagement of the
Great Lakes
make important and entertaining reading for anyone who cares about one-fifth
of the world’s surface freshwater. As summer moves into maturity, these
books give us hope that politicians charged with protecting them might do
the same.
Published last year by
St. Martin’s
Press, The Living Great Lakes: Searching for the Heart of the Inland Seas,
which was authored by Traverse City, Michigan writer Jerry Dennis, explores
the Lakes from a sailor’s perspective. Joining the crew of the schooner
Malabar as it traverses the Lakes system on a six-week journey from Traverse
City to the Erie Canal, Dennis mixes wry observation of nature including the
human kind with stories about the history and development of the Lakes.
The result is a classic
that has won numerous awards, including Best Outdoor Book of the Year from
the Outdoor Writers Association of America. According to Dennis, it has also
generated more response than any of his previous books. Traveling around the
region during the past year on the speaking circuit, Dennis says he’s
listened to hundreds of people ask questions and express concern about the
Lakes. People are passionate about the Lakes and want to know what they can
do to help protect them, the author says.
Dennis says the Lakes and
the complacency of many about their fate motivated him to pen The Living
Great Lakes.
“I wrote the book for a
couple of pretty simple reasons,” he says. “Because I care deeply about the
Lakes and have always been a bit surprised by how little is known about them
outside and even inside the region. Because I wanted to remind people what’s
at stake and what we have to lose.”
“I’m encouraged that so
many people care, but I’m worried that the complexity of the problems facing
the Lakes (and the world in general) will ultimately cause people to throw
up their hands in frustration and decide that further degradation and
exploitation are inevitable.” On the other hand, he adds, “My greatest hope
is that a majority of citizens will come to recognize that the Lakes are a
priceless resource held in common trust.”
On that score he agrees
with the author of the second volume, Dave Dempsey of
Lansing,
Michigan.
Published by the Michigan State University Press, On the Brink: The Great
Lakes in the 21st Century confronts the mixed human abuse and love of the
Lakes.
A longtime policy advisor
at the Michigan Environmental Council, a coalition of green groups based in
Lansing, Dempsey’s
take on the Lakes is that they have been exploited for short-term gain at
the expense of their long- term health. But there’s hope. As he puts it in
the introduction, “Governments have always done only what the public
permitted, or pressured them, to do. When exploiting the Lakes for immediate
riches seemed the wisest course, when the struggle for survival distracted
the public or when the faith of the electorate flagged in the ability of
governments to solve the problems of individuals as well as the collective,
the Lakes frequently deteriorated. But when the full-throated voice of the
citizen rang true, both individually and in great numbers, the Lakes
recovered.”
Dempsey’s concern is that
not enough of the affected public is aware of mounting threats to the Lakes.
Perhaps his most striking observation is that the worst menace, alien
species hitchhiking in the ballast water of oceangoing vessels, could have
been stopped long ago. In fact, a report prepared for the Canadian
government in 1981 forecast the onslaught of zebra mussels, which didn’t
happen for another five years. But, he says, because of resistance from the
shipping and port lobbies, both the Canadian and
U.S. governments did
nothing. The result is an estimated $500 million per year in costs to the
public to control the mussels.
On the Brink is more than
a policy tome, however. Mingling stories of unusual
Great Lakes
advocates with the natural phenomena that characterize the Lakes, Dempsey
tries to link head and heart in the protection of this majestic ecosystem.
Both he and Dennis speak with passion about the five lakes that define the
Lakes ecosystem. Their work may arouse your passion, too.
--
Joyce Braithwaite-Brickley
was assistant to the Michigan Republican Party chairman and political
advisor and campaign manager for former Gov. William G. Milliken. Her essays
have appeared widely in the state.
priorities@charter.net -- A photo of Joyce Braithwaite-Brickley is
available at: www.minutemanmedia.org
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