The Windsor Star reported last week that the Government of Canada has dedicated $410,000 in funding for Detroit River habitat and cleanup efforts.  Link:

http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Detroit+River+cleanup+projects+federal+cash/2208294/story.html

Jeff Meade at the Monroe Evening News reports that the Monroe City Council approved a plan to purchase 3.5 acres of land at the corner of Detroit and Elm for incorporation into the River Raisin National Battlefield Park.  If I remember correctly, this location also was the site of the historic Newton Steel Strike.  Link:

http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091117/NEWS01/711179997

Control of the language is important.

Would we have had an Iraq War without the evil sounding WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION? Well, maybe.  But the creation of that phrase certainly helped to grease the skids.

And it is the unfortunate plight of many environmentalists that their most endearing term, climate change, doesn’t poll well.  And if the health care battle tells us anything, it is that there will be no climate bill – at least not anything that remotely resembles its current incarnation.

The reality is that environmentalists have made a clear strategic mistake in thinking so big.  People just don’t think that long-term.

And in the breach comes a new word.  I spotted it in the headline of a Scott Daniels story in the Huffington Post.  And that term is “carbon management.”  Personally, I love it.  It clearly states the problem.  It does not invoke the doomsday scenario.  It is a hopeful term.  It suggests that carbon can actually be managed.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-daniels/carbon-management-a-call_b_357572.html

And, you know what?  This is a change in terms that needs to happen.  People do, in fact, support clean water and air.  That should be the foundation on which to build from.  Make the changes real, immediate and local.  And get some pragmatism on the big questions – nukes, natural gas, carbon capture and conservation have to be in any climate efforts.

And let’s end “climate change” once and for all.

Michigan’s system of state parks operates largely without help from Michigan’s general fund.  Most funding comes from hunting and fishing license fees and fees paid for entrance to the state parks and camping permits.

A new system, however, would change this funding mechanism.  Last week, the MI State Senate passed a bill that would end state park entrance fees.  Instead of paying a daily $6 rate and $24 for the year, Michigan residents could pay $10 during annual license plate renewals.  The motorcycle rate would be $5.

Similar systems have been tried in several other states and the result is an increase in funding.  How it would work in practice in Michigan is, I suppose, up for guess. 

Detroit Free Press link:

http://www.freep.com/article/20091112/NEWS15/91112046/1202/rss

Channel 13 in Toledo broadcast a nice overview related to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and its possible impact on Ohio and western Lake Erie.  The video has some great clips of algal mats along the shore:

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/video?id=7117726

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Most residents of Monroe do not know it, but they live within two hours of one of the most popular Canadian national parks.  Point Pelee extends into Lake Erie just out of eyesight for those who stand on the shore at Monroe County’s Pointe Mouillee.  The park is just an hour from the Detroit border crossing.  And it creates the eastern boundary of western Lake Erie, the most biologically productive area of the entire Great Lakes and a distinct area with issues unique on the lake.  These are our home waters.

I have visited Point Pelee many times.  Highlights include miles of sandy beach, crashing waters, enormous marshes and a sometimes dramatic sandy tip.  So, I am delighted to note that planners are exploring the idea of connecting Point Pelee with a nearby important marsh area named Hillman Marsh.  This area is very popular with birders.  Here is a link to the Windsor Star:

http://www.windsorstar.com/version+land+plan+surfaces+Leamington/2208672/story.html

For years I have wondered when the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge would truly become “international.”  This could be the start.

Note: Initial plans call for a 2,300 acre project that would cost $113 million (CDN) dollars.  The plan is not without opposition.

French Fry on the monroetalks forums noted this tidbit from Paul W. Smith’s column in the Detroit News:

Join National Park Service representatives 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Dec. 3 at the Monroe County Community College Main Campus cafeteria at the Audrey M. Warrick Student Services/Administrative Building, 1555 S. Raisinville Road, Monroe, as the River Raisin National Battlefield Park gets closer and closer.

http://www.freep.com/article/20091113/NEWS15/91113067/1202/RSS

The NPS is in the process of creating a plan to establish and manage the new River Raisin National Battlefield Park.  Here are my two cents:

We need the park to be broader than just the area donated to the NPS.  If one looks at the area near the battlefield, one sees a host of public land.  On the southern banks of the River Raisin are Soldiers & Sailors and Hellenberg Parks.  These areas were within the larger battlefield area.  To the east, Sterling State Park and the old Ford Plant lands are now directly connected by trail the battlefield proper.  To the immediate north is Heck Park with its Vietnam Veterans Memorial.  Trail linkages into Monroe connect to a large number of military memorials.

Beyond the immediate area, one can see an even larger battlefield park.  Battles related to those fought in Frenchtown extend into Wayne County.  And Wayne County was included in the initial battlefield legislation.  The Old Hull’s Road extended along what is now N. Dixie.  Several small skirmishes happened along this route.  Today, there are probably a dozen pieces of public land along this route in the Lake Erie shoreline corridor.

I think that we need to take as wide an approach as possible with battlefield planning.  I think that a Lake Erie shoreline trail should be established that either follows the old interurban line towards Detroit or right-of-wayalong N. Dixie.  I think that Monroe’s parks in the immediate vicinity should be incorporated into the park.  I think that priority should be given to rehabilitating Ford plant lands and building linkages within the entire area.

This is the time to think big.

Out Of Place Trailer from Kurt P Vincent on Vimeo.

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, much of America was a wasteland.  Farmers had overworked the land – resulting eventually in the 1930s Dust Bowl.  And loggers had cut forests across vast regions without sustainability in mind.  But these forests and lands did come back.  An incredible collection of conservationists, politicians and planners helped to recreate sustainable forests and farm lands.

I am fascinated by these efforts.  And, in fact, I part company with many environmentalists in believing strongly that there is very little environmental damage that cannot be undone with enough time, planning and effort.

So, I listened with interest to Terry Gross’ program Fresh Air this past weekend.  An episode focused on a new book by Timothy Egan about the largest forest fire in American history.  The fire swept across Washington, Idaho and Montana in 1910.  It wreaked havoc, but eventually brought massive popular support for the National Forest Service.  The National Forests were in a weak political position at the time and the fire can be said to have saved the forests by completely changing public opinion.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114248029