Take a Walk on the Wild Side
NMEAC Celebrity Summer Outdoor Series
Experience guided visits to some of the most spectacular wilderness areas in northern Michigan, led by NMEAC Environmentalists' of the Year award recipients, Board members, heroes, and celebrities (especially to the flora and fauna of northern Michigan). Participants will visit an area that is a personal favorite of your celebrity guide.
Next hike: July 19 at 9am
Tour the Maple Bay Natural Area. Follow the path to over 2,600 feet of undeveloped shoreline along Grand Traverse Bay MORE INFO
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Community Events and Activities
July 16: 5 pm to 8 pm
TODAY: Green Cuisine
Honor—Green Cuisine is an expression of Food For Thought’s philosophy. It is our effort to bring more awareness to the benefit of local food and sustainable business practices. Visitors will be able to sample some of the best products of local food and beverage artisans, tour Food For Thought’s organic farm and green buildings as well as socialize, learn and have fun in a beautiful setting. Children welcome. This is a “zero-waste” event. What does “zero-waste” mean? Food For Thought 10704 Oviatt Rd. Honor, MI 49640 For more information, please call 231-326-5444 or email green-cuisine@foodforthought.net
July 25 at 5:30pm
Community Critical Mass Bike Ride
Join your neighbors and friends on a group bike ride through Traverse City. Feel the fun at zero gallons per mile (and be pollution free). Respect the earth, our community, and contribute to your good health. Join us at the "Open Space," downtown. Visit: TraverseAlive.com for more information
September 7-8, 2008
Author
Bill McKibben in Traverse City
Opportunity for Community Dialogue – Uniting groups and individuals in the community around this common cause. NMEAC is a co-sponsor of this event.
URGENT: Environmental Action Alerts
Tuesday July 22 at 6:00
Elmwood Citizens for Sensible Growth invites you to Speak up Against the Proposed Super Substation
Elmwood Township—Knights of Columbus hall on West Bay. Learn about, or speak up against, this proposed super substation’s poor location selection in relation to the Grand Visioning and TCTALUS M72 corridor study. Knights of Columbus, 13424 S West Bay Shore Dr., Traverse City, MI 49684
Tell your Senator to vote NO in regard to new coal-fired power plants in Michigan
Nations around the world, and various States in this great nation are already realizing the enormous health, financial, and environmental risks inherent in coal. Only you can help to stop this problem in Michigan. We need your help today to stop the construction of dirty coal-fueled power generating plants (along with their toxic emissions) in Michigan..
- Every year 24,000 people die prematurely because of pollution from coal-fired power plants.
- Every year 38,000 heart attacks occur because of pollution from coal-fired power plants.
- Every year 12,000 hospital admissions and 550,000 people suffering asthma attacks result from power plant pollution.
- Every year, coal-fired power plants release 48 tons of mercury nationwide.
- Power plants release over 40% of total U.S. C02 emissions, a primary contributor to global warming...
Environmental Justice
Stop Invasive Species
Problem: Invasive Species like the zebra mussel continue to wreak havoc on the Great Lakes - racking up control costs to the tune of $120 billion annually. What's more, new invaders are arriving in the Great Lakes about once every 28 weeks, mainly from the ballast tanks of ocean going ships. Solution: The Senate must act this summer to pass strong ballast water treatment standards similar to those in the House.
Blanchard, Milliken: Protect the water
TRAVERSE CITY -- Two former governors -- Republican William Milliken and Democrat James Blanchard -- prodded legislators Thursday to prevent large-scale uses of Michigan water that would not be in the public interest.
Friends of the Jordan River Watershed Protection
Alba—If you go with the flow, the waters (and wastes) of the Lake Charlevoix Watershed flow in a North, Northwest direction from Alba Lake Michigan. Learn more about proposed toxic waste deep injection wells in Northern Michigan.
Will the Great Lakes become a nuclear dump?
We must join together and make our voices heard. The Canadian government plans to build a dump site right on the shores of Lake Huron to store radioactive waste from 20 nuclear plants for hundreds of years. As if that wasn't bad enough: Oil company Shell Canada wants to build a giant refinery along five miles of the St. Clair River that will process 250,000 barrels of heavy crude oil daily - and put one of our most important waterways at risk. Canada is already treating Michigan like a dumping ground, sending millions of tons of their garbage each year to our communities. Now, it wants to give us more mercury, more sulfur dioxide, more CO2 emissions, more overall pollution and radioactive waste that will put our citizens at risk for hundreds of years. The nuclear waste site and the oil refinery pose a real danger to our families today and for generations to come.
Hotel owner charged in wetlands dredging
TRAVERSE CITY A hotel owner charged with wetlands tampering surrendered to face criminal charges. Eighty-Sixth District Court Judge John D. Foresman on Friday arraigned Joseph Moffa on two misdemeanors for violation of state wetlands and submerged bottomlands law. Both offenses are punishable by up to one year in jail.
Beach grooming laws have been given teeth
It is a concept we don't see much of any more. Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Alan Schneider said he decided to charge Joseph Moffa, an officer in the company that owned the Cherry Tree Inn, with two criminal misdemeanors connected to a beach grooming incident in 2007 because "People make decisions ... and individuals are responsible for their conduct." Over the Thanksgiving weekend in 2006 (perhaps in hopes the powers that be would be too sedated by turkey to notice), and without benefit of a permit, Omni Hotels sent a bulldozer more than 120 feet into the water, dredged the lakebottom and filled other areas. Land below the normal waterline has long been recognized as taxpayer-owned property and under state juristiction -- not the whims of property owners.
Traverse City hotel owner facing charges
An owner of the Cherry Tree Inn hotel faces criminal charges for sending a bulldozer into Grand Traverse bay to reshape his beach. Authorities charged Joseph Moffa, 42, president of Ohio-based Omni Hospitality and vice president of Pride One Cherry Tree LLC, with two criminal misdemeanors for violation of state wetlands and submerged bottomlands law. Both offenses are punishable by up to one year in jail. State and federal authorities who investigated the inn and its owner determined a bulldozer drove as far as 122 feet into East Bay over Thanksgiving weekend in 2006. Moffa's attorney told Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Alan Schneider's office that Moffa would turn himself in Thursday, but he failed to show.
Quit Coal - Save Our Climate
One-hundred-fifty coal-fired power plants are currently proposed to be built. If even a small portion of these plants are constructed the global warming pollution pumped into our air will make all our other efforts to reverse climate change irrelevant. Coal plants are the dirtiest, most regressive source of energy possible - poisoning our communities and environment. The Environmental Law Program is working with activists around the country to champion clean energy in the face of this unprecedented rush to build new coal plants.
How Clean Coal Cooks Your Brain
"Clean coal" is not an actual invention, a physical thing – it is an advertising slogan. Like "fat-free donuts" or "interest-free loans."
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Just say “NO!” to Plastic Bags & Bottles
Give Bottled Water the Boot
For the price of one bottle of Evian, you can receive 1,000 gallons of tap water. Most of the price of a bottle of water goes for its bottling, packaging, shipping, marketing, retailing and profit. Just supplying Americans with plastic water bottles for one year consumes more than 47 million gallons of oil, enough to take 100,000 cars off the road and 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Billions of plastic water bottles end up in landfills each year, taking up valuable landfill space, leaching toxic additives, such as phthalates, into the groundwater and taking thousands of years to biodegrade. Tell your favorite restaurant or grocery store to, "Kick the Bottled Water Habit!" Ask the chef, manager, or owner to pledge to:
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Eliminate the sale of non-carbonated bottled water in single use containers; |
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Switch to serving only municipal tap water; |
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Help educate customers about the benefits of tap over bottled water; |
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Whenever possible, install a carbonation machine to make sparkling water from the tap; |
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Consider filtering tap water if they want to feel reassured; |
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Let NMEAC know about restaurants in Northern Michigan who are showing real leadership by eliminating bottled water. |
Plastic is Passé
Paper or plastic? It's a question we hear every time we go to the grocery store. It's time shoppers in NW Michigan had a better choice – recyclable and reusable containers. Dear consumers and shoppers. I wouldn't bring this matter up if it wasn't incredibly important. May I have a moment to share a few ideas on plastic single use shopping/grocery bags? In all honesty, I probably wouldn't be asking for your time if all of your plastic was being properly recycled... ...But it's not. Plastic bags are in trees and on fences, in the creek near my house, flapping on windy days from my shrubs, and rolling across the lawn like tumbleweed on the way to their next unsightly outpost. READ ARTICLE
Great Lakes Conference and Environmentalist of the Year Awards — Huge Success
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Photo Taken by M'Lynn Hartwell from Lectern |
AND THE WINNERS ARE ...
Traverse City—When the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council was only seven years old, it presented the first “Environmentalist of the Year” award to local activist Clarence Kroupa.
That modest beginning has grown into a standing-room-only day-long annual conference that local activists and conservationists consider a highlight of the year. “It’s our signature event,” says Greg Reisig, president of the group. “It is inspiring and uplifting for everyone in the region to celebrate the achievements and honor our heroes.” This year was the 20th anniversary of our prestigious annual ceremony, and NMEAC is pleased to have received a record number of nominations for the 2008 "Environmentalist of the Year" Awards.
Thank you from the Board and Staff of NMEAC for making 2008 conference the most successful ever! CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THE STORY
NMEAC “Environmentalists' of the Year” Updates
New round of lawsuits could crack Meijer's facade
A ruling that allows more Acme Township officials to sue Meijer Inc. for alleged harassment and intimidation may help finally reveal just how high in the Meijer organization the decision to make war on Acme really went. New revelations could also set the stage for an array of criminal charges against Meijer officials and/or its attorneys, its public relations firm and local citizens who aligned themselves with the big-box and recall efforts. What Acme residents must demand this time around is a full and final accounting of who at Meijer decided it was time to intimidate instead of negotiate, who decided to knowingly break the law, who decided to essentially try to overthrow an elected local government. Who put profit ahead of the law? (As the result of Meijer's legal activities brought against citizens and commissioners, a growing chorus of consumers in Michigan have begun a personal boycott against shopping at Meijer)
All aboard a sinking ship
If Meijer Inc. thinks it has new headaches now that seven Acme Township officials have been given the green light to sue the retail giant, wait till its former allies weigh in. Representatives of The Village, a proposed Acme mega-development, appear ready to place the blame for alleged wrongdoing against Acme officials on Meijer and its former attorneys, including Timothy Stoepker, law firm Dickinson Wright PLLC, and the Traverse City firm of Smith & Johnson Attorneys PC. It is a classic cop out. Next to "The dog ate my homework," "He made me do it!" may be the most popular alibi of all time.
Meijer gets judge to hide papers
Meijer Inc. convinced a state appellate judge to hide from public view documents related to Grand Traverse County's efforts to investigate the retailer's campaign finance violations. A motion to seal the appellate case was filed by John Pirich, a Lansing attorney hired by Meijer.
Acme Group was a Front for Meijer
TRAVERSE CITY -- Meijer Inc. secretly gave an Acme Township political group $12,400 to fund its operations, and paid a local law firm, Smith & Johnson P.C., $6,400 to perform campaign work that wasn't reported as required by state law. The latest revelations provide the strongest evidence to date that Meijer operated Acme Taxpayers for Responsible Government, formed in 2005, as a shell organization to carry out its financial and political goals. On Tuesday Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land said she reached a deal with Meijer over campaign finance violations regarding the retailer's efforts to manipulate two Acme Township elections -- a 2005 zoning referendum, and an unsuccessful 2007 recall election that targeted the township board. Land's deal requires Meijer Inc. to pay $190,000, the largest campaign finance violation fine in state history, but may well protect Meijer corporate officials and others from criminal charges.
Meijer to pay $190K in civil fines
Acme Trustee Frank Zarafonitis' day began on a good note, when he learned Meijer Inc. would pay a fine for illegal campaign acts in the township and that criminal charges could be pursued against the people who crafted that strategy. But reality struck late Tuesday, when Zarafonitis discovered that Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land's back room deal with Meijer Inc. -- civil fines totaling $190,138 for violations in 2005 and 2007 Acme elections -- undercut any possibility of state election law criminal cases against Meijer and its hired hands.
Meijer hadn't counted on Acme's Bill Boltres
Every uprising begins with one man or woman standing up and saying "enough." In Acme Township, that was Bill Boltres. The 72-year-old township treasurer lit a fuse back in 2006 when, after suffering two heart attacks and numerous sleepless nights over lawsuits filed against him by Meijer, Inc., he fought back. During depositions related to his counter-suit it was revealed that a law firm hired by Meijer had paid a public relations agency more than $30,000 to secretly orchestrate a failed recall election against the Acme board in 2007. A report done for Meijer also indicated the company made illegal contributions to a 2005 referendum on halting big-box development. The findings from the Boltres depositions prompted a blistering attack on Meijer's goonish tactics from across the state, Boltres not only didn't back down, he filed his own suit and Meijer was sent reeling. Boltres has since sued the Village at Grand Traverse LLC, the corporation behind the Village at Grand Traverse, claiming Meijer-like illegal harassment. Now other Acme officials are contemplating their own lawsuits. Bill Boltres didn't go looking for a fight. All he wanted was to serve his township, help guide development and keep the books balanced. Meijer, though, decided to declare war. MORE
Meijer Actions in Acme Township Causes Investigation
Meijer Inc. has acknowledged it probably violated state law by donating to an effort to recall seven elected Acme Township officials who objected to the chain's development plans, and by failing to report its activities. In a letter to Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, a Meijer attorney said the company also may have illegally contributed to a 2005 ballot initiative that overturned a moratorium on big-box store construction in Acme. Rich Robinson, executive director of the nonpartisan Michigan Campaign Finance Network, said what sets this case apart, is the apparent extent of Meijer's behind-the-scenes involvement in Acme Township politics. The company's role is detailed in documents made public in a lawsuit against the company. "For a corporation to secretly finance a recall campaign is pretty unique," Robinson said. [Editor: Acme Township was the recipient of this years NMEAC Profiles in Courage Award.]
READ THIS STORY | VIEW AWARD
Elk Rapids also Honors NMEAC “Environmentalist of The Year in Education” : Kip Knight
Elk Rapids Honors NMEAC The NMEAC Environmentalist of The Year in Education Award Winner Kip Knight brought his students to the Elk Rapids Village Council Meeting on May 19th and was recognized by the village. Kip and the students set up water quality testing stations at the village hall as part of the evening. It seems these awards keep going and going and going spreading good will and education along the way.
Rewarding Project: Teacher among winners
TRAVERSE CITY RECORD EAGLE—Kip Knight has seen the benefits of engaging students when it comes to the environment. It took about a year for the Lakeland Elementary teacher to organize a day-long field trip for 85 fifth-graders to study water quality in downtown Elk Rapids. But the students' smiling faces as they stood knee-deep in the water was all he needed to know that his efforts weren't in vain. "They are discovering, thinking, wondering. You realize that it is all worth the anxiety of pulling something like this off," Knight said. "My reward is seeing the kids taking it on and knowing they will benefit from this now and hopefully later on." Knight received another reward Friday when he was named Environmental Educator of the Year by the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council... MORE
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News That Matters
July 07 - Environmental Groups Slam G8 Leaders for Not Doing More on Global Warming
July 02 - A Metal Scare to Rival the Oil Scare
July 01 - Trains to answer traffic, cost, and pollution
more headlines >>
The Story of Stuff
Have you ever wondered where the stuff comes from that we buy and where it goes when we throw it out? Must watch.
Our Current Priorities
Transportation
and land use. Growth is the greatest single issue affecting the environment of Northern Michigan. NMEAC is active on several fronts to help local officials to curb sprawl development and avoid its devastating impacts on wildlife habitat, clean air, clean water and quality of life. NMEAC is a founder of, and leader in,
The Grand Vision, a $1.6 million, six-county regional planning process that is involving several thousand residents of Northern Michigan in defining our future. We encourage NMEAC members to find out more about the project by clicking The Grand Vision logo.
Contamination
cleanup. Northern Michigan has scores of contaminated sites
left over from industrial activities dating back as far as the 1800s.
We are pressing local and state officials to accelerate efforts at
cleaning these up.
Inland Lake Initiative. We've begun engaging riparian property owners,
public officials, lake association members, and others in focused
discussions revolving around our region's inland lakes. These finite
and land-locked resources face many threats, from over-development to
invasive species to poor water quality. NMEAC aims to head up an
umbrella group of inland lakes champions and collaborate with
water-based partners to implement real strategies for protection. Be
sure to check out our Inland Lakes page to stay up-to-date on recent
inland lakes activities!
