Making Lake Michigan Great 2001 Tour to Happen This Summer
The W.G. JACKSON vessel of the Grand Valley State University Robert B. Annis
Water Resources Institute (GVSU-AWRI) will be making its way around Lake
Michigan on the Making Lake Michigan Great tour in summer of 2001. The
purpose of the tour is to spread the word about the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s Lakewide Management Plan for Lake Michigan that was
recently released. Funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.
EPA), the tour will provide hands-on experience in water issues for the
public aboard the W.G. JACKSON. There will be cruises for students and the
public, open houses, and community activities. This is the 4th summer for
the tour.
Making Lake Michigan Great is a project of GVSU-AWRI and the U.S. EPA Lake
Michigan Forum. The Lake Michigan Forum was organized to provide input from
broad interests around Lake Michigan into the development of the U.S. EPA
Lakewide Management Plan. It is a diverse stakeholder group of academia,
government, business, industry, and others. Dr. Janet Vail, GVSU?AWRI
Senior Program Manager, serves as co-chair along with Dr. Ronald Baba of the
University of Wisconsin. The Forum’s home page can be accessed at
http://www.lkmichiganforum.org/.
The official start of the tour was on June 21st at the GVSU-AWRI dedication
ceremony for its Lake Michigan Center in Muskegon, Michigan. The JACKSON
will head south to the Port of Indiana (July 31-August 2) and to Chicago
(August 2-4). The northern tour will include Sturgeon Bay (August 17-18),
Menominee (August 19-20), and Escanaba (August 21-22). The culmination of
the tour will be at the Lake Michigan: State of the Lake 2001 Conference
that will be held on November 6-7 in Muskegon, Michigan.
A major theme of the tour is habitat. During the tour, highlights from the
Lake Michigan Lakewide Management Plan and the Lake Michigan Mass Balance
Study will be unveiled. The mass balance data provide a wealth of
information on how contaminants enter, remain, or leave the Lake Michigan
Basin. This information could have a major effect on policy making in the
region with respect to water quality.
Increased awareness and understanding of Lake Michigan issues leading to
positive actions are the paramount goals of the project. Making Lake
Michigan Great will help involve more citizens in the protection and
management of our national treasure, Lake Michigan. For more information,
call Dr. Janet Vail of GVSU-AWRI at (616) 895-3048 or E-mail: