GLIN==> Upper Peninsula Great Lakes nonprofit reconnects kids with environment

Superior Watershed Partnership Reconnects Kids to Environment

March 12, 2011

MARQUETTE - Living in Marquette, you're probably constantly aware of Lake Superior. But the entire Upper Peninsula is divided into three large watersheds, one that drains into Lake Superior in the north, one that drains into Lake Michigan in the south and one that drains to Lake Huron in the east.

Protecting and maintaining the lakes, streams and rivers that make up those watersheds has been the ongoing mission of the Superior Watershed Partnership, a non-profit organization that originated and continues to work in the Upper Peninsula.

"Watershed protection and restoration is the core of what we do," said SWP Executive Director Carl Lindquist. "You can see cleaner water quality, more fish, better land conditions."

The organization is involved in not only developing plans to help protect and restore watershed areas, but also takes a hand in carrying out those projects, as well as taking on issues such as climate change through programs that encourage local residents to conserve energy.

A big part of the SWP mission, however, is community education and youth programming that allows people to get involved in protecting the area they live in.

"That's where we're getting requests all the time. That includes working with schools, getting interns involved," Lindquist said. "The difference with us as a green organization is we don't go into the schools as much as we get the kids out of the schools and into the field."

Even living in a rural area such as the Upper Peninsula, Lindquist said kids especially can become "nature deficient," disconnected from the environment around them.

To keep young people in touch with what's happening in the world immediately surrounding them, the SWP brings students outside to study streams and lakes, do garbage pickups and learn more about how their actions can impact the environment.

Although grants can be secured for larger reconstruction or energy efficiency projects, the community and youth involvement aspect of the SWP is funded purely on the group's memberships and sponsors.

"That's something we're pretty proud of, getting things done inexpensively and on a shoestring," Lindquist said.

To expand those youth and community programs, however, the organization needs to see an increase in membership. Individuals can become members of the organization beginning at $25, with business sponsorships beginning at $250.

As a local organization, money that is donated to the SWP goes to work to protect watersheds and involve youth directly in the area. The SWP has worked in every county in the U.P., working to prevent pollution, remove and prevent invasive species, reintroducing native plants, stabilizing shoreline and providing educational opportunities.

The organization also works to promote nature tourism in the area.

In recent years, the group has been involved in projects such as a public education campaign to limit the travel of cigarette butts from where they are tossed on the ground into storm sewers and then out into Lake Superior.

"Grants are one thing. They are dedicated to specific projects," Lindquist said. "But a lot of this community work is unfunded."

To find out more about becoming a member of the SWP or to sign up, visit the organization's website atwww.superiorwatersheds.org<http://www.superiorwatersheds.org/>. You can also contact the organization at 906-228-6095.


Natasha Koss, CFRM
Program Manager
Superior Watershed Partnership and Land Trust
Lake Superior ● Lake Michigan ● Lake Huron
2 Peter White Drive
Presque Isle Park
Marquette, Michigan 49855
Phone: (906) 228-6095 Ext. 14
Fax: (906) 228-6863
Website: www.superiorwatersheds.org<http://www.superiorwatersheds.org/>

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The mission of the Superior Watershed Partnership is to protect and improve the natural resources of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on a watershed basis; by promoting responsible individual and community actions that ensure a sustainable environment, encourage a sustainable economy and help improve quality of life.

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