February 21, 2015
Huron Valley Group Sets Its Conservation Agenda
By Nancy Shiffler and Dorothy Nordness
The Huron Valley Group Conservation Committee has worked on a variety of issues over the years. Recently committee members worked through a planning process to organize our efforts around a set of broad themes and to identify the specific activities our members will work on to address these issues. What follows briefly describes these themes and our current and expanded activities, along with some of the people working in these areas.
Climate Change and Sustainability - this area of effort includes a broad array of interests and efforts. The Ann Arbor area is lucky to have leadership in the local government on some of the efforts to reduce our community’s carbon footprint.
- Engage in and support effective implementation of community Climate Action Plans
- Support the effective implementation of Ann Arbor’s Urban Forest Management Plan (James D’Amour and Rita Mitchell)
- Support efforts to expand use of renewable energy options and energy efficiency in new and retrofit construction (Bill Kidd)
- Support the Chapter’s “Beyond Coal” campaign. (Brad van Guilder)
- Promote community and individual solar projects (John Ford, Bill Kidd)
- Advocate for local and state legislation that promotes renewable energy and energy efficiency and conservation
- Promote increased recycling and reuse (Robert Gordon)
Extractive Industries (Oil, Gas, and Minerals) – there’s much to do here as fracking and pipeline transportation of hydrocarbons continue to pose threats to the environment is all sorts of ways.
- Advocate against fracking and other destructive drilling practices (Nancy Shiffler, Dick Brown)
- Work with township citizens to promote more local control of and public participation in decisions about oil and gas drilling in their communities (James D’Amour, John Ford, Nancy Shiffler)
- Fight the permitting of unnecessary and destructive pipelines locally (e.g., the ET Rover and Nexus natural gas pipelines), statewide (e.g., the Line 5 oil pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac), and nationally (e.g., the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline). (Nancy Shiffler, Dick Brown)
Local Foods and Sustainable Agriculture – Here’s an area where your everyday actions can make a difference by choosing to purchase your food fresh from small local farmers. The Chapter has recently partnered with other organizations working to support and increase sustainable food production in Michigan and to educate the public about the large role that big agriculture plays in our carbon footprint – a big job. (http://moreformichigan.org)
- Encourage members to support locally and sustainably grown foods through farmer’s markets, community supported agriculture (CSA’s), shopping at local co-ops, buying organic, etc. (Dick Brown, Dorothy Nordness, Ginny Maturen)
- Support sustainable agricultural practices, e.g., organically grown crops, hormone-free meats, non-GMO crops. (Dick Brown, Dorothy Nordness, Ginny Maturen)
- Advocate against subsidies that favor factory farms over small farms (John Ford, Dorothy Nordness)
- Advocate for stronger controls on air and water pollution from factory farms. (John Ford)
- Educate about and encourage members to grow native plants (Toni Spears, Dick Brown, Dorothy Nordness)
Parklands, Public Lands, and Open Space – This topic spans issues in the city of Ann Arbor as well as township and tri-county efforts to provide and maintain excellent parks and open space for residents and visitors.
- Protect funding for parkland acquisition and maintenance (James D’Amour, Toni Spears, Rita Mitchell, Lydia Fischer)
- Oppose repurposing, leasing, or sale of parkland for non-park uses (James D’Amour, Nancy Shiffler, Rita Mitchell)
- Support the protection and stewardship of natural areas through programs such as the Ann Arbor NAP program, the Washtenaw County Natural Areas and Open Space program, and the work of local land conservancies.
- Support good stewardship and oversight of local parks, Metroparks and county and state parks and recreation areas. (Toni Spears, Lydia Fischer)
- Support trail systems such as the Ann Arbor Greenway and the county Border-to-Border trail. (Rita Mitchell, Dorothy Nordness)
Transportation – Getting involved here means continually urging local officials to work towards more safe and sustainable forms of transportation in your area which results in more people walking, bicycling, and taking public transportation.
- Support effective public transit (Robert Gordon)
- Monitor the expanded AAATA transit operations (Robert Gordon)
- Encourage the development of infrastructure that supports biking and walking
- Support sustainable regional transit, including bus and train service. (Lydia Fischer, Robert Gordon)
Water Resources – If there is one thing Michigan is about, it’s water. We are surrounded by the world’s largest freshwater lakes and they need our constant and committed protection. Where do our rivers and streams go? Right into those lakes. Don’t sit by -- help our water resources be clean for now and into the future.
- Advocate for stronger cleanup measures for the Pall-Gelman pollution (James D’Amour)
- Support planning and improvements for water and sewer infrastructure.
- Encourage localized storm water management, such as rain gardens and porous pavement (Toni Spears, Lydia Fischer, Rita Mitchell)
- Support efforts to reduce phosphorus and fertilizer run-off in rivers, particularly as related to algae blooms in Lake Erie (Dorothy Nordness, John Ford)
- Support effective wetlands protection (Dorothy Nordness)
- Protect Those Wonderful Lakes (All of us!!)
This is an ambitious agenda, and we will provide periodic updates about our efforts on our website and in our newsletter.
The bottom line – there is plenty of room for you to join our efforts. We meet on the fourth Monday of the month with a usual break in August. If you are interested in joining us and helping with any of these issues, please contact …
Dorothy Nordness (734-668-6306) or Bill Kidd (734-883-0633)
