State-by-State Wrap Up: Pennsylvania

I'm following up with some state leaders for the campaign about how Great Lakes day went last week and how folks back home can build on the momentum. Here's my email interview with Pennsylvania's Tom Fuhrman of the Lake Erie Region Conservancy:

How did it go? How does Great Lakes restoration go over with Pennsylvania representatives?

Our meetings went well. We met with the staff of three congressmen and with Senator Casey who has signed onto all of the important Great Lakes legislation. Senator Specter also has signed onto the Restoration Implementation Act of 2007. Most legislators react positively to supporting restoration.

Pennsylvania doesn’t have a lot of coastline – how do you communicate the Lake’s importance to people in the area?

Although we don’t have a lot of shoreline, what we do have is very important to our lifestyles and economy. The fishery alone is well over $50 million annually. We also have Presque Isle State Park with its 13 miles of sandy beaches that attract over 4 million visitors each year. Boating is also a huge part of the economy. Of our 43 mile’s of shoreline, over 1/3 is open to public access. The media and the local Chamber does a very good job of reminding the public of the value of these resources.

What can Pennsylvanians do to get involved with Great lakes and wetland restoration?

We encourage Pennsylvanian’s to lobby their elected officials to support important legislation such as the Compact Agreement and Restoration.

LINKS:
Presque Isle State Park
Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership

Partying with Great Lakes heroes and our Canadian friends

The night before everyone stormed The Hill, The Canadian Embassy hosted their fellow Lakers for a really nice party with good wine and delicious little fried hors d'oeuvre-y things (check out the Great Lakes Commision page for good photos of the party and other events in DC). Some legendary congressional Lakes champions were there to party with the folks from back home and tell stories about their efforts to explain the importance of the Lakes to their colleagues:

• Longtime Great Lakes hero Senator George Voinovich of Ohio talked about collaborating with his Canadian counterparts through one of the "best kept secrets in government," the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group. He's participated with the group over the years to solve Lakes problems.
• Republican Congressman Vernon Ehlers of Grand Rapids told a favorite story of his from early on in his career. After giving a floor speech about fighting zebra mussels, he had to correct one of his fellow congressmen when they were angry about spending taxpayer dollars on "the muscles of zebras."
• Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar gave a fun speech about her first year in the Senate trying to explain invasive species to her colleagues. She uses YouTube videos of Asian Carp to illustrate the importance of keeping them out of the Lakes.
  

Check it out yourself - tell me the thought of these monsters attacking folks throughout the basin isn't horrifying:


So there you go - take page from Senator Klobuchar's book and use the power of The Tubes to win hearts and minds, because sometimes a YouTube video is worth a thousand press conferences...

Illinois fighting invasives on two fronts

Illinois is interesting among the Great Lakes states - the Chicago River was reversed to flow out of the Lakes over a hundred years ago, taking much of the Illinois coast out of the watershed. But Lake Michigan is a big part of Chicago's identity, and invasive species don't stop at state lines, so the Illinois table was well populated with passionate folks gearing up to lobby their congresspeople. The Illinois delegation has Great Lakes champions in congressmen like Democrat Rahm Emanuel and Republican Mark Kirk, but not everyone is on board yet, so there's some work left to do.

I spoke with Melanie Napoleon, Elizabeth Latener, and Sandy Somodi from Chicago's Shedd Aquarium. The aquarium is very involved in lake issues - housing an exhibit featuring the dreaded Asian Carp and maintaining the site Listen to Your Lakes, which features educational materials and the Waterblog.

I asked the crew from Shedd about what Lakes issues affect Illinois the most and how they communicate them. They're focused on ballast water legislation that will keep more invasives from coming into the Lakes, and eventually further inland. Illinois is also important on another front in the battle against invasives, being home to the electric barrier keeping the leaping, freaky big Asian Carp from invading the Lakes from the southern and western waters where it was introduced. The Carp barrier is one of the only Lakes programs in President Bush's 2008 budget that didn't get cut.

While Illinoisan Lakers fight invasives and care about the ecology of the systems, Melanie made a good point:

I make sure to point out that it just isn't about fish. It's also about people. We aren't just getting involved because we want to save the brown fish or the silver fish - we want people to have clean water to drink and nice beaches to play in.

A good thing to remember when reaching out to a person who may not be the biggest fan of fish.

Video: Jeff Skelding explains the HOW Coalition and Great Lakes Restoration

Do you want to know about the Healing Our Waters Coalition (HOW), but you hate reading? You are in luck, friend. Just click on the YouTube video below, and Jeff Skelding, campaign director for HOW, will give you the scoop.

Quick, before you have to read any more!



For you folks who are into the whole reading thing, there's also good news. HOW has an extensive website you can check out with all the news and advice you need to restore the Great Lakes. Check it out.

Michigan - Bringing Others On Board

The entire Michigan delegation is already signed on to Great Lakes Restoration, April Bennett, tells me, so Michiganders used lobby day to ask their representatives to reach out and sign up two new legislators either from inside the basin or some other part of the country.

April was in DC representing the Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC).

Other priorities included getting a commitment for reauthorization of the Legacy Act and educate other legislators on curbing invasive species through the Ballast Water legislation.

Contact MUCC for a great new DVD and fact sheets on Great Lakes issues.

New blood pitching in on Great Lakes Day

Young people are the new hot voting bloc this year. Facebook debates, YouTube campaign videos, and throngs of twentysomethings screaming "yes we can!" are the most apparent images of this in the campaign season, but the numbers check out as well, with young voters turning the tide in key primaries, most notably the Iowa caucuses.

I caught up with three fellow Gen Yers (or is it Millenials?) at Great Lakes Day: William Ellison, who just graduated from Claremont McKenna College, Seth Buchsbaum, a freshman at the University of Michigan, and Marco Tori, A High School Senior involved with Ducks Unlimited. Their voices were welcome in planning discussions, and their activism key in a political season in which politicians will be paying attention to the youth vote again. Note to other young activists: notice the jackets, slacks, button-down shirts in the photo - looking sharp never hurts when you're speaking to power.

So for alla youse kids with your bloggy mumbo jumbo and your internets chat feeds, check out some Great Lakes social networking and other online stuff:

• Excellent blogs The Political Environment, Black Bear Speaks, and Great Lakes Blogger
• Healthy Lakes, Healthy Lives blog, Facebook group, and MySpace Page

Friend you later!

Perform routine acronym checks

GLRC, AOC, USEPAGLNPO, ... looks like a tray of Scrabble tiles. It's enough to confuse even the wonkiest Great Lakes wonk.

"Be sure to do an acronym check," was a great tip coming out of the New York round table yesterday, "you never do know how familiar a official or staffer is with the issue."

It's a good tip for a lot of activists, whether you're talking to a congressperson or media or your grandma. Spell out what your saying, explain what the groups or concepts you're discussing are about, and most importantly, how they effect the person to whom you're explaining them. Running around rattling off acronyms and legalese West Wing-style should be done back at home or the office, safely in the company of other wonks.

BTW: Those letters? Great Lakes Regional Collaboration, Area of Concern, and U.S. EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office. Triple word score! Take that, Grandma!