Thanks for your insight Dave. It is thoughtful and provoking.
One additional feature of any successful recovery will be we Great Lakes St Lawrence States, Provinces, First Nations, Tribes, Cities and communities will have to work together. These waters and lands are shared responsibilities and can only be recovered together. Our joint strength is powerful politically ( necessary for President and Prime Minister), economically, culturally and naturally with all the fresh water. We just need to discover our path moving forward, stick together and go for it.
I so appreciated your attention to Owosso’s James Oliver Curwood and his conservation advocacy. I am saddened by the demise of MUCC. Would love to see your thoughts on this history.
As I started to engage on Great Lakes issues in 2003 and as a former Michigander, Ruin and Recovery was the first book I read.
After reading your 25 year look back, I was going to revisit it but remembered I donated it to MSU's environmental journalism program along with some of your other works. Hopefully they will inspire a budding journalist understand the state's environmental history. ~gw
Well done, Dave! A good reprise of your book that also highlights the importance of citizen engagement to keep the politicians focused on what is happening and what they can do about it. Inspired at midnight! Thank you, Margaret Wooster
I'm a Johnny-come-lately to your written works on protecting the Great Lakes and the Michigan environment. So, I'm not familiar with this book. Some catch-up seems in order. The general tone of this commentary reminded me of that famous line from Bruce Catton's 'Michigan History', written for the nation's bi-centennial, regarding our ancestors' view of the state's abundant natural resources--"Inexhaustible, that fatal Michigan word." It was all going to last forever, in their approach, but a rapacious appetitive fueled by greed and plunder depleted the native wildlife, the virgin forests, the fisheries, the iron ore and copper in short order. The fresh water remains, but always under threat of misuse and drier areas of the nation coveting this available supply. "Is it too late for praying?" was the question asked in a long-ago Gordon Lightfoot song. I pray, with the citizen engagement you suggest as the necessary counter-measure, that it is not.
I’ve said for years that Ruin and Recovery is required reading for anyone with a serious interest in conservation and the environment in Michigan. It’s part history and part cautionary tale; as you’e pointed out, history is repeating itself with more ruin. But recovery will follow, too, as people wake up to what’s at stake.
You’ve done a great service to The Cause in writing it, Dave. If you think it can be improved, a revised edition would be most welcome, but don’t underestimate the tremendous value and impact of the original. You’ve done many things to earn your place in the Michigan Environmental Hall of Fame, and writing Ruin and Recovery will stand through time as one of your greatest contributions and one of your finest hours. We can never thank you enough!!!
Thanks for your insight Dave. It is thoughtful and provoking.
One additional feature of any successful recovery will be we Great Lakes St Lawrence States, Provinces, First Nations, Tribes, Cities and communities will have to work together. These waters and lands are shared responsibilities and can only be recovered together. Our joint strength is powerful politically ( necessary for President and Prime Minister), economically, culturally and naturally with all the fresh water. We just need to discover our path moving forward, stick together and go for it.
Thanks for all you do.
Mark Mattson
I so appreciated your attention to Owosso’s James Oliver Curwood and his conservation advocacy. I am saddened by the demise of MUCC. Would love to see your thoughts on this history.
Dave, thank you for this perceptive, humble reflection. I found it hopeful and inspiring.
Great refections!
As I started to engage on Great Lakes issues in 2003 and as a former Michigander, Ruin and Recovery was the first book I read.
After reading your 25 year look back, I was going to revisit it but remembered I donated it to MSU's environmental journalism program along with some of your other works. Hopefully they will inspire a budding journalist understand the state's environmental history. ~gw
Well done, Dave! A good reprise of your book that also highlights the importance of citizen engagement to keep the politicians focused on what is happening and what they can do about it. Inspired at midnight! Thank you, Margaret Wooster
I'm a Johnny-come-lately to your written works on protecting the Great Lakes and the Michigan environment. So, I'm not familiar with this book. Some catch-up seems in order. The general tone of this commentary reminded me of that famous line from Bruce Catton's 'Michigan History', written for the nation's bi-centennial, regarding our ancestors' view of the state's abundant natural resources--"Inexhaustible, that fatal Michigan word." It was all going to last forever, in their approach, but a rapacious appetitive fueled by greed and plunder depleted the native wildlife, the virgin forests, the fisheries, the iron ore and copper in short order. The fresh water remains, but always under threat of misuse and drier areas of the nation coveting this available supply. "Is it too late for praying?" was the question asked in a long-ago Gordon Lightfoot song. I pray, with the citizen engagement you suggest as the necessary counter-measure, that it is not.
I’ve said for years that Ruin and Recovery is required reading for anyone with a serious interest in conservation and the environment in Michigan. It’s part history and part cautionary tale; as you’e pointed out, history is repeating itself with more ruin. But recovery will follow, too, as people wake up to what’s at stake.
You’ve done a great service to The Cause in writing it, Dave. If you think it can be improved, a revised edition would be most welcome, but don’t underestimate the tremendous value and impact of the original. You’ve done many things to earn your place in the Michigan Environmental Hall of Fame, and writing Ruin and Recovery will stand through time as one of your greatest contributions and one of your finest hours. We can never thank you enough!!!