Lessons Learned from the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge by John Hartig



The Refuge's new LEED-certified Visitor Center is
 being built adjacent to Michigan's only Ramsar
 Wetland of International Importance - Humbug Marsh.
Photo credit : Jerry Jourdan

I like to think of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge as a tapestry. A tapestry is a form of textile art traditionally woven on a vertical loom and most often proudly displayed in a prominent location of a home. Individual colored threads, each unique and beautiful in their own right, are woven together to produce an exceptional piece of art more beautiful and much stronger than imagined with just the individual threads. The Refuge is like an ecological tapestry made up of numerous species and habitats that when woven together are more beautiful and much stronger than imagined with just the individual species and habitats. Much like a textile tapestry is a source of pride in the home, the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge tapestry has become a source of pride in southeast Michigan and southwest Ontario.

There is no scientific doubt that this Refuge would truly be unique in its own right, because of its plethora and diversity of fish and wildlife, if it were not situated in the industrial heartland and a nearly seven-million person urban area.  But it is, and just like a rose that grows surrounded by concrete and steel is more remarkable than one that grows in a horticulturist’s garden, the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge is more remarkable because it is being built in the industrial heartland and within a major urban area.



Refuge celebrates completion of environmental education
 shelter in Humbug Marsh. Photo credit: D. Mitchell

The story is truly a compelling one – that cooperative conservation is helping re-create gathering places for people and wildlife along the Detroit River and western Lake Erie.  These unique conservation places are now a key factor in providing the quality of life demanded by competitive communities and businesses in the 21st Century.  Equally important is that cooperative conservation is helping provide an exceptional outdoor recreational and conservation experience to nearly seven million people in the watershed.  That, in turn, is helping develop the next generation of conservationists and sustainability entrepreneurs. 

Over 200 Detroit High School Students participate
 in Sturgeon Day on the Detroit RiverWalk
Photo credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

If conservation can be brought into the industrial heartland and this major urban area through the work of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge, it can be done in other urban areas.  Key lessons from building the Refuge include:

·                     Establish a compelling vision;

·                     Practice adaptive management;

·                     Build partnerships at all levels;

·                     Develop an ecosystem ethic through broad-based education, outreach, and stewardship;

·                     Connect people with nature;

·                     Build a record of success and celebrate it frequently;

·                     Quantify benefits;

·                     Involve the public in all actions to develop a sense of place and instill local responsibility               for stewardship;

·                     Recruit and train individuals to be urban change agents and facilitators; and

·                     Recruit a high-profile champion.

 

Urban conservation work is not easy and not for the faint of heart.  It is frequently underappreciated.  However, it is so important, much needed, and can be very rewarding. 

What lessons can you share from other successful urban conservation programs and what needs to be done to share these lessons within our growing urban wildlife conservation family? 

[Editor's Note:  See the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Urban Wildlife Conservation program site]

Compelling Citizen Science by John Hartig



John Hartig

Aldo Leopold is considered by many the father of wildlife conservation in America and an influential leader in wilderness preservation.  Clearly, if he were alive today he would be a strong proponent of the Urban Wildlife Conservation Program and its efforts to bring conservation to cities as part of a strategy to help develop the next generation of conservationists in urban areas because that is now where 80% of U.S. citizens live.  Leopold understood that conservation issues were not narrow and restricted, but multidimensional, requiring an integration of science, history, and culture to solve problems and achieve sustainable natural resource outcomes.  If you believe in citizen science and the important role it can play in bringing conservation to cities, then this Leopold quote will resonate with you:

 

“We can be ethical only in relation to something we can see, feel, understand, or otherwise have faith in.”

This quote provides much food for thought, particularly if you want to be part of the movement to make nature part of everyday urban life. 

 

In the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge we have been championing citizen science as an important tool in bringing conservation to cities.  The Refuge was established in 2001 as the only international one in North America and one of only a few truly urban refuges.  It is now one of the 14 priority urban refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System. The goal of the Refuge is two-fold: to help restore and conserve continentally-significant fish and wildlife populations and their requisite habitats along the Detroit River and western Lake Erie; and to make nature part of everyday urban life to help develop the next generation of conservationists.

 

Citizens Help Undertake Detroit River Hawk Watch at one
of the three best places to watch raptor migrations in the U.S. 
Photo credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

To help develop the next generation of conservationists, a priority has been placed on reconnecting people with nature through compelling citizen science. Good examples of involving citizens in observing and understanding nature, and contributing to conservation in our Refuge, include: DetroitRiver Hawk Watch in one of the three best places to watch raptor migrations in the U.S., marsh bird monitoring, Christmas Bird Counts, common tern restoration and monitoring, habitat restoration and enhancement work through our Refuge Stewardship Crew, and soft shoreline engineering at over 50 sites in the watershed. And all of this citizen science is being done in a refuge with nearly seven million people in a 45-minute drive. 

 

 

 

Citizen scientists help restore common tern habitat

 along the Detroit River. 

Photo credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The value and benefits of this work include: developing a personal connection to the places citizens work and study; gaining an understanding of environmental and natural resource problems, challenges, and needs; learning about scientific methods and how science contributes to management; becoming involved in environmental and natural resource management decisions; building the capacity of governments, nongovernmental organizations, and other stakeholder groups to fulfill their environmental and natural resource missions; and improving scientific literacy and developing a stewardship ethic.  Achieving these benefits has required effective citizen science project planning and implementation that: ensures measurable results; expands knowledge; provides meaningful experiences for volunteers; and ensure that volunteers have fun. 

 

Refuge's stewardship crew removes invasive
 buckthorn from Humbug Marsh. 
Photo credit: International Wildlife Refuge Alliance

 

 

 

 

What role does citizen science play in bringing conservation to your city and what creative citizen science efforts have you used or been involved in?

 

 

Becoming Part of the Community Fabric by John Hartig

The Detroit RiverWalk provides a new waterfront
porch for people and wildlife in downtown Detroit
Photo credit: SmithGroupJJR

Clearly, much needs to be done to reconnect urbanites to their land/ecosystem through compelling outdoor experiences.  Compelling outdoor experiences can lead to thinking fresh about city dwellers’ relationships to their land/ecosystem.  Thinking fresh can then lead to development of a stewardship ethic that can inspire urbanites to live differently.  Living inspired by a land/ecosystem ethic gives hope.  One of our goals of conservation organizations like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should be to make sure that their programs and staff become part of the community fabric.  As Aldo Leopold noted, we must learn to love and respect the land, our ecosystem, and the place we call home. 

It is abundantly clear that urban refuges and other urban conservation places have the unique proximal natural resources to help urbanites experience nature as the supporting fabric of their everyday lives.  Whether it’s hiking, fishing, hunting, birding, learning through environmental education, photography, natural resource interpretation, or just plain exploring in the woods, urban refuges and urban conservation areas have what educators, city planners, developers, business leaders, and parents want – unique natural resources that can enhance quality of life, contribute to ecosystem health and healthful living, and nourish our sense of wonder, imagination, and curiosity.   And in the case of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge, these natural resources can be seen, enjoyed, and studied in the shadows of industries and skyscrapers, providing a foretaste of sustainable development.   

1910 breakwater at Elizabeth Park
 before restoration
Photo credit: Wayne County  

Elizabeth Park shoreline after restoration
 using soft shoreline engineering - Photo Credit: USFWS 

We need unique urban conservation places, whether they be urban refuges, urban conservation areas, urban state parks, metroparks, city parks, conservancy lands, or other natural areas, or some combination of these urban conservation places, that can make nature experiences part of everyday urban life.  It was indeed quite prophetic that the great American author and naturalist Henry David Thoreau, while watching civilization expand into the countryside during his lifetime (1817-1862), recommended that every town should have a forest  of 500-1,000 acres to be used for conservation instruction and outdoor recreation.  There is no doubt that unique urban conservation places will undoubtedly be part of every successful sustainable city in the future.

A few examples of how the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge is becoming part of the community fabric include:

• Refuge staff serving on the Board of Directors of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy that is building, stewarding, and programming a 5.5-mile Detroit RiverWalk in downtown Detroit – one of the largest urban waterfront redevelopment projects in the United States;
• Being a consistent long-term supporter of well-attended community events like the Point Mouillee Waterfowl Festival that attracts up to 10,000 people each year, Hawk Fest that attracts over 4,000 people each year, and Detroit River Days that attracts over 100,000 people each year;
• Being a supporter and champion for working beyond refuge boundaries by promoting soft shoreline engineering at over 50 locations in the watershed, creating new waterfront porches for both people and wildlife; and
• Being a partner in regional efforts like the Detroit Heritage River Water Trail for kayaking and canoeing, the southeast Michigan greenway trail network, and the ByWays to FlyWays bird driving tour for southeast Michigan and southwest Ontario.

Indeed, there are more examples, but the point is that we need to find ways and means of becoming part of the community fabric.  To become part of the community fabric will not only require becoming involved, but staying involved for long periods of time.  Frequently, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees are encouraged to move every several years to gain experiences elsewhere and foster consistency across the National WildlifeRefuge System.  This is important, but it we are serious about becoming part of the community fabric to help make nature part of everyday urban life, then the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other conservation organizations will have to recognize that relationships are critically important in urban conservation work and that there are clear advantages to encouraging employees to “put down roots” in one area to become part of the community fabric.

What creative tools and techniques are you using or have you seen that will help conservationists become part of the community fabric?    

Why the National Wildlife Refuge System Needs Successful Urban Refuges by John Hartig

John Hartig, author and Detroit River Intnerational Wildlife
Refuge

Putting Detroit and Windsor, the automobile capitals of the United States and Canada, respectively, in the same sentence as conservation may seem like a paradox, but it really isn’t and you may be pleasantly surprised to learn why. In the 1960s, the Detroit River was one of the most polluted rivers in North America because of its history of industrial and urban development.　 Today, the cleanup and recovery of the Detroit River represent one of the most remarkable ecological recovery stories in North America with the return of balk eagles, peregrine falcons, osprey, lake sturgeon, lake whitefish, walleye, mayflies, wild celery, and more. Out of this recovery has come the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge – the only international one in North America. It represents a new model for conservation – one that focuses on conserving, protecting, and restoring habitats for 30 species of waterfowl, 113 kinds of fish, and over 300 species of birds, and on making nature part of everyday urban life. Today, this refuge is one of the 14 priority urban refuges charged with helping provide a reason and opportunities for urban residents to find, appreciate, and care for nature in their cities and beyond.



Peregrine Falcon overlooking the Detroit skyline.
Photo credit: DTE Energy

What percentage of people in the United States live in urban areas? The answer is 80%.　 Incidentally, the same percentage of people in Canada lives in urban areas. Throughout the world 54% of all people now live in urban areas and this is projected to increase to 66% by 2050. Most urban residents are disconnected from the natural world. As a global community, we cannot afford to allow this disconnection to continue and that is why the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has created an Urban Wildlife Conservation Program to help create a connected conservation constituency. This new program is made up of the 14 priority urban refuges, 14 urban wildlife refuge partnerships, and many other urban bird treaty cities and other suburban refuges.

However, this new program is not without constructive criticism and tough questions from within the National Wildlife Refuge System and key partners like those representing biodiversity. Often, the argument is that it will just take too many resources to bring conservation to cities and that this will diminish the amount of resources for conservation of biodiversity and wilderness. One good answer is that it should not be either/or, but we can and should do both. The vast majority of resources will still be deployed in conserving fish, wildlife, and biodiversity in wilderness and rural areas, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investing a relatively small amount of resources in bringing conservation to selected cities in a strategic and value-added way.　

I believe that we need to do both and that bringing conservation to cities in compelling urban places such as San Diego, Detroit, Albuquerque, Chicago, Alamo, San Francisco, and others, and keeping urbanites connected with nature, can indeed help build support for conservation of fish, wildlife, and biodiversity in cities　and beyond.　 Investing in urban conservation should also help develop a more conservationally-literate society and one that values, appreciates, and cares for conservation in cities　and beyond.　 Finally, this is fully consistent with the mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.　 This mission statement clearly includes humans and future generations.

　

What can and should be done to win over more people in the conservation field to recognize the broader value and benefit of bringing conservation to cities and to support experimenting with making nature part of everyday urban life in selected cities?

[Editor's note: Comment below and "like" below]

Welcome to our "Bringing Conservation to Cities" book discussion with John Hartig

Welcome to our Bringing Conservation to Cities book discussion.  Author and FWS refuge manager John Hartig will moderate this discussion with one essay a week and you the reader can participate in a discussion here by commenting and John and other readers will respond.  Note the question(s) to prime the discussion flow.  The month long uban conservation conversation is framed around the following topics:

• Week One: Why the National Wildlife Refuge System Needs Successful Urban Refuges
• Week Two: Becoming Part of the Community Fabric
• Week Three: Compelling Urban Citizen Science
• Week Four: Lessons Learned from Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge

We are pretty jazzed about this WildRead month so welcome and keep your eye on tomorrow's first essay by John!

  

 



Coming in July: Bringing Conservation to Cities: Lessons from Building the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge by John H. Hartig

John Hartig

Discussions begin July 1 with John Hartig, Fish and Wildlife Service refuge manager and author of Bringing Conservation to Cities: Lessons from Building the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge.  

Bringing Conservation to Cities is the story of how innovative partnerships are making nature part of everyday urban life in the automobile capitals of the U.S. and Canada in an effort to inspire and develop the next generation of conservationists in urban areas because that is where 80% of U.S. and Canadian citizens live. 

Dr. John Hartig is trained as a limnologist with 30 years of experience in Great Lakes science and natural resource management.  He currently serves as Refuge Manager for the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge and serves on the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy Board of Directors.  From 1999 to 2004 he served as River Navigator for the Greater Detroit American Heritage River Initiative established by Presidential Executive Order.  Prior to becoming River Navigator, he spent 12 years working for the International Joint Commission on the Canada-U.S. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.  John has been an Adjunct Professor at Wayne State University where he taught Environmental Management and Sustainable Development, and has served as President of the International Association forGreat Lakes Research.  He has authored or co-authored over 100 publications on the environment, including four books: Bringing Conservation to Cities: Lessons from Building the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge (2014; Ecovision World Monograph Series, Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management Society, Ontario); Burning Rivers: Revival of Four Urban Industrial Rivers that Caught on Fire (2010; Ecovision World Monograph Series, Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management Society, Ontario); Honoring Our Detroit River, Caring for Our Home (2003; Cranbrook Institute of Science, Michigan); and Under RAPs: Toward Grassroots Ecological Democracy in the Great Lakes Basin (1992; University of Michigan Press, Michigan).  His book titled Burning Rivers was a 2011 Green Book Festival winner in the “scientific” category and a 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards finalist in the “science/nature/environment” category.  John has received a number of awards for his work, including the 2013 Conservation Advocate of the Year Award from the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, the 2012 Outstanding Environmental Professional of the Year Award from the Michigan Association of Environmental Professionals, a 2010 Green Leaders Award from the Detroit Free Press, a 2005 White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation Award for Outstanding Leadership and Collaboration in the Great Lakes, the 2003 Anderson-Everett Award from the International Association for Great Lakes Research, and the 1993 Sustainable Development Award for Civic Leadership from Global Tomorrow Coalition.

Be here July 1!   [Editor's Note:  John Hartig hosted a WildRead discussion back in 2012 with his book Burning Rivers: Revival of Four Urban Industrial Rivers That Caught on Fire]

How to participate?

Farewell and Thanks! by Moderator John Hartig

Discussion Topic: Burning Rivers: Revival of Four Urban-Industrial Rivers That Caught Fire

It has been a real honor to be a moderator on America’s Wild Read and I want to thank Anne Post, Sarah Gannon Nagle, Nancy Pollot, and the rest of the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) staff and Friends of NCTC for giving me this opportunity.  I would also like to thank everyone who participated for enriching the discussions and for helping raise awareness of this topic and the importance of urban conservation.  I firmly believe that with the scientific capacity in the academic, private, and public sectors, and in the passion of the environmental, conservation, and sustainability nongovernmental organizations, we have the capability to avoid the next “tipping point.”  But can we come together and learn to live sustainably in time?  It will not be easy and will take everyone working together. 

Urban areas are unique because that is clearly where the environmental, natural resource, and human population problems are manifested most, and yet that is where, I believe, we have the greatest potential to solve these problems if we have the heart and commitment to learn to live sustainably.  We need the scientific community, the public sector, the business sector, the nongovernmental sector, and others to come together synergistically to educate, inform, inspire, and lead us to a more sustainable future.  Knowledge and broad-based education will be essential. 

As noted in my third post on February 25th, we will need provocateurs, incrementalists, and sustainability entrepreneurs doing their parts, and for leaders to be nurtured and developed.  But I believe that education is the key. 

We will need cooperative learning that results in an environmentally-conscious citizenry.  No one person, organization, institution, or agency has all the answers.  Answers and solutions will arise out of a cooperative learning process that involves stakeholders learning and working together to accomplish the common goal of sustainability, under conditions that involve positive interdependence and individual and group accountability.  Such cooperative learning is essential to educate and inspire people to: understand problems, causes, and ramifications; address carrying capacity; protect the environment; foster a conservation ethic; ensure environmentally-sustainable economic development; avoid the next “tipping point;” and live sustainably. 

Our discussions have been a perfect segue into Wild Read’s next book which is Wild in the City: Exploring the Intertwine, co-edited by Mike Houck and M.J. Cody. The discussion begins April 15 with the first posted narrative from one of the editors.  I encourage you to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity and keep up the discussion of urban conservation in the exploration of Portland’s and Vancouver’s wonderful network of parks, trails, and natural areas.  here is the tentative discussion schedule:

Week 1:  MJ Cody leads the conversation with Mike Houck and Bob Sallinger chiming in:  Introduction: How Wild in the City, A Guide to Portland's Natural Areas (earlier edition) came to be and the evolution to Wild in the City: Exploring The Intertwine.  Discussions will center around the evolution of the Urban Naturalist Program at the Audubon Society of Portland during the 1980s, the Urban Naturalist publication and the philosophy behind both entities. And ultimately how all lead to the publication of  Wild in the City: Exploring The Intertwine.

Week 2: Mike Houck takes the lead to explain about The Intertwine and The Intertwine Alliance and the relationship to the Metropolitan Greenspaces Alliance (Chicago Wilderness, Houston Wilderness, et al) and the national interest of nature in the city, tying into Richard Louv's work; Tim Beatley; etc

Week 3: Bob Sallinger focuses on Living With Urban Wildlife and the approaches he and others have taken to co-exist with urban wildlife

Week 4: Mike Houck and Bob Sallinger  focus on green infrastructure, ecosystem services and other means towards the next frontier in integrating natural and built environments.

Thanks and please don’t stop sharing your passion!

The Next Generation of Conservationists by Moderator John Hartig

Sharing nature with children at
 Detroit  River International Wildlife Refuge
(photo credit: B. Ziegler)

[Discussion Topic: Burning Rivers: Revival of Four Urban-Industrial Rivers That Caught Fire]

Where will the next generation of conservationists come from?   Undoubtedly, most will come from urban areas because that is where most people will be living.  In addition, U.S. children are spending less and less time outdoors and nature-based recreation is, in general, declining.  

John Hartig

We clearly have a challenge.  We need to bring conservation to urban areas.  

That is what is so exciting to me about working in the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge that has nearly seven million people living within a 45-minute drive.  First, the very place the Rouge River caught on fire in 1969 is now located within the acquisition boundary of the Refuge.  What a story that the lower Rouge River has gone from burning river to being part of North America’s only international wildlife refuge.  Secondly, the Detroit River, like the burning rivers, has a reputation of being a polluted river in the “Rust Belt.”  However, much like the burning rivers, the Detroit River has experienced substantial environmental improvement that has laid the foundation for one of the most remarkable ecological recovery stories in North America.  The Detroit River has seen the return of bald eagles, peregrine falcons, osprey, lake sturgeon, lake whitefish, walleye, and burrowing mayflies right in the automobile capitals of the U.S. and Canada, and in this almost seven million person major metropolitan area.  However, as we all know much remains to be done to fully restore the integrity of the river.  But what a revival story and what an opportunity to reach and teach the next generation of conservationists!

Urban areas are definitely unique places and ones that most biologists and conservationists have historically shied away from.  However, that is where most of the people are and where we can have a significant impact in developing the next generation of conservationists.  Urban areas also provide unique opportunities for partnerships and to leverage resources for conservation.  Indeed, that is precisely what is happening at the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge that has worked with over 200 organizations and leveraged over $33 million for conservation projects in its first ten years.  As a result of its work in public-private partnerships for conservation, the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge was singled out at the 2005 White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation as a model and national leader in building and sustaining partnerships with corporations, nonprofit organizations, conservation groups, communities, and foundations.

We need urban refuges and urban conservation initiatives to bring nature into places where people live and to make nature experiences part of everyday life.  That is why it is so exciting to see how the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has established, through its new vision for the National Wildlife Refuge System called “Conserving the Future,” an Urban Refuge Initiative that defines excellence in existing urban refuges, establishes a framework for creating new urban refuge partnerships, and implements a refuge presence in 10 demographically and geographically varied cities across America by 2015.  I encourage you to learn about this new Urban Refuge Initiative and help make it a success.

Conservation in urban areas is not a question about the amount and uniqueness of natural resources, it is a question about making nature experiences part of everyday urban life to help develop a conservation ethic.  Really, it is a question of human heart.  

What are the most important things we need to do bring conservation to urban areas?

Changing Public Perception of Burning Rivers by Moderator John Hartig

Discussion Topic: Burning Rivers: Revival of Four Urban-Industrial Rivers That Caught Fire

There is no doubt that there has been a change in the perception of and attitude toward these four historically burning rivers. The perception of and attitude toward these four rivers have changed from ones of merely being working rivers that support of commerce and industry, and being polluted rivers in the Rust Belt, to ones of ecological and community assets that provide many beneficial uses that enhance quality of life.

With the environmental improvements seen to date in these four rivers and the evidence of ecological revival, watershed stakeholders gradually began to envision more natural, restored rivers with recreational use.  Simply put, watershed stakeholders began to envision these rivers as quality of life assets and recognized that they personally were part of these ecosystems and what they did to these ecosystems they did to themselves.  In the case of the Chicago River, citizens and organizations created an innovative initiative called Chicago Wilderness that brought people together to celebrate and protect their unique natural capital and make it a source of community pride.

Chicago Wilderness is an alliance of over 230 public and private organizations that promotes the integration of nature and wildlife into the places where people live, and makes natural experiences part of everyday life.  In the case of the Cuyahoga River, citizens and organizations lobbied to become one of 14 American Heritage Rivers that provided national recognition and enhanced community pride.  American Heritage Rivers promote environmental stewardship, encourage environmentally-sustainable economic development, and celebrate history.  In the case of the Rouge River, the lower river was designated part of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge – North America’s only International Wildlife Refuge.  This helped raise public awareness of the environmental improvements and subsequent ecological recovery, and helped enhance community pride throughout the region.  It also helped support additional restoration work needed to meet long-term goals.

Oil pollution on the Buffalo River in 1967 (photo credit: Buffalo State College Courier-Express Collection)

Again, knowledge and attitude about these four urban rivers have changed.  Just think that at one time river fires and gross oil pollution were viewed merely as the cost of doing business.  Today, urban riverfronts are seen as magical places where the water meets the land and people can reconnect with their watershed ecosystem.  Clearly, during the second industrial revolution most communities made rivers their backdoor.  Simply put, we need to look at rivers, not away from them.  We need public access to reconnect people to rivers.  Experience has shown that creating waterfront vistas, reintroducing watershed residents to river history and geography, establishing unique conservation places linked by greenways and blueways (i.e. canoe and kayak trails), promoting ecotourism, and championing green developments founded on a “sense of place” build the political base for watershed preservation and restoration.

Current public use along the Buffalo River (photo credit: Bill Jedlicka)

We also need to continue to: develop river champions to sustain these locally-driven, watershed processes; invest in watershed management as a priority; and increase broad-based education on how to become a conserver society and live sustainably.  As a society, our next great challenge will be to learn to live sustainably. 

What do you think it will take for us as a society to learn to live sustainably in urban areas? 

What can we do as a society to better take advantage of this changing perception of urban rivers to meet the sustainability challenge in urban areas?

Provocateurs, Incrementalists, and Sustainability Entrepreneurs by Moderator John Hartig

Discussion Topic: Burning Rivers: Revival of Four Urban-Industrial Rivers That Caught Fire

In any major, long-term effort or project inertia will eventually set in. At that point we need provocateurs – people who challenge the status quo and challenge conventional wisdom. In the case of the Buffalo River, a jeweler named Stanley Spisiak played a critical role as a “watch dog,” changed public sentiment, and eventually was credited with stopping indiscriminant industrial pollution of the Buffalo River. Later, the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper continued to effectively fill that role. In the case of the Cuyahoga River, David Blaushild, an automobile dealer, raised awareness of water pollution and became an activist for river cleanup. In the case of the Rouge River, a county drain commissioner named Jim Murray challenged the 48 watershed communities to protect their watershed home. In 1880, a Citizens’ Association was formed to investigate remedies to cholera and typhoid fever outbreaks, and to educate residents. Their advocacy helped create a regional governmental entity called the Sanitary District of Chicago in 1889 to address the water supply and wastewater problems. Today, the Friends of the Chicago River regularly challenge established practices and advocate for river stewardship.

The provocateur role can be played by individuals or groups like nongovernmental organizations. Such provocateurs have played and must continue to play key roles in river revival and watershed protection. They fill the important roles of raising awareness, questioning conventional wisdom and practice, catalyzing action and change, serving as an environmental conscience, and speaking as a voice for future generations. In essence, river restoration processes need both incrementalists (i.e., people and organizations that follow patient application of the small, very important tasks of watershed restoration) and provocateurs that champion fundamental paradigm shifts. What needs to occur is a dynamic tension between the two.

Many people have asked me “What is the major accomplishment of the public outcry over environmental pollution in the 1960s?” That is easy – it was the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the U.S.-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, and Earth Day. These same people have asked “What is the major accomplishment in more recent years?” I believe it is the expansion and proliferation of nongovernmental organizations established to protect the environment and conserve natural resources. The environmental movement developed a generation of people concerned about the environment. As more awareness was raised about pollution, more people got involved and many new environmental and conservation organizations were established. As more people and environmental and conservation organizations were created, more support for pollution prevention/control and conservation was generated. As more support for pollution prevention/control and conservation has been generated, a better knowledge base has been developed for better management. This improved knowledge base leads to a better informed constituency and the cycle continues. As we all know, an educated and informed constituency can change public sentiment.

If you believe, as I, that sustainable development is the next major challenge then we also need sustainability entrepreneurs that engage people meaningfully at all levels in achieving sustainability. That is why it is so heartening to see sustainability organizations like EcoCity Cleveland, Sustainable Cleveland, Chicago’s Greening Network, the Western New York Sustainable Energy Association Trust, and Southeast Michigan Sustainable Business Forum building the institutional capacity for meeting the sustainability challenge at the local level. Clearly, an important lesson is that we need provocateurs, incrementalists, and sustainability entrepreneurs to avoid the next “tipping point.”

What do you think is needed to avoid the next “tipping point?”

Photo above: Provocateur Stanley Spisiak (4 ^th  from left), President and Mrs. Johnson (center), Governor Nelson Rockefeller (2 ^nd  from right), and others discuss the “bucket of slop” from the Buffalo River, 1966 (photo credit: Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society). 

About John Hartig

Is the Glass Half Empty or Half Full? by Moderator John Hartig

Discussion Topic: Burning Rivers: Revival of Four Urban-Industrial Rivers That Caught Fire


Is the glass half empty or half full?  This is a common expression used by people to perceive situations or events.  It is truly a philosophical question that points out that a particular situation can be viewed either optimistically (half full) or pessimistically (half empty), depending upon an individual’s perspective.  This question is frequently used to demonstrate that in many situations individuals can perceive them as an opportunity or as trouble, depending upon an individual’s point of view.

In my previous post I documented the revival of these four rivers.  However, considerable remediation and restoration work is needed to restore the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of these rivers consistent with the goals of the Clean Water Act and U.S.-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. 

For example, in New York’s Buffalo River scientists suggest that recovery of macrobenthic invertebrates is likely stalled without contaminated sediment remediation and habitat rehabilitation.  In Ohio’s Cuyahoga River, scientists have identified organic enrichment, nutrients, bacteria, flow alteration, toxicity, and degraded habitats as the remaining primary causes of use impairment.  Major remaining sources of impairment include municipal and industrial point sources, combined sewer and sanitary overflows, and to a lesser extent natural conditions.  In Michigan’s Rouge River, exceedances of water quality standards continue to be reported and the lower river is plagued by contaminated sediment.  Scientists have quantified that 23% of the Rouge River watershed has been transformed into impervious surface that causes both significant runoff problems and loss of habitat.  Research has shown that watershed health begins to decline when impervious surface coverage exceeds 10% and becomes severely impaired if this number climbs beyond 30%.  The Chicago Waterway System consists of 78 miles of canals, of which 75% are human-made where flow is artificially controlled by hydraulic structures.  It was created to fulfill two primary purposes: drainage of urban storm water runoff and treated municipal effluent; and commercial navigation.  Exceedances of water quality standards and guidelines continue to occur because of its primary intent is to function as a ship and sanitary canal.  In addition, it lacks diverse habitat types found in natural rivers and there is growing public support for ecological separation of the Chicago Waterway System from Lake Michigan to protect the Great Lakes from Asian carp.  Clearly, much remains to be done.

City of Dearborn and many partners restoring riparian habitat along the Rouge River in Ford Field (Photo Credit: City of Dearborn)

My question for you is “Should we focus most on the problems that remain, the progress achieved, or a combination of both?”  And if you believe as I do that we need to focus on both, what is the relative priority between them?  

Many environmental organizations and advocacy groups have historically focused most on identifying major problems and “pointing the finger” at who is likely responsible because that drives action and gets attention.  However, if we exclusively follow that approach, we may be missing an opportunity to bring these parties on board as partners to help solve remaining problems that will require cooperation and partnerships.  For example, each of these four urban rivers is plagued by storm water runoff problems and loss of habitat.  Clearly the solutions to these two problems will require much cooperation and voluntary effort.  I believe that we need to: celebrate the progress achieved in these rivers; identify clearly the remaining problems and remedial responsibilities; ensure that we have strong regulatory and enforcement programs; and yet not lose a unique opportunity to work collaboratively on solving remaining pressing problems like storm water runoff and loss of habitat.  In watershed management of these four rivers, and others, cooperative partnerships are becoming more important and we must not shut the door on this unique opportunity.

About John Hartig