Creating the Winds of Hope: A Tribute to Peter Wege

I remember his grandfatherly smile, his warm, welcoming handshake, his words of deep, personal encouragement when he heard I was writing about the Great Lakes. He made me feel as if I was a critical member of the team. 

“A fanatic is one who won’t change his mind and can’t change the subject.” Ellen Satterlee, the CEO of the Wege Foundation, quoted Winston Churchill to describe the late Peter Wege. Grounded in his passion for restoring the Great Lakes, Mr. Wege was fanatical when it came to his vision.

“No single foundation, no single organization, no single nation will restore the Great Lakes by working alone. It will take partnerships among all who care for our magnificent Great Lakes to get the job done.”

That fanaticism combined with extraordinary leadership were like faint ripples of hope skipping across the surface of a deteriorating Great Lakes ecosystem in 2004. Because of Peter Wege, ten years later the ripples are more like waves, one to two-foot rollers curling alongside miles of shoreline and slowly eroding the cliffs of resistance. 

Peter Wege died in July of 2014, two months before the Healing Our Waters coalition held its tenth annual meeting in his beloved Grand Rapids.The coalition is the brainchild of Mr. Wege, uniting over 115 zoos, aquariums, museums, and conservation, outdoor recreation, and environmental organizations. Working in concert with the region’s mayors, governors, tribes, businesses and industry leaders, the coalition is implementing a vision too powerful to shrug off; using a plan too grounded in science to dismiss; and a team of fanatics too large, too resourceful, too dedicated to ignore. 

Republicans and Democrats. Canadians and Americans. Staff and volunteers. Young and old. Dreaming. Collaborating. Creating a healthier Great Lakes region. 

In the  last five years, over $1.6 billion in federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiatives (GLRI) monies have been added to state and local government funds and private contributions to sponsor over 2,000 projects. Many GLRI successes are within sailing distance of my own home in western Michigan. 

• Waukegan Harbor, once described as “the world’s worst PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls) mess,” was removed this summer from the list of 43 Areas of Concern (AOCs) identified by the U.S. and Canadian governments in 1987. 
• White Lake, plagued for decades with excessive algae, loss of fish and wildlife habitat, excessive debris along the shores, and contaminated water that placed restrictions on fishing and drinking water consumption, will be one of Michigan’s first AOC harbors to be delisted—expected by year-end. 
• Tons of contaminated sediment have been removed from other AOCs including Muskegon Lake, the Grand Calumet River in Indiana, and Wisconsin’s Sheboygan, Milwaukee, and Kinnickinnic Rivers.
• Wetlands and wildlife habitat are being restored throughout the basin, improving the water quality of watersheds including my own Macatawa Watershed. 
• Dams are being removed, the natural flow of rivers restored, bank erosion reduced to improve fish habitat and recreational opportunities in areas like the Platte River near Frankfort, the Boardman River near Traverse City.
• Invasive plants like phragmites, Japanese knotweed, purple loosestrife, and lyme grass are being removed from wetlands to return native plants and wildlife to the ecosystem alongside the Kalamazoo River and the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust just north of Milwaukee. 

The exchange of information at these conferences, the energy, and friendships formed among this diverse and fanatical group of partners is the essence of hope for our Great Lakes. I listen, pen in hand, as people discuss the challenges of nonpoint source pollution effecting the water quality of Lake Erie and most watersheds in the region; the environmental risks associated with piping and potentially shipping tar sands from Canada to oil refineries in Indiana, Detroit, Sarnia, and Toledo; the decimation of the land caused by mining the pristine sand now used for fracking; the increasing number of sewage overflows caused by heavy rains overpowering antiquated facilities; the invasion of the dreaded Asian Carp; the delisting of the remaining AOCs; and the largely unknown effects of climate change. 

It will take all of us . . . those who play in these waters, whose business depends on these waters, who drink these waters, who feel the presence of God in these waters . . . to get the job done. Please take a moment to join the team. Insist that funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiatives remains a priority when candidates ask for your vote.

We choose whether to lift our sails to the winds of hope, opportunities, and dreams. We live in a democracy. We choose. 

To see a complete listing of GLRI projects visit http://greatlakesrestoration.us. Specific details about many of the projects can be found on the Healing Our Waters website http://healthylakes.org under “Successes.”

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