Who Will Fill The Void Left By The Demise Of One Of The Most Dedicated Binational Voices For Our Great Lakes?

A Note from Jane Elder, a founding member of Great Lakes United

(A brief foreword from NAL – Since news circulated late this June of the demise of Great Lakes United, a decades-old coalition of Canadian and U.S. citizens dedicated to protecting the health of these precious waterbodies, John Jackson, one of the organization’s longtime senior members, has received numerous  expressions of sadness and concern from individuals all around the lakes.

A great blue heron, one of the many magnificent species of wildlife living in our Great Lakes region, surveys the lake waters. Photo courtesy of the Great Lakes division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Niagara At Large received permission to post one of these notes from Jane Elder, which Jackson feels captures the spirit of much of the reaction he has received in recent days. Elder’s note speaks to the great void the closing of GLU will leave when it comes to a truly binational citizens voice for lakes. It also to a hope that  present and future generations of citizens will find some way to fill that void for the sake of keeping pressure on governments in both countries to address the many environmental challenges the continue Great Lakes face.

Now here is Jane Elder’s note.)

I join with those who want to acknowledge the   important role that Great Lakes United  has played for the Great Lakes and global  freshwater protection over the last 30 years, and our sadness at  its  closing.

The scenic beaches and sand dunes of Lake Michigan, in the upper waters of the Great Lakes we in this region all depend on for a healthy life. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

 Part of my sadness in the disbanding of GLU is  that it is  another indication that the binational esprit de  corps that was so  important in forging Great Lakes strategies  since the first Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1972  is further slipping away.   While there are many other  fine organizations working on  behalf of the Great Lakes, GLU provided a  home base for a  binational vision and teamwork that  is unlikely to be  carried  forward by other organizations whose primary focus is on policy in   their own nation.

Cooperation across the border is great – a  mission that  transcends the border. (It) is unique, and will  be missed.  … Organizations, like  organisms, have life cycles, and the  times and circumstances have  changed, and the policy culture is vastly  different now than it  was when an embattled but committed group of us  launched Great  Lakes United at that storied meeting in  Windsor long  ago.   I was proud to be there at the beginning, and proud of the many   who carried it forward for so many years against increasing odds.  

Nature abhors a vacuum, and I hope that this unique niche  will be  filled again by new generation of impassioned leaders who  see the lakes as  neither American lakes, nor Canadian lakes,  nor even as lakes of the First  Nations or Tribes, but as the  greatest freshwatertreasure on the planet  whose stewardship  depends on our common vision and action.

Meanwhile,  bon voyage to friends and colleagues who have shared GLU’s journey. I wish you all well.

Jane

Jane Elder is an executive director of the Wisconsin Academy, a school in Madison, Wisconsin. She has demonstrated a long-time record of public policy leadership which she has applied to protecting the health and integrity of our Great Lakes for decades. She was also one of the founding members of Great Lakes United.

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