Blog posts by FLOW team and guest writers
Michigan’s state park system is considered one of the finest in the nation. Dating back to 1917, the system includes 103 parks and recreation areas that sustain more than 25 million annual visits. But there’s another, smaller park system, and it’s underwater. The underwater preserve system is also on public land – the nearly 40,000… Read more »
Power Island in Grand Traverse Bay has always been a hometown favorite of mine. I have been visiting Power Island since I was a young boy and have always been fascinated about the stories my mother would tell me about how she would visit the island as a young girl, and how her parents attended… Read more »
Over three years ago, on July 15, 2015, the State of Michigan’s Petroleum Pipeline Task Force released its recommendations for the state to conduct an independent risk analysis and independent alternatives analysis on the Line 5 pipelines located in the open waters of the Great Lakes. The Governor’s Advisory Board, created by executive order, promised… Read more »
Now that the primary election is behind us, Michiganders will pay increasing attention to this fall’s all-important electoral choices. FLOW is contacting the nominees for Governor, Attorney General, and northwest Michigan House and Senate seats this week to inform them of the water and public trust issues we think they should tackle. We are looking… Read more »
In an end-run around the public participation process they established, Governor Rick Snyder and Enbridge, Inc., the owner and operator of Line 5, are exploring the possibility of building a $500 million tunnel to replace the stretch of 65 year-old Line 5 pipeline that runs under the Straits of Mackinac. While a tunnel, properly designed… Read more »
Friday Favorites is our new series where we explore some of our favorite places to play in and around the Great Lakes. Traverse City residents might be rolling their eyes at the suggestion of Pyramid Point as one of my favorite places in the Traverse City area, but hear me out. This (not so) secret… Read more »
Sarah Bearup-Neal is the Glen Arbor Arts Center’s Communications/Gallery Manager. She graduated from Michigan State University in 1978 with a BFA in Studio Art and has maintained an active studio practice focused on fiber art since 1999. Sarah lives in Benzie County. Each year, the Glen Arbor Arts Center mounts a “New Views” exhibition in… Read more »
I remember the shock of the journalists on a 1985 media tour of the Rouge River in southeast Michigan when they were told to look down from a bridge to see raw human waste in the waters below. In 1985? Hadn’t we taken care of raw sewage by passing the Clean Water Act in 1972?… Read more »
Anyone who visits Traverse City can easily see how important freshwater is to this region. The iconic Grand Traverse Bay, numerous inland lakes and the Boardman River winding through downtown make freshwater an essential part of Traverse City’s landscape and culture. Our unique freshwater resources provide remarkable recreational opportunities that bring thousands of visitors to… Read more »
After more than 30 years of working on environmental policy, I moved to within a few hundred feet of one of the Great Lakes. Given the opportunity to stroll along the shore as often as I wanted, I suddenly realized I didn’t know what I could legally do when the water’s edge traversed private property. … Read more »
