News

We Unite Over Water

  In our culture a river is typically a boundary, differentiating one domain from another. The Mississippi River, for example, is the border of 10 states. There’s another way to look at a river—as the center of a basin, accepting and uniting all of its tributary waters. And its tributary people. I’ve lived in several… Read more »

Osceola County Site Visit –  Stealing Michigan’s Invisible Resource

 This article is a follow-up to my January post on “Groundwater – Invisible but Precious.”On a recent bike tour in northern Michigan, I decided to put Evart on the itinerary and stop by the area where Nestle Waters North America is hoping to increase their taking of Michigan groundwater. Nestle would like to increase the… Read more »

FLOW Board Member Calls HB 4205 Contender for Worst Michigan Environmental Bill of 21st Century

The Michigan legislature has introduced what is a sure contender for the worst Michigan environmental bill of the 21st century.  The bill, HB 4205, would prohibit all state agencies from promulgating any administrative rule that is more stringent than an applicable federal standard.  With the federal government actively seeking to dismantle historic environmental protections by… Read more »

Keeping Our Great Lakes Clean

  Some of my favorite childhood memories include hiking trips across Northern Michigan and taking in the beauty that is our Great Lakes. As my own children grew up, we regularly went on family trips across Michigan because I wanted to make sure the natural wonders of our state could be passed along to the… Read more »

Happy Birthday, Governor Milliken

Celebrating a great former governor of Michigan If Michigan has ever had an environmental governor, it was William G. Milliken, Traverse City’s son, who turns 95 on March 26. The woods and waters of the Traverse City area, Milliken said, and particularly summer days at a family cottage near Acme, bonded him to nature in… Read more »

Jim Olson & Dave Mahan on Natural Resources Stewardship

    A Conversation About Climate and Conservation In this video produced by Joe VanderMeulen for NatureChange, Phil Ellis, Executive Director of the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation, moderates as two of Northern Michigan’s most respected and experienced environmental leaders discuss the challenges and choices facing our region. FLOW’s own Jim Olson and Dr. Dave Mahan, former Associate Director of… Read more »