Blog posts by FLOW team and guest writers
LOVE LETTER TO THE GREAT LAKES: I HAVE ALWAYS LIVED CLOSE TO YOU, I PADDLED IN YOUR SHALLOWS AS A CHILD, DRINKING IN YOUR TASTE. WAVES CARESSED MY BACK AS I WATCHED SAND ON THE LAKE BED, PILED INTO TINY RIPPLES & DUNES…IT WAS MAGICAL! I DREW MAPS & GAMES WITH MY BIG TOE IN WET SAND ON YOUR… Read more »
Should Michigan law make it easier for special interests to grab large amounts of water without public oversight? Most citizens would say no, but the Michigan Legislature is considering a “yes.” The State House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday, February 28 at 9 a.m. on a bill, HB 5638, giving… Read more »
FLOW’s organizing principle is the public trust doctrine. What sounds like an exotic concept is quite simple. This centuries-old principle of common law holds that there are some resources, like water and submerged lands, that by their nature cannot be privately owned. Rather, this commons – including the Great Lakes — belongs to the public. … Read more »
Great Lakes Proud (GLP) isn’t just a local brand, it’s national, even dabbling internationally (with stickers spotted in South Korea, Japan, Austria, and Croatia – to name a few) – and the work it is doing locally is adding value fit for the scale. Since 2009, the Michigan-based business has donated over $100K to Great… Read more »
The production of plastic was first viewed as a miracle, the birth of a surprisingly durable material. But used as a disposable material, that durability is part of its downfall. Plastic degrades very slowly, and it often ends up in the environment and in the food chain. In 1950, the global market generated 1.7 million… Read more »
Our public water systems are in crisis. Every person and business in every city and town in the U.S. will face increasing competition for water, more and more repairs, improvements, and replacement of crumbling infrastructure or preventing illness or pollution. They will also face the wild card of increased frequency and intensity of rainfall and… Read more »
FLOW’s organizing principle is the public trust doctrine. What sounds like an exotic concept is quite simple. This centuries-old principle of common law holds that there are some resources, like water and submerged lands, that by their nature cannot be privately owned. Rather, this commons – including the Great Lakes — belongs to the public. … Read more »
The Trump Administration on February 14 revealed that President Donald Trump’s proposed military parade, inspired by his attendance at the Bastille Day celebration last July in Paris, would cost taxpayers as much as $30 million. While there’s been broad criticism of the appropriateness of such a display by the world’s sole military superpower, particularly in… Read more »
“Let’s go to the creek!” Wide eyes and an expectant smile stared up at my dad. Growing up with a state park behind our house, I felt the creek had a mystical quality. We would explore for what felt like days, sliding down the hill, peering in the fox den, but mostly just crashing through… Read more »
What a difference 100 years makes. In 1918, a US-Canadian commission reported on the condition of the boundary waters between the two countries with an emphasis on the connecting waters of the Great Lakes. In the words of the International Joint Commission, the situation was a disgrace. It was also fatal to thousands. At the… Read more »
