Great Lakes Article:

Lets end 2002 with a non-exhaustive list of successes from the past year. My best to you for a happy, peaceful and renewing holiday break!

April

· Fossilized United States energy plan thwarted. After more than a year of debate, action on the energy bill concluded in a stalemate, and the Arctic Refuge is still off-limits to drilling.

July

· The World Trade Organization acknowledged that the non-recognition of Aboriginal title to land and the failure to take Aboriginal interests into account constitutes a subsidy in Canada.

August

· The Ontario Municipal Board denied a 70 unit seasonal trailer park along the Cloud Bay River. Cloud Bay wetland has been identified as a provincially significant wetland.
· A permit to establish a granite quarry at the Mellon Lake Conservation Reserve was denied because the proponent failed to meet the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources terms and conditions

·  A controversial road that would have sliced through Ontario’s Bruce Peninsula National Park was halted. The road would have provided access to lands adjacent to the park owned by a logging company. The Nature Conservancy of Canada purchased the lands for permanent conservation.

October

· Hydro One postponed its proposed across the lake electric line (Lake Erie Link) until it can “conclude the necessary business arrangements which would confirm the project’s commercial viability.” Experts called the project dead in the water.

· In a stunning victory, Canada announced plans to create 10 huge new national parks, and 5 marine conservation areas, which would nearly double the nation's protected area system.

· The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled that environmental studies for eight off-road trail projects must be conducted before construction. Minnesotans for Responsible Recreation brought the case to court alleging widespread damage to forests and trails by ORVs.

November

· Save the River! and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region made strides against expansion of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes shipping channels after New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner, Governor, both Senators, and three U.S. Representatives all vocally opposed a proposed expansion study.

· Residents of Grey County, Ontario protected their groundwater. Ministry of the Environment had given Artemesia Waters Ltd. permission to withdrawal up to 176 million litres of groundwater per year. But the Ontario Superior Court of Justice affirmed municipal authority over water withdrawals.

· Congress approved Great Lakes Legacy Act. The legislation authorizes $50 million a year for five years to monitor and remediate contaminated sediments in U.S. Great Lakes Areas of Concern or to prevent further contamination.

· Staples, the world's largest office supply store, announced a commitment to phase out paper products originating from endangered forests and dramatically increase its sale of recycled paper products.

December

· A U.S. federal appeals court reinstated the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. After attacks in court and by the Bush administration, the rule again is set to protect million acres of national forest lands from roadbuilding and logging.

· Canada’s Species at Risk Act passed through the Senate and is law of the land. The law could come into force as early as the spring of 2003.

· Prime Minister Jean Chretien ratified the Kyoto Protocol. Despite loopholes, Canada's ratification is a major boost for the 1997 treaty that commits participants to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Russia has indicated it also will ratify, which is needed to bring the treaty into effect worldwide.

Great Lakes United’s Habitat and Biodiversity task force produces Habitat Watch with support from the George Gund Foundation and GLU coalition members. The task force is committed to protecting natural areas, wildlife, and strong conservation laws across the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River ecosystem. To join the coalition, subscribe, or send stories, contact GLU at: (716) 886-0142; fax: (716) 886-0303; or email: jen@glu.org. Past issues of Habitat Watch can be found at: http://www.sustain.org/Bulletins/index.cfm