"I Will Defend"

The seal of Michigan (above) has the state motto in Latin that translates:

"If you seek a pleasant peninsula, 

look about you."

The word "Tuebor" translates:

  "I will defend."

I walked 1000 miles of Great Lakes shoreline this year. There are many areas that remain wild and protected, but there are stretches that need to be defended, cleaned up, and restored.

Water from the upper Great Lakes flows through the St. Clair River, into Lake St. Clair (upper right of photo), through the Detroit River (narrow waterway) to merge with Lake Erie (at bottom of photo).

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has resulted in measurable improvement in the health of our Great Lakes. 

From an article on Model D (a web-mag about Detroit):

The Brookings Institution has estimated that every $1 invested in Great Lakes restoration results in $1.50 to $2.50 in short-term economic benefits. In the long term, the economic benefits of Great Lakes restoration efforts will almost double the initial investment. Benefits include increased property values, improvements to quality of life, and lower municipal water treatment costs. In this era in which metropolitan areas are feeling the effects of climate change more acutely and unsustainable development is occurring in water-poor areas like Phoenix and Atlanta, now is the time for Metro Detroit to protect its freshwater assets to ensure future economic growth and ecological health.

Read the entire article.

And in the New Year ahead, let us all seek ways to better defend these most vital fresh waters.