ISEA 2011 Volunteer Appreciation Dinner

ISEA held its annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner on Friday, 1-28-11. About 80 volunteers and friends were in attendance and were treated to a fine chili dinner. Thanks to all ISEA volunteers and to all board members and staff (esp. Kim and Christine) who made the dinner. Special awards were given to:

Tally Middleton - Outstanding New Volunteer Instructor

Kim Eike - Volunteer of the Year

Tom Yocum: John Schulz Award for Teaching Excellence

Chuck and Janet (not pictured) Dickerson - Executive Director's Award

Also receiving awards were Andy Frank - Friend of Inland Seas, and Candance Ashley - Education Director's Award.

Tom Kelly's comments to the GLMRIS Scoping Meeting in Traverse City

Yesterday at the US Army Corps of Engineers Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study public scoping meeting in Traverse City I offered the following comments:

Inland Seas Education Association has a 22 year history of teaching students and the public about invasive species and "protecting the Great Lakes through education."

We must insure the values of the Great Lakes for our grandchildren, and out to the 7th generation and beyond. Action must consider the long term health of the Great Lakes.

• Ecological separation should be the goal of this project

• Include options to continue navigation using technology such as marine railways, boat lifts, powered dollies or other means already used in other regions. A hull & bilge washing system should be incorporated in such a system.

• Work to close human invasion pathways created by transport and sales of live Asian carp, including baitfish.

• Consider pushing back Asian carp from the area around the electric barrier, so the barrier is not the first impediment to entering the Great Lakes.

• Include education of the current problems and challenges to stopping Asian carp, and potential solutions. Develop a web-accessible time series visual model showing the hydrological functioning of the Chicago area waterways. Include stormwater, flood situations, lake level influences, navigation and sewage treatment.

- Tom Kelly, ISEA Executive Director

You can add your comments to the GLMRIS public record and learn more about this study by going to http://www.glmris.anl.gov/

A Winter's Morning at the Dock

The Dock at Center Pointe
January 9, 9:30 am

Inland Seas (foreground) and Manitou (background) in Hibernation

 Photos by Tom Kelly

News from the ISEA Boat Shop

Progress continues on the cedar strip kayak and the canoe.  The fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin was put on the canoe today.  Stop by the Boat Shop to see work in action (best times are Saturday morning and weekdays from 2 - 5pm). 

Larry working on the deck of his kayak.

Shaping and cutting the cloth prior to expoxy saturation. The cloth disappears after coating with epoxy.

Fishery Towns on the Great Lakes is Next Great Lakes Seminar Topic

The Inland Seas Education Association will present a seminar that focuses on the Great Lakes fishery at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, January 11th, at the Inland Seas Education Center in Suttons Bay. The program will be presented by Amanda Holmes, Executive Director of the Fishtown Preservation Society. This seminar is free and open to the public.

The shores of the Great Lakes and their islands were once fringed with commercial fisheries like Leland's Fishtown, where fish were processed for the burgeoning Midwest. As it has been for over a century, Fishtown is still a commercial fishery, although on a smaller scale. Holmes will share her explorations of some of the few remaining fishing operations throughout the Great Lakes, why they have survived, and what they have taught her about the rarity of Fishtown.

Amanda Holmes has worked with the Fishtown Preservation Society for four years and serves as its Executive Director. Holmes holds a Ph.D. in Folklore and Folklife and a Certificate in Historic Preservation, both from the University of Pennsylvania. She has written numerous architectural, landscape, and engineering studies for the National Park Service, as well as published an award-winning history of Omena, Michigan. Her background in Folklore has led her to gather as many stories as possible about Fishtown, and to broaden her scope to capturing the stories of commercial fishing and fishermen from all over the Great Lakes. 

Instructor Training Class of 2011 Gets Underway

The first class session of this year's Volunteer Instructor Training Class was held on 1-5-11 at the NMC Water Studies Institute classroom 112.  We had 52 people in attendance, both new and veteran instructors.  If you would like to join this group, it is not too late.  Call Christine Crissman at 231-271-3077 to make arrangements.  And bring a friend.  The complete class schedule is available by clicking here. 

--Tom Kelly, ISEA Executive Director

New Year's Morning at ISEA

Early New Year's Day, before the wind and cold.

Spars for Inalnd Seas and Liberty await the coming of spring.

The constructed wetland works year around.

Low water but not much ice yet.

Happy New Year from all of us at Inland Seas!