Every year, more than 100 citizens from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin travel to our nation’s capital to educate public officials about the importance of the Great Lakes to the region’s economy and quality of life.

“Citizens have been instrumental in making Great Lakes restoration a priority with the U.S. Congress and President Obama,” said Jeff Skelding, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “Restoration activities are producing results—but there is more work to do. Great Lakes Days provide an important opportunity to underscore the importance of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to people, businesses and communities.”

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition hosts Great Lakes Days in collaboration with the Great Lakes Commission and Northeast-Midwest Institute. The coalition hosts training sessions for Great Lakes advocates and help arrange meetings with Congressional staffers and public officials.

One of the key topics at the 2012 event will be educating members of Congress about the need for continued funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Stay tuned for more details—including information on office visits with U.S. Senate and House offices.

Attend Great Lakes Day and:

• learn about latest policy updates
• receive message training
• visit with Congressional officials and staff
• help advance Great Lakes restoration and economic recovery.

Register today!

About Great Lakes Day

As part of the annual Great Lakes Day in Washington DC, the Healing Our Waters® – Great Lakes Coalition brings coalition members and allies from the eight states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to Washington to discuss the importance of restoring and protecting the Great Lakes with elected officials on Capitol Hill. Please join us in Washington to continue to elevate the importance of Great Lakes restoration in the halls of Congress.

• Read the preliminary Great Lakes Day 2011 Agenda.

Space is Limited: Sign Up Early!

• Register today!

Book your Travel and Lodging Now

Please book your travel arrangements as soon as possible. Plan to arrive early the morning of March 1 and depart late in the afternoon or evening of March 2. Participants will be staying in downtown Washington, D.C., at:

Hamilton Crowne Plaza
1001 14th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005

The coalition has reserved a block of rooms and will cover the cost of a room for the night of March 1. Coalition staff will make your room reservation. If you are staying more than one night, please indicate this on your registration form. Coalition staff will make the necessary arrangements for you and you can settle with the hotel upon check-in.

Participants Requested to Share Rooms

Great Lakes Day participants are asked to share their hotel room with a roommate. This year it is the participant’s responsibility to find a roommate. On the registration form, please indicate who your roommate will be. If you are new to the coalition and need help finding a roommate, please contact Martha Borie Wood at martha@healthylakes.org.

Scholarship applications due February 1st

Scholarship recipients will receive up to $225 in travel reimbursements. Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition leaders from each of the Great Lakes states will request meetings with elected officials on behalf of Great Lakes Day participants. However, if you have any special needs or relationships that we should be aware of, please contact Martha Borie Wood – Great Lakes Day Coordinator, at martha@healthylakes.org.

Register for Great Lakes Day 2010 today!

Great Lakes Congressional Breakfast Reception

The Great Lakes Congressional Breakfast Reception will be held Wednesday, March 2, from 8-9:30 AM. The reception includes a continental breakfast sponsored by the Great Lakes Commission and Northeast-Midwest Institute. Invited guests include members of congress, Great Lakes governors, mayors and tribes, and congressional staff.

Healing Our Waters members can take advantage of the reduced rate fee of $25 to attend the Congressional Breakfast. To register for the Congressional Breakfast please go to the Great Lakes Commission website at: http://www.glc.org/greatlakesday/

When registering, click on the “HOW Member” box and enter the following code: 517. If you need further information, please contact Christine Manninen at 734-971-9135 or manninen@glc.org.

With your help, the effort to restore the Great Lakes has made significant progress in the past year, which is why it is more important now than ever to attend Great Lakes Day, February 23-24 in Washington, D.C.!

In 2009 Great Lakes advocates helped secure huge victories for the Great Lakes, including an investment of over $1 billion to repair aging sewers and restore habitat in the economic recovery package and an historic $475 million for the new Great Lakes Restoration Initiative aimed at restoring habitat, cleaning up toxic pollution and confronting invasive species.

These accomplishments are significant. But our work is not done. We must make sure that decision-makers in Washington, D.C., continue to follow through on Great Lakes restoration promises. Your presence at Great Lakes Day 2010 will help us to do just that.

This February 23 – 24, over 100 conservationists will descend on Capitol Hill to urge lawmakers to support Great Lakes restoration and economic recovery as part of the Healing Our Waters®-Great Lakes Coalition’s Great Lakes Day 2010.

We invite you to join us, to meet with your elected officials, share your successes and play a role in directing Great Lakes restoration dollars to where they will do the most good, so that our nation’s investment in Great Lakes restoration continues to benefit the lakes, and the millions of people who depend on them for their jobs, drinking water and way of life.

At Great Lakes Day, you will be briefed on critical issues facing the Great Lakes, attend training sessions to become a more effective advocate, and urge members of congress to support Great Lakes restoration. Your participation is vital in showing Congress and the Obama Administration that with their continued support the Great Lakes can be restored.

Hotel accommodations and scholarships are available. To learn more about the HOW Coalition’s Great Lakes Day 2010 and to register online, visit: http://healthylakes.org/2010-great-lakes-day-registration.

Take advantage of this opportunity to influence the future of our Great Lakes. Please feel free to pass along this message to other Great Lakes supporters who also may be interested in attending Great Lakes Day February 23-24 in Washington, D.C.

The Time for Action is now! Join us in Washington in February.

Rep. Oberstar gave a rousing speech to the Healing Our Water’s Coalition in Duluth, Minn. last Saturday.  Rep. Oberstar has a wealth of knowledge about the Great Lakes and the history of this nation’s attempt to stop polluting all our waters via the Clean Water Act. If you ask why, you’ll hear the history of our nation’s water policy because Rep. Oberstar started his career in politics clerking for the subcommittee on Rivers and Harbors (be prepared to listen for awhile .  That is where he had the opportunity to work on the Clean Water Act during its inception – which implies he should know the intent of that first law – and he continued that work as a Congressman for Minnesota.

“All the water there ever was or ever will be is with us today,” he said. It is true, only the surface waters of the Great Lakes changes over and only one percent of that is renewed annually. That means that the other 99 percent of our Lakes is composed of truly ancient waters and needs protection as well as restoration.

“The responsibility we have is to pass this water on to the next generation in better shape than we found it,” Rep. Oberstar said in Duluth. That is why we need the Clean Water Restoration Act – without CWRA we can’t hope to return the lakes, her tributaries and her “kidneys” the wetlands to a healthy state of being.

Rep. Oberstar told us we need to pump up the volume on this issue. “The immensity; the urgency has faded,” he said, speaking of the public outcry that forced the CWA through 30-plus years ago. “Your responsibility becomes greater to mobilize the public mind and make the grassroots speak to Members of the House and Senate today as we did 30 years ago.”

We heard the message loud and clear: we need to bring the full force of our membership and grassroots connections to bear on Washington to let them know we need CWRA now. The opposition is organized against this act and has lots of money to spend on their arguments so we need to get loud fast and we need Rep. Oberstar to have faith that we will do so. Go ahead, Rep. Oberstar – introduce CWRA – we’ve got your back!

“We need all the lobbying we can get,” Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-Mich) told throngs of Great Lakes advocates preparing to march the halls of Congress.

Rep. Ehlers asked coalition members to urge Congress to pass the Great Lakes Legacy Act which is up for reauthorization. It was first passed in 2002 and comes up for reauthorization every five years. It has been effective combating Areas of Concern, but that didn’t stop the President from cutting funding in his proposed 2009 budget. “We need support on it and we are trying to increase funding levels,” Rep. Ehlers said.

Advocates will also be lobbying Members to fund and pass the Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act, which embodies the strategy set forth by the 1500 Great Lakes officials and advocates called together five years ago by the President’s Executive Order.

“We have to get that moving,” Rep. Ehlers said, who claimed the bill is languishing because of the $20 billion price tag “it scares the daylights out of members of Congress.”

While $20 billion is nothing to scoff at, we need to remember what we are spending across government and the impact the investment will have on the economy in the region. A Brookings Report shows that the investment promises to reap a $50 billion– paying for itself plus generating an economic revival in the region.

“Frankly, I think it is a bargain. You’re going to get more for that $20 billion for the Great Lakes then you are for the $8 billion for the Everglades,” Ehlers added before pleading with coalition members to push their Representatives and Senators to “get off the stick and get going on this.”