Ducks Unlimited invests $2 million in Michigan

Wildflowers bloom on a Ducks Unlimited project in Michigan | Press photo

Ducks Unlimited and its partners are investing $2.3 million to protect, enhance or restore 2,100 acres of wetland habitat across 10 Michigan project sites in 2019. This will greatly improve water quality and wildlife habitat.

The milestones in 2019 added to a sizeable historical investment in Michigan. Over the last 30 years Ducks Unlimited has invested $46 million to protect, restore or enhance more than 85,000 wetland and grassland acres on more than 420 project sites across the state.

Partners included the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Six Rivers Land Conservancy, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, corporate partners such as Axalta Coating Systems, major donors and Ducks Unlimited members. Vital federal funding also came from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act and the North American Wetlands Conservation Act.

“Michigan’s wetlands have a significant impact on Great Lakes and continental waterfowl,” explained Kali Rush, Ducks Unlimited regional biologist in Michigan. “But our wetlands are also crucial for water quality for drinking and recreation. Michigan has lost 50% of its wetland habitats, which filter rainwater before entering the Great Lakes. More wetlands mean cleaner water and less severe algae blooms and flood damage.”

The group highlighted three particular projects from 2019.

Upper Peninsula habitat revamped
Ducks Unlimited and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources enhanced water level management capabilities at Sturgeon River Sloughs State Wildlife Management Area in Baraga and Houghton counties. The Sloughs are one of the Upper Peninsula’s most productive wetland areas.

Major Monroe County marsh enhanced
Ducks Unlimited completed the third phase of a 900-acre coastal wetlands enhancement at Erie Marsh in North Maumee Bay of Lake Erie. This project will provide improved wetland habitat for waterfowl and other migratory birds that depend on the western Lake Erie basin of Michigan.

Saginaw Bay donation ready for restoration
In 2019, James and DeAnn Sattelberg donated 250 acres of former farmland to Ducks Unlimited for wetlands restoration. Since then, Ducks Unlimited has secured funding to design water level management infrastructure which will produce healthier habitat for waterfowl and wildlife. When complete, the property will be transferred it to a professional conservation organization for permanent protection.

For a complete report of 2019 activities, and a look into what’s planned for 2020 and beyond, view the Michigan Conservation Report. For all Ducks Unlimited events and programs in Michigan, visit www.ducks.org/Michigan.

This post is a part of this blog's semi-regular Friday Focus series, which endeavors to highlight news and opinions that, in my opinion, don't get as much attention as they deserve.

Please follow this blog on Facebook for more great content. I'm also on Twitter and Instagram as @fnemecek.

Governors in Detroit to talk infrastructure + cybersecurity

Detroit is hosting a series of high-profile meetings that revolve around infrastructure and cybersecurity. The first of these meetings happened this past Thursday and Friday when the National Governors Association met at the Westin Book-Cadillac (1114 Washington Blvd.) downtown.

During this meeting in Detroit, Governors from across the United States as well as infrastructure policy and technology experts discussed emerging trends and best practices for securing vital infrastructure against man-made and natural threats. This is the second of four National Governors Association stakeholder summits in support of Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s 2019-20 NGA Chair’s Initiative.

“While no public policy can prevent all disasters, governors and leaders across America can show real leadership, and work together to find innovative new ways to withstand disasters better, and to respond and recover more quickly,” Governor. Hogan said. “Throughout this bipartisan summit, we discussed the most effective measures that governors can take to fulfill our most important responsibility: protecting our states and our citizens.”

Governors Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Bill Lee of Tennessee joined Governor Hogan in Detroit for this meeting.They were joined by other state officials as well as executives of energy, transportation and water companies. This group explored ways to reduce threats of cyberattacks and to deal with challenges posed by extreme weather.

“As the climate changes, we must continue the work to mitigate the effects of natural disasters on our infrastructure and our communities,” explained Governor Whitmer. “Michigan is home to tough, innovative people who are stepping up and helping prepare our state for the future, whether it’s by joining in on efforts to combat climate change or keeping us safe from cyberattacks. I’m proud to work together with my fellow governors and leaders from across the country who are taking bold steps to protect us from harm.”

Climate change, the nation’s governors discovered, poses a threat to America’s critical infrastructure. Energy systems, water and stormwater facilities, and the transportation sector are all vulnerable to increasingly large and more frequent storms.

“Infrastructure connects everyone in our states,” stated Governor Lee. “From roads, to water, to electricity, to cybersecurity, we need a comprehensive and thoughtful approach to addressing these many challenges. Thanks to my colleagues Governor Hogan and Governor Whitmer for hosting this event and helping us continue to find ways to help our states solve our most pressing infrastructure needs.”

This summit was the second of four planned U.S. convenings in support of Governor Hogan’s NGA Chair’s Initiative, Infrastructure: Foundation for Success. He was joined by fellow governors and experts in Boston this past September to study measures to relieve traffic congestion. He also a study tour in Australia later that month to explore innovative funding models.

The next high-profile meeting regarding infrastructure to happen in Detroit will be the North American International Cyber Summit, which happens Monday, October 28. This will be followed by the U.S. Army Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence Symposium that will meet November 20-21. Both of these events will happen at the TCF Center (1 Washington Blvd.) downtown.

Friends of Rouge Park to meet this Tuesday

Friends of Rouge Park - Photo by Frank Nemecek

The nonprofit advocacy and service group Friends of Rouge Park will have a general membership meeting this coming Tuesday, October 15. It will start at 7 pm in the Westside Christian Academy (9540 Bramell St.) in Detroit.

Items likely to be on their agenda include the cleanup of the park's bike trail that members of RAI did earlier this month as well as:

• Upcoming tree planting on Saturday, November 2;
• Upcoming community conversation meeting next month; and
• Additional updates and discussion of Rouge Park.

Anyone who is interested in makig the largest park in Detroit an even better place is welcome to attend.

Rouge River in Detroit caught fire 50 years ago today

Fire - Phote by Hans Braxmeier

It was 50 years ago today, on October 9, 1969, when a spark from an acetylene torch lit some debris along the Rouge River in Detroit. From there, flames spread quickly to the surface of the river.

Back then, the Rouge River regularily ran thick with industrial waste just like other bodies of water did in the Detroit area. Within seconds of the initial spark, the Rouge Rive was soon on fire.

Flames shot 50 feet into the air, according to some observers at the time. News reports from the era tell us that It took a total of 65 firefighters and ten pieces of firefighting equipment to extinquish the blazes on the Rouge River.

The Rouge River has come a long way since that day 50 years ago. Changes in environmental regualtions have made it so that it's no longer acceptable to dump industrial waste into our rivers. This has done much to make our rives a safe habitat for fish and birds and to make them a place that humans can enjoy as well.

Plus, in the intervening decades, the Rouge River has not caught fire one.

Regardless, I believe it's important for Detroiters to take a moment to remember the day when the Rouge River caught fire.

Rouge Park tree planting needs volunteers

Volunteers are needed for a tree-plantting in Rouge Park on Saturday, November 2 from 9 - 11 am. It will happen at the northern end of the park, near West Chicago and Trinity in Detroit. The exact location for volunteers to meet is still to be determined but all volunteers who register will get an update about this point.

This tree-planted effort is being coordinated by the Greening of Detroit and the Friends of Rouge Park. The groups are looking for a total of 20 volunteers who are available to help for two hours that day.

Any volunteers who are interested in planting trees in Detroit's largest park are asked to register online by clicking here.

Minock and Whitlock Park

Minock and Whitlock Park - Photo by Frank Nemecek

Construction is proceeding nicely on the Minock and Whitlock Park, which is located at the southeast corner of Minock and Whitlock Streets in Detroit. This area used to be three consecutive vacant lots. It's now being converted into parkland.

When this project is completed in the coming weeks, I believe this will be a fantastic amenity for the Warrendale neighborhood. I'm also very happy to see previously vacant land n Detroit being put back to some kind of productive use.

As well this project continues to move forward, I will continue to bring updates to my readers.

Volunteers needed for Rouge Park clean up this Saturday

Volunteers are needed to clean up Rouge Park this Saturday - File photo

Rouge Park Appreciation Day, which is the largest local park clean up of the year, will happen this Saturday, May 18. This volunteer event is organized by the nonprofit Friends of Rouge Park as well as each of the other groups who utilize the park on a regular basis.

During this daylong event, volunteers will undertake multiple projects to maintain the largest park in Detroit and a valuable resource for the Warrendale neighborhood. This will include invasive species removal, picking up trash, planting, painting, and more.

All volunteers are appreciated, even if you are only able to help out for an hour or two. Anyone with questions about this event is asked to email RougePark@gmail.com. Volunteers can sign up to help by filling out this Google Form here.

On a personal note, I want to thank everyone in advance who is able to help out at this event. Your efforts truly make a huge difference in the Warrendale neighborhood as well as surrounding parts of Detroit.

What is next for Detroit's incinerator?

Earlier this afternoon, Mayor Mike Duggan announced that the City of Detroit would close incinerator, which has been controversial throughout its 33-year history. According to published news reports, today will be its last day of operation. The City is expected to transfer its solid waste contract to another vendor.

Mayor Duggan stated that this will not result in any additional costs to the taxpayers of Detroit.

Multiple news outlets have reported on this announcement that Detroit is closing its controversial incinerator. One can read this story here, here, and in dozens of other media outlets.

The one thing that has not been made clear as of yet is the burning question: what will happen to this site next?

(And yes, I did just drop a quip about a burning question into a blog post about an incinerator.)

The short answer is that we do not know at this time exactly what will happen at this site. Mayor Duggan stated in a post on Twitter, "As far as future use of this site, it is my strong preference that this site never again be used as a waste incinerator." The mayor went on to add that the City of Detroit, "will be pursuing our legal options to make sure this remains the case."

Since there doesn't seem to be a clear plan as to what should be done with this land after today, I would like to offer an idea for everyone to consider.

First, bulldoze the entire complex. I'm normally one for saving and reusing buildings in Detroit. The incinerator, however, is a memory that I believe Detroit would be better without.

Once the land is properly cleared, I believe that strip clubs across the city should be incentivized to close in the neighborhoods, convert their current location into a sports bar or something, and move the adult entertainment to where the incinerator sits now.

For more than 30 years, I have heard one elected official in Detroit talk about how they would love to pick up all of the strip clubs in our neighborhoods and move them to a separate area away from everything. With the closing of the incinerator, I believe that Detroiters finally have a chance to do precisely this thing.

Screen grab of the area immediately around the incinerator - Google Maps

While the stench from the incinerator has traveled to residential areas miles away, there aren't any homes currently around the site itself. This coupled with its proximity to the expressways makes this land a perfect location to move strip clubs in Detroit to.

Visual and other barriers can be erected rather easily to isolate these strip clubs from the rest of Detroit. They can do their thing and it won't bother anyone in the surrounding neighborhoods.

There are, of course, many details to work out on this one. What kind of incentive should we use to encourage the strip clubs to relocate, is the most obvious detail. However, I don't think any of these challenges are insurmountable.

And it would be nice to see an idea that has been kicked around for decades finally happen.

How to report a problem to the city government

Reporting | Stock photo from Pixabay

It happens - a Detroiter sees a problem that isn't an emergency but still requires the attention of city hall. Maybe the storm drain in front of their house is clogged. Perhaps someone has dumped a pile of trash in a vacant lot. It might be that a fire hydrant on their block needs repairs. Whatever the issue is, you need to get the city involved and navigating through the City of Detroit's every changing but always a bit more complicated than it needs to be bureaucracy can be a daunting task.

The City of Detroit has a simple yet effective way of reporting non-emergency problems. Residents with a smartphone should download the Improve Detroit app from either the iTunes or Google Play Store. This app enables Detroiters to report non-emergency issues to the City. It also enables them to track the City's response to it; even to communicate directly with the employee tasked with handling it and/or his or her supervisor.

Residents who don't have a smartphone can also report non-emergency issues. Instead of using an app to report it, though, they should instead file their report here on the City of Detroit's website.

I posted about the Improve Detroit app and website when it first came out a few years ago. Regardless, after talking with a few of my fellow Warrendale residents, it was clear that a reminder was needed.

The Improve Detroit app and website are your Tip of the Week for the week of March 18,2019.

These tips are brought to you by the Warrendale (Detroit) Blog as part of our semi-regular Tip of the Week feature. Please check back every Monday for more advice on your home, money, and life.

Also, be sure to follow the author, Frank Nemecek, on Twitter and Instagram as @fnemecek for more great information.

Monarch butterflies are in trouble

Monarch butterfly - Creative Commons photo courtesy of Wikimedia

A series of academic studies and news reports show that the monarch butterfly is in trouble.

A report published by the University of Florida showed that the number of monarch butterflies reaching their winter home from along the Atlantic coast has dropped by more than 80% since 2005. This report was written by Professor Hannah Vander Zanden of their Department of Biology and also appeared in the journal Animal Migration.

This echoes results published in National Geographic that focused more on western populations of the monarch butterfly, which also showed almost an 80% decline in their population. A third study by the researchers at the University of Texas-Austin showed similarily that these winged insects are in trouble.

I mention all of this because Michigan normally has a strong population of monarch butterflies. In fact, there are two areas in the Warrendale neighborhood of Detroit that have become strong habits for them. The Tall Grass Praire in Rouge Park is the largest and most strongly established one. Volunteers at the In Memory Of Community Garden at Minock and Whitlock Streets have also reported a growing population of these and other butterflies.

The fact that monarch butterflies - a winged insect that pollinates many other plants and enables them to continue growing - are in such trouble along with these two populations of monarch butterflies in Warrendale emphasizes, in my opinion, how important thee two programs are.

These programs are largely dormant for the winter but they will resume in spring, just in time for the surviving monarch butterflies to return to the Detroit area. While in Michigan, they will spend there summer here and hopefully lay enough eggs that to begin stabilizing their population.

The monarch butterfly in Rouge Park and at the community garden is, of course, one of the many stories that I will continue to follow in 2019.

Also, for my internatonal readers, may I suggest taking a look at "Protecting British Butterflies"by Chris Lee over on UP Gardner.

This post is a part of this blog's semi-regular Friday Focus series, which endeavors to highlight news and opinions that, in my opinion, don't get as much attention as they deserve. It's only because of scheduling challenges this week that my Friday Focus article is published on a Saturday afternoon.

Please follow this blog on Facebook for more great content. I'm also on Twitter and Instagram as @fnemecek.

Michigan named the best place for fall foliage

Fall foliage in Michigan - Photo by Madison Shealy

Those of us who live in Michigan know how spectacular the leaves around these parts get every autumn. Now, however, it looks like the rest of the country has discovered this portion of what makes Michigan magical.

For the third year in a row, Michigan has been named the best place in the United States to see fall foliage in Nikon's fall foliage competition. While the Great Lakes State came in first place again, New York came in second place while Colorado placed third. There were also some impressive entries from California, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Utah in this contest.

“Now in its fourth year, this campaign continues to provide a platform for people to show their state pride through photography that displays the natural beauty of our country, while also highlighting the uniqueness of autumn in each individual state,” explained Lisa Baxt, Associate General Manager of Communications, Nikon Inc. in a prepared statement.

I could fill this blog with words about how spectacular the fall colors are in Michigan. However, I think it's best to let the pictures speak for themselves. They, after all, are why Michigan has been named the best place for fall foliage three years in a row.

Fall in Michigan - Photo by Thomas Bos

I love this photo by Thomas Bos. It perfectly captures the beautiful colors that are found across Michigan every season. Adding a dog into the photo really gives a sense of scale to this scene.

Michigan road in autumn - Photo by Shannon Hart

This photo of a Michigan road in the fall by Shannon Hart is spectacular. In my opinion, there's something about a long stretch of empty road that invites one's imagination to ponder what is just over that hill or around the next bend.

I believe this is one of the reasons why we as humans are natural explorers of our environment. The fact that the road is enveloped by the wonderful colors of fall foliage in Michigan simply takes her photograph to the next level.

More than anything, this photo inspires one to take a long road trip through Michigan.

Michigan river in the fall - Photo by Izzy Cagalawan

I love the fact that Izzy Cagalawan incorporated a gently flowing river in this landscape of fall foliage. I feel that it adds a dimension to this photo that is missing from most other landscape photographs of Michigan.

Michigan is, lest one forget, a state that is defined by water in many ways. There are more than 11,000 lakes throughout the state, according to the Michigan Historical Center. In fact, no matter where one is this state, a person is never more than six miles from a body of water and never more than 85 miles from one of the Great Lakes.

All of this makes me look forward to 2019 when Michigan will presumably win the Nikon fall foliage competition for the fourth time.

Open Streets comes to Rouge Park

Detroit Grand Prix exhibit car - Photo by Frank Nemecek

An estimated 1,400 people came out for the inaugural edition of Open Streets Rouge Park this past Saturday. A three-mile loop of roads was closed inside Rouge Park from 1 - 5 p.m. to allow a coalition of non-profits, government agencies, and businesses to showcase all that the largest park in Detroit has to offer.

This included everything from tours of the newly redeveloped Scout Hollow as well as:

• Archery demonstrations from Elite Archery, which is the company that maintains the Rouge Park Archery Range;
• Lacrosse demonstrations from Detroit City Lacrosse;
• Hiking on the miles of park trails;
• Bike rentals from Wheelhouse Detroit and cycling events; and
• Race car exhibit by the Detroit Grand Prix.

All of this was in addition 28 other events, displays, and information tables.

Bike rentals by Wheelhouse Detroit - Photo by Frank Nemecek

"There are so many wonderful amenities in Rouge Park, and this was a great way to highlight the natural beauty that exists in Detroit’s largest park," explained Lisa Nuszkowski, one of the event organizers. "We hope that Open Streets gives more Detroiters the opportunity to experience the city’s public spaces on foot and by bike."

Wildflower walk in Rouge Park

The Friends of Rouge Park and the Michigan Botanical Society will host a Wildflower Walk this coming Sunday, May 6. It will start at 2 p.m. at the Stone Bridge Nature Trail.

This event will highlight some of the native flowers that grow wildly inside the largest park in Detroit. It's a great chance for families to get back to nature for an afternoon.

The Stone Bridge Nature Trail is located off of Tireman inside Rouge Park. The entrance is in between W. Outer Drive and Spinoza Drive. A map to the trail is available here.

More information, as well as the ability to register for this event, is located on the group's Facebook page here.

Warrendale on SciTech Now

Back in October of last year, I reported that a crew from the show SciTech Now on PBS was coming to Warrendale. They did a report on how some of the vacant lots in our part of Detroit are being used bioretention gardens as well as the impact that these garden have.

Detroit Public Television interviewed Barb Matney of the Warrendale Community Organization and myself on behalf of the show. They also spoke to several other people in the area and included lots of footage from our neighborhood.

I'm thrilled that this episode of SciTech Now has aired on PBS. It is available to watch on Detroit Public Television's website or by clicking the embedded video above.

As cities around the nation continue to look for better ways to meet environmental challenges, I'm excited that Detroit is able to showcase one solution. I'm also grateful to Detroit Public Television and the rest of the PBS family for shining such a positive spotlight on the neighborhood.

I was only featured in this episode very briefly. However, SciTech Now also used several photos that I provided them that showed what my basement looked like after Detroit was hit with record rainfall in August of 2014.

That flood was a painful - and expensive - moment for everyone in Detroit. I'm glad that it seems to have served as an impetus for improvements to our water and sewage system. 

Greening of Detroit seeks volunteers to plant trees

Trees in Rouge Park - Photo by Frank Nemecek

The Greening of Detroit seeks help from volunteers to plant 1,500 saplings in Rouge Park's Meyers Nursery. They are also looking for people willing to train to become Citizen Foresters to lead groups of volunteers in planting. 

To become a Citizen Forester, volunteers are required to their field training session on Saturday, April 7 at 9 am. This training session will take place at the Meyers Tree Nursery, which located on W. Outer Drive inside of Rouge Park.

The upcoming volunteer planting dates for the Greening of Detroit will be:

• Saturday, April 21;
• Friday, April 27;
• Friday, May 4; and
• Saturday, May 19.

More information the Greening of Detroit, their Citizen Forester program, an opportunity to sign up are all available on their website.  

PBS looks at rain gardens in Warrendale

Film crew from Detroit Public Television sets up - Photo by Frank Nemecek

I was interviewed yesterday by a film crew from Detroit Public Television, who was working on behalf of the show SciTech Now on PBS. An upcoming episode of the show will examine the four bioretention gardens in the Warrendale neighborhood as well as their impact on our neighborhood and the rest of Detroit. Barb Matney, president of the Warrendale Community Organization, was also interviewed for this episode.

The four bioretention gardens in Warrendale were designed by researchers at the University of Michigan. They are designed to soak up and help treat some of the rainwater that would otherwise go into Detroit's sewage treatment stream. More information about these rain gardens is available from my friends at CityLab over on their site.

I am personally glad to see some of the vacant lands in Detroit put to a productive use. These rain gardens improve the local environment. They also make it less likely for flooding to happen in our neighborhood and improve our overall quality of life.

The four bioretention gardens in the Warrendale neighborhood of Detroit are located at:

• 8027 Greenview Ave.;
• 8287 Evergreen Rd.;
• 8084 Stahelin; and
• 8091 Vaughan St.

SciTech Now air regularly on PBS (channel 56 in Detroit) and online. The producers were certain when the episode focusing on Warrendale's rain garden will air. As soon as I learn the date that it will air, I will share it here and on this blog's Facebook page.

All of this is why PBS and their look at the bioretention gardens in Detroit are my Cool Warrendale Thing of the Week for this week.

Keeping contaminants out of Detroit's recycling

To increase recycling rates, the City of Detroit created a single-stream recycling system a few years ago. They thought it would be easy. However, over the last five years, the value of recovered waste has plummeted while the effort to extract it has risen. One of the major challenges in single-stream recycling is contamination.

Contaminants - or those dirty, rotten scoundrels - are what happens when non-recyclable items are mixed with recyclables. Innocent papers smeared with food or grease, paper towels, paper plates, napkins, the dreaded Styrofoam - these are some of the reasons that tons of recyclables are rejected from Detroit's recycling system each year.

There’s a general rule of thumb we use to help those who are not sure if something is recyclable or not recyclable: When in Doubt, Throw it Out.

Contaminants pickup by season too. In the spring there will be garden hoses and plant containers. During the holidays, there will be broken Christmas lights and foil wrapping paper. So let’s take a look at the top three most common contaminants found in recycling today. Keep in mind that every community is different and some accept things curbside where others do not so check with your municipality for a current list of what can be recycled. For the most part, here are the top three things that material recovery facilities do not like:

Plastic Grocery Bags.  Number one thing facilities pull out during hand sorting. These bags can muck up the machinery and close it down. Grocery Bags can be taken back to your local grocer to be disposed of properly.

Speaking of plastic grocery bags: do not put recyclables in them and then into your cart. These would be automatically pulled and sent to a landfill. Workers should never open plastic bags to sort through recycling due to safety reasons.

Pizza Boxes. Some municipalities will allow these to be picked up curbside if you take the insert out and throw it away, but the truth of the matter is that a pizza box can ruin an entire batch of slurry. The delicious cheese that we love on our pizzas is greasy. That grease permeates the cardboard. Cardboard is mixed with water and squeeze-pressed to make new paper and that grease will cause holes in paper.

It’s really that simple. Oil and water do not mix and the facility will generally pull pizza boxes out during hand sorting.

Styrofoam. Expanded polystyrene, more commonly known as Styrofoam, is problematic to recycle. The problem is the weight. The exact reason that makes Styrofoam so attractive to be used in packaging is the same reason it is difficult to recycle.

Profits from recycling are calculated per pound. With material so lightweight, it takes more money to cover the cost of transportation, handling, and processing. To process it so that it is cost efficient requires costly equipment. While it can be recycled, it isn’t accepted curbside because it is not cost effective to do so. Your best bet is to avoid Styrofoam when possible.

Other contaminants include food, trash, hardcover books, light bulbs, electronics, cookware (ceramics, plates, cups), window/mirror glass and construction debris.

These tips are brought to you by the Warrendale (Detroit) Blog as part of our Tip of the Week feature. Please check back next week for more advice for your home, money, and life.

City of Detroit releases water quality report

Water

The City of Detroit released their annual water quality report for 2016 earlier today. It documents that the water coming out of our taps meets or exceeds all state and federal standards. A copy of this eight-page report is available on-line here.

Copies of their previous water quality reports from 2008 - 2015 2006 are also available on-line as is their report from 2007. All of these reports can be viewed or downloaded here.

These reports document the quality of tap water throughout Detroit and its surrounding suburbs that are serviced by the Great Lakes Water Authority.

Update @ 2:53 p.m.
After I posted this article, I realized that this is the 2,000th post that I have published on the Warrendale (Detroit) Blog since its inception in December of 2005.

Mayor Duggan joins in supporting the Paris Accord

Mayor Mike Duggan of Detroit
File photo

In response to President Donald J. Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement, a total of 211 mayors of American cities - representing a combined population of 54 million Americans - have pledged publicly to meet the environmental goals of the accord in their respective cities. Mayor Mike Duggan of Detroit was one of 11 Mayors from Michigan to join this coalition.

Mayor Duggan is joined by fellow Michigan Mayors Christopher Taylor of Ann Arbor, Brenda Hess of Buchanan, David Coulter of Ferndale, Karen Weaver of Flint, Rosalynn Bliss of Grand Rapids, Karen Majewski of Hamtramck, William Sprague of Lapeer, Daniel Guzzi of Rockwood, Jim Carruthers of Traverse City, and Amanda Maria Edmonds of Ypsilanti. The full list of mayors from across the United States who have made this pledge is available on-line here.

The fact that Mayor Duggan has joined in supporting the Paris Acord should not be surprising given his overall record of accomplishments as Mayor of Detroit. During his first term of office, he established a citywide curbside recycling program - something that Mayors of Detroit dating back to Coleman A. Young have talked about but failed to implement. He also:

• Oversaw a citywide installation of new LED streetlights that are brighter and more energy efficient than the old ones;
• Made significant improvements to mass transit in Detroit;
• Included dedicated bike lanes for many streets in Detroit;
• Worked with DTE Energy to bring a solar energy facility to Northwest Detroit; and
• Supported bioretention gardens in Warrendale that capture excess stormwater before it enters our sewer system.

I want to thank Mayor Duggan and the other 10 mayors from Michigan for their leadership on this issue. I hope that as the days and weeks go on, more mayors will join them.

Update @ 4:25 p.m.
Since sharing this post on social media, I have received several comments about what the Paris Agreement does or doesn't do. Almost none of them are accurate.

Therefore, in the interest of promoting an intelligent, civil dialogue, I want to add that the full-text of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change is available here.

Recycling expands in Detroit

Recycling container - Photo by Frank Nemecek

The City of Detroit offered free containers for the curbside pick-up of recyclables to all who attended a recycling workshop last month. Those containers are beginning to appear at local homes, including mine.

All of this, of course, is part of the City's on-going effort to expand curbside recycling in Detroit.

The next recycling workshop will be on Monday, April 11 at Ss. Peter and Paul Church (7685 Grandville). Full details for this workshop are available here.

As with the previous one, all residents who attend the upcoming recycling workshop will receive their own free containers.