Stewards advocate for policies related to water, forests, and wildlife
By Mayra Hart
On January 28th, five members from the Forests and Wildlife Stewards team met with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) about their plan to increase timber harvest in Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs)—an issue the Stewards have been following very closely and diligently. Margaret Levin and Mary Blitzer were also in attendance at the meeting representing the Sierra Club.
The two primary concerns addressed during this meeting were ensuring that WMAs are kept intact to be used as carbon sinks and ensuring the DNR is not drifting from wildlife-first management practices, as prescribed under state statute, to timber- or industry needs-first.
During the meeting, the Stewards presented ten "asks", which the DNR expressed a willingness to follow up on. They included: wildlife managers having a greater voice in making decisions; setting up a citizens' WMA advisory oversight committee; increasing WMA clearcut reserves to a minimum of twenty percent; incorporating carbon sequestration as a goal into the DNR's logging plan and conducting additional modelling accordingly; and developing ways to measure and monitor biodiversity and wildlife numbers to evaluate how well the system is working. The Stewards are also trying to arrange an in-depth meeting with the DNR on their modelling practices.
One of the highlights of being a member of the Waters and Wetlands Stewards is the opportunity to read about and discuss all kinds of water-related issues with people who are passionate and knowledgeable. Over the past few months, the members of the team have been diving into topics such as the impact of mercury on waterways, micro plastics in Lake Superior, the debate surrounding pattern tiling on Minnesota farms, and—their current priority—alternatives to road salt.
At the April meeting, they'll be joining forces with the Forests and Wildlife Stewards to hear from guest speaker Margaret Wagner from the U of M Forever Green Initiative, a group that aims to protect the environment and strengthen communities by diversifying agricultural production with perennial and winter-annual crops. (Watch the Sierra Club calendar for the April meeting, or come to the March Joint Stewards meeting, for a head start.) The Stewards welcome all visitors and new members, regardless of background or expertise.