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Registration is open for One Water Gathering

By Huron Pines

Alpena — Registration is open for the international One Water Gathering on June 17 and 18, 2022 in Alpena.

The One Water Gathering is bringing together professionals from both sides of Lake Huron to explore solutions, share best practices and celebrate a sustainable future for our shared waters. The two-day conference welcomes American, Canadian, First Nations and Tribal partners, municipal leaders, watershed groups, regulatory agencies, school administrators and educators, artists, writers, musicians and volunteers who share a common goal of supporting a healthy Lake Huron forever.

The conference begins Friday, June 17 at Alpena Community College with a full day of presentations and interactive workshops. Conference topics include Community Empowerment, Creative Solutions and Technical Innovation with sessions like Cultivating a Community of Conservationists, Sustainable Finance, Effective Climate Change Communications, Green Infrastructure Engineering Approaches in the Great Lakes and more.

The conference is followed by a reception Friday evening at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center. Tours of the center’s green roof — partially funded through the Lake Huron Forever initiative — will be featured.

The morning of Saturday, June 18 will feature an optional beach cleanup in Alpena, followed by area field trips including a Besser Museum tour, a shipwreck tour on a glass-bottom boat and guided hikes at Thunder Bay’s North Point Peninsula and Rockport State Recreation Area.

“The One Water Gathering welcomes anyone with a personal connection to Lake Huron interested in learning what they can do, individually or collectively, to steward this critical international asset,” said Abigail Ertel, conference organizer and Community Program Director with Huron Pines. “Our goal is to provide people with opportunities to build relationships, explore new perspectives and observe what’s already being done in shoreline communities to promote a healthy Lake Huron.”

The Lake Huron Forever initiative, which is responsible for hosting the conference, was developed in partnership with community foundations in the United States and Canada.

“The Community Foundation sees the protection of our shared waters as a crucial element for the vibrant and sustainable communities we aim to build in Northeast Michigan,” Patrick Heraghty Executive Director for the Community Foundation of Northeast Michigan said. “It’s an honor to be able to showcase what our Lake Huron shoreline communities in and around the Alpena area are already doing and the great assets our region has to offer.”

“Lake Huron Forever has built strong friendships and fertile partnerships between Canadian and American community foundations and the shoreline communities they serve,” added Stuart Reid, Executive Director of Community Foundation Grey Bruce in Ontario. “Our ongoing conversations about the stewardship of a healthy Lake Huron, and our interest in learning best practices for stormwater management, will ensure the One Water Gathering will be a change-making conference promoting learning, innovation and collaboration.”

Cost to attend is $100 per person. Conference details and registration are available at lakehuronforever.org.

Sponsors of the One Water Gathering include, Americana Foundation, Bay Area Community Foundation, Bruce Power, Consumers Energy, the Consumers Energy Foundation, Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan, Community Foundation Grey Bruce, Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, Huron Pines, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), The Nature Conservancy, National Wildlife Federation, Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network (WIN) and Thunder Bay River Center.

The Lake Huron Forever initiative was developed in 2019 by shoreline community foundation and conservation partners from the United States and Canada to advance water quality protection and sustainable communities on both sides of the lake. Facilitated locally by conservation nonprofit Huron Pines, the initiative supports community efforts to design and complete on-the-ground work that strengthens the health of residents and natural resources.

Huron Pines is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 1973 to conserve and enhance Northern Michigan’s natural resources to ensure healthy water, protected places and vibrant communities. With offices in Gaylord and Alpena, Huron Pines improves economic, environmental, educational and recreational opportunities throughout Northern Michigan. To learn more, visit huronpines.org.

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