FDL chairwoman receives environmental award

• Awards

Four of the six honorees of the Lake Superior Binational Program’s ninth annual Environmental Stewardship Awards Program include (from left) Tom Nelson, owner of Tom’s Burnt Down Café; John Knight, administrator for Drummond Area School District; Karen Diver, chairwoman of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa; Mary Doch, Lise Abaaz; and Jan Karon of WaterLegacy. They received their awards from Vice-Chair Christine Ostern (second from right) and Co-Chair Bruce Lindgren of the Lake Superior Binational Forum. Contributed Photo

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Fond du Lac Chairwoman Karen Diver is among the nine American and Canadian recipients of this year’s ninth annual Lake Superior Binational Program’s Environmental Stewardship Award.

The awards program pays tribute to nominees who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to environmental stewardship through leadership in one of six categories: Youth; Individual Adult; Business; Industry; and Municipality, Organization, or First Nation/Tribe.

The recipients have taken successful actions that minimize negative impacts on the natural environment in the Lake Superior basin.

A public awards ceremony for some of the U.S. winners was held in July in Superior, Wis., during a public Lake Superior Day festival. Remaining recipients will be honored at several awards presentations later this summer.

Diver received the award for the work of the Fond du Lac Resource Management Division, which manages, protects and restores the natural and cultural resources of the Reservation, located 20 miles inland from Lake Superior. The division works collaboratively with other federal, state, tribal and local agencies to achieve shared goals: restoration and protection of habitat and wildlife populations in the Basin and especially within the St. Louis River Area of Concern.

These broad goals are grounded in sustainable management practices, in keeping with Anishinaabe values. The Division works with many partners on diverse issues and programs far beyond a conventional resource management department including sustainable forestry management practices; invasive species control; active modern management methods for wild rice beds; collaborative management of walleye and other game fish species; habitat restoration projects to reestablish lake sturgeon in the St. Louis River watershed; moose research; environmental review of mining projects; and renewable energy work.

The Lake Superior Binational Forum is a multi-sector stakeholder group of U.S. and Canadian volunteers working together to provide input to governments about lake issues and to educate basin residents about ways to protect and restore the lake. Members are from Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ontario. The Forum is located in the United States at the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute at Northland College in Ashland, Wis., and is funded by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

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