NEW ERA OF COLLABORATION AS UPEC AND SWUP COMBINE FORCES

Marquette — The Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition (UPEC) and Save the Wild U.P. (SWUP) are joining forces to create a far-reaching, inclusive environmental advocacy group for the Upper Peninsula. Effective January, 2017 SWUP will become a part of UPEC, allowing the strengths of both groups to be highlighted in their cooperative work to protect clean water, healthy ecosystems, and wild places. UPEC will maintain its focus on environmental education and advocacy for U.P. wild lands, while SWUP, with its new partner’s support, will continue its activism as the SWUP Mining Action Group within UPEC.

Horst Schmidt, UPEC President, said “We’ve done it! UPEC and SWUP are becoming One Voice. With five decades of combined leadership and effort, the merger leads to a strengthened organization reaching out to the citizens of the Upper Peninsula. We could not have done it without the dedication of board members of both groups. ”

The leaders of SWUP, Kathleen Heideman and Alexandra Maxwell, will be joining the UPEC board, adding depth and knowledge to its discussions. SWUP’s strength lies in its social media contacts and in its hard-hitting public commentary on sulfide mining related permits, most recently on the proposed zinc-copper mine targeting the Menominee River and the proposed expansion of the Eagle Mine in Marquette County.

“UPEC’s perspective is broader and more historical,” said Jon Saari, who has served in leadership roles in both organizations. “The U.P.’s extensive public lands are the key to providing the needed core area for nature’s story to unfold. Enhancing the quality of these wild lands and containing the threats to them are UPEC’s goals. If we can do this, the U.P. has a rare chance to demonstrate what it means to be a sustainable place in the 21st century.”

UPEC’s activities have focused on community outreach through its quarterly newsletter, its annual Celebration of the U.P., and its grant programs in environmental education and community conservation. “We awarded $34,000 in grants in 2016 in these two programs,” said President Schmidt, “and going forward we want to enhance our presence and partnerships U.P. wide.”

SWUP has gone through several transformations in its 12 year history, but has always maintained a presence as think-tank for citizens concerned about the environmental and social threats brought by sulfide mining. In recent years its accomplishments have included stimulating impressive public participation in the permitting processes, providing college-level fellowship programs, leading one-of-a-kind outdoor excursions to threatened wild places in Marquette County, and providing intelligent analysis on mining-related permits, and all for the purpose of protecting clean water and wild places.

UPEC and SWUP complement each other, said Kathleen Heideman, SWUP President. “This organizational transformation will enable members of the SWUP Mining Action Group, now organized under the larger tent of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition, to refocus on their grassroots work – defending Upper Michigan’s clean water and wild places from the threat of sulfide mining. We’re not getting bigger as a result of the merger, we’re getting better.”

As the groups join and navigate the path ahead, they will speak with “ONE VOICE” for the environment of the U.P.

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Founded in 2004, Save the Wild U.P. is a grassroots environmental organization dedicated to defending wild places and clean water of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula from the dangers of sulfide mining. For more information contact info@savethewildup.org or call (906) 662-9987. Get involved with SWUP’s work at savethewildup.org or follow SWUP on Facebook at facebook.com/savethewildup or Twitter @savethewildup.