The Return of Eagles, Ospreys, Peregrine Falcons

In 1962 Norm Spring read Silent Spring by Rachel Carson.  He wondered how anyone could read the book and not do something about the harm DDT was causing to the environment. He was living right across the street from Central Park at the time and the city of Grand Haven, Michigan would spray the elm trees for Dutch Elm disease with DDT.  He was told he could move his car, but along with his wife he had two small children and the house and places where the young children played would be coated with DDT.  The problem was DDT did not kill the elm beetle. it soaked into the ground and everyone could see robins trembling in their death throes in the grass.  The spray washed down the streets and into the storm drains so DDT entered Lake Michigan where it was caught up in food chains.  The fish became highly contaminated with DDT.

 Fish eating birds such as the American Bald Eagle were affected since their eggs became thin and cracked as a result of DDT and did not hatch.  Norm went to every meeting of the Grand Haven City Council for three years and finally the Grand Haven City Council agreed to stop their DDT program.

People came from a nearby city and asked “How did you do that?” and together they formed the Michigan Pesticides Council that met at Michigan State University.  Among the members were:  Norm Spring, chairman, Joan Wolfe, ornithologists Dr. Ted Black, Dr. George Wallace, Dr. John Kitchel,  Charles Schick, Ann Van Lente, , Joseph Kleiman, Theodore Carbine.  Due to their work DDT and like pesticides were banned in Michigan in 1972 and then the ban went nation wide and Canada followed.

Today the Eagles, Ospreys and Peregrine Falcons have returned to the shores of the Great Lakes, the United States and Canada because the democratic process worked.

We see butterflies, moths and bumblebees, all part of a healthy ecosystem.

Norm was inducted into The Michigan Environmental Hall of Fame in 2014 for his work on behalf of the environment.

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Norm Spring Warrior

Norm Spring on the Front Lines in Korea  click the link

The photo of Norm was taken in front of the Gerald Ford Museum.  The occasion, The Michigan Environmental Hall of Fame 2014. The award was given for his work to ban DDT and like pesticides.  As a result, eagles, falcons, butterflies and bees have come back.

Journey to South Korea with Norm Spring

Our Recent Journey to South Korea  click the link.

Norm received a Peace Medal from the South Korean government for fighting on the front lines.

We met others who received the Peace Medal who fought as United Nations soldiers.  Some of these veterans were from South Africa, India, Scotland, England and many from the United States.

Norm was not wounded, but some veterans had wheel chairs and artificial limbs.

Click the link above for a story that ran in our local newspaper, The Grand Haven Tribune and also a video from Reuters.

Thanks for Peregrines and Eagles

                                                             

A peregrine falcon hovers

Over rolling Lake Michigan waves

Waves that carry something

the falcon is interested in

as it hangs steady in the wind.

 

On the sandy shore two eagles

Pick up carrion—dead white fish with silver fins.

It’s good to see a peregrine and eagles

Along the  lakeshore today.

I thank my good man

For making it that way.

 

 

Earth Day is April 22 2015

Think globally, act locally.  This is the way to help our Mother the Earth.  Go to your local city council to persuade them to make good changes.  That is what I did and we got a new municipal wastewater treatment plant.  

Then after reading Rachel Carson's book, Silent Spring, Norm Spring went to the city council and pesuaded them to stop spraying elms in the park in front of our house with DDT.  It took three years of attending city council meetings and then the city of Grand Haven finally stopped the DDT program that was killing birds, and building up the food chains in the Great Lakes near where we live.  

We along with others formed the Michigan Pesticides Council and then DDT and like pesticides were banned in Michigan.  Then in the U.S.  Then in Canada.  He was recently honored for this work by the Michigan Environmental Hall of Fame.

Norm Spring was instrumental in getting  an air pollution ordinance passed and saving  sand dunes in their natural state across the Grand River in Ferrysburg, Michigan.  All these things were done through the democratic process and done with the idea that we must keep the environment viable for now and for our children and the generations to come.

Encouraged by thinking globally and acting locally, I wrote The Dynamic Great Lakes. The book shows how the eagles returned to the shores of the Great Lakes after nearly being wiped out by DDT.  It shows that some bad government policies can be reversed with will and determination by ordinary people like us.

Think of what you could do by thinking globally and acting locally.

Link to the Korean War: an Eyewitness Account

Memoir: Eye Witness Account from the Front Lines Korean War  Click on the link

After serving on the front lines in Korea, Norm went to Michigan State University and earned a B.A. and an M.A.

Today Norm has retired from teaching.  He recently was inducted into the West Michigan Hall of Fame for his work in banning the pesticide DDT and many other environmental victories.  The photo was taken in front of the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, MI where he was presented with the award.

Norm is active in the V.F.W, and the American Legion.  The photo below shows Norm in the local Memorial Day Parade.

Norm Spring Memoir of the Front Lines in Korea

Norm Spring, Korean War Veteran on Veteran's Day.

memoir from the front lines of the Korean War.Korean War Educator  click the link

Norm had a baby brownie camera he carried in his flack jacket.  The photos were taken on the front lines during the Korean War.  He was there at a historic time and this is his eye witness account.

These days he enjoys fishing.  He will be inducted into the Michigan Environmental Hall of Fame on April 10, 7 p.m. at the Grand Rapids Michigan Gerald R. Ford Museum for his work in improving the environment.

Norm spearheaded the drive to ban DDT in our town and in Michigan and then the ban went nationwide. The American bald eagle was nearly wiped out due to DDT that got into the food pyramids.  He has helped, not only eagles, but all living things in his endeavors.