“Government Water Policy” with Todd Ambs, June 27, 7:00 p.m.
The Door County Environmental Council welcomes Todd Ambs, campaign director of Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition who will be speaking at the Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor, Wednesday, June 27 at 7:00 p.m.
For more than 35 years, Mr. Ambs has worked in the environmental policy field.From 2010 until becoming director of Healing Our Waters in July, 2013, he was president of the national conservation group River Network. Prior to that, he ran the Water Division for theWisconsin Department of Natural Resources from 2003-2010. Mr. Ambs has extensive experience in both state government and non-profit organizations and has served on a number of water related boards and commissions. He is also an adjunct professor in the Urban and Regional Planning Department at the University of Wisconsin Madison.
Consisting of more than 145 environmental, conservation, and outdoor recreation organizations, such as zoos, aquariums, and museums, the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition strives to restore and protect the Great Lakes. Millions of people in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New York depend on the Great Lakes for drinking water, jobs, and way of life.Work in the field is the backbone of the Coalition’s campaign to restore waterways, but the Coalition also has a strong presence in Washington, D.C, where they educate federal public officials about the importance of Great Lakes restoration to secure federal funding for their projects.
The Trump Administration initially proposed budget cuts that would have been disastrous to the progress being made to restore North America’s greatest fresh water resources. The Coalition urged Congress to appropriate $300 million to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) to clean up toxic pollution, restore habitat, fight invasive species, and reduce city and farm runoff pollution. Fortunately, due to strong bipartisan support in Congress,the funds were successfully allocated to the GLRI in late March, 2018.
“I like to link the lack of good water policy development in government today to the continuing erosion of the engagement of public servants and public in general, in the process ofgovernment,” says Mr. Ambs. He has developed a “Wisconsin Gubernatorial Candidate’s Good Government Platform” that he is urging people to embrace and candidates to adopt. At Wednesday night’s program, Mr. Ambs will also discuss the past, present, and uncertain future of government water policy. Please join the Door County Environmental Council at this free event.