Lake Superior Kayakers Support Water Quality - Brief Article

National Wildlife, Oct-Nov, 1999

Five men recently kayaked 85 miles across the rough, cold waters of Lake Superior to help NWF publicize the need to designate the world's largest freshwater lake an "Outstanding National Resource Water." It took the men 25 hours to paddle from Thunder Bay, Canada, to Lake Linden on Michigan's Keweenaw Pen-insula, with a stop on Isle Royale to wait for good weather.

Planned in conjunction with NWF's Great Lakes Natural Resource Center, the trip was designed to build public support for tougher water-quality policies that would protect the lake from toxic pollutants. A long-term goal of NWF's Lake Superior Project is "zero discharge" of the most dangerous and long-lived chemicals, such as mercury and PCBs, into the lake's water and air.

"Designation as an Outstanding National Resource Water would tell the world that Lake Superior is one of the world's most magnificent natural treasures and deserves the highest level of protection from toxic pollution," says Tony DeFalco, NWF's Lake Superior Project organizer.