We live in something as close to Paradise as you get-but have been trying for many years to get rid of a paper mill which puts sometimes hideous smells into the air. My neighbor moved with her family to Alaska, because they were becoming allergic to the fumes. Now they want to burn 'biofuel'. There is clearly unfair practice about their conforming to environmental laws. Some people say that it helps the economy too much to get rid of- we need to find an alternative to get a more unanimous local support. Also I have seen them in a political committee meeting 'auction off' the number of feet between the trees and the road. It started at 150 and ended at 25, in about 3 minutes. Washington State in general is losing more trees than it should. My friend says that Douglas firs have common root systems and each tree supports the others. Maybe we should all know that. Certainly one would want to support that. We do have people trying to support the Park system now that we have lost federal funding. Individuals are doing their best to cooperate, and do the work that the parks need so that they remain parks. This is the first year, or a little over, that 'discover' passes have been sold- it raised half of what they thought it would.

On December 11, 2008, 1.1 billion gallons of Extreme Toxic Waste was released into the Clinch River, leading to the Tennessee River. With over 23 Extreme Toxic Waste agents, many of which are also carcinogenic, my family was filled with dread and fear. We were more concerned about how fast the story slipped into the background, seemingly suggesting that it was no longer a threat. At that time I was a Ph.D. Public Health student, taking an environmental health class at Walden University and elected as an assignment to make my local community aware of what was going on, especially after the conflicting results between TVA, the EPA and Duke University's Dr. Vengosh regarding the threat it posed. I hosted a speaking engagement at the University of Tennessee Chattanoga and had as a guest speaker a representative from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to help us to understand what was going on and what could be expected. It was worse than we thought. I was able to publish an article about how to activate community response through the International Laureate blogsite, and also published an article in the Chattanooga Times Free Press using my "outside voice" to help bring awareness to our city, 50 miles downriver from the spill site. There is still no replacement containment of the released toxins on land, and the retrieved sludge from the rivers, as far south as the Watts Bar Dam. The laws determining accountability are still unclear and there has still been no widescale testing of the impact on the children in the immediate area. We did not forget, even if the story slipped into an eerie silence. Airborn particles are threatening many lives, especially those towards the city of Knoxville, all the pastures where dairy animals graze, and wildlife that have been decimated as a result. We did not forget, but the wheels of justice seem to have stopped regarding this spill. There are many other containment sites that threaten to burst in a similar way to a potentially even greater adverse impact on people, wildlife, the environment in general and in ways that are as yet still too hard to predict. Of all, the silence about the matter is the most disturbing!

We can't control mother nature. Nature can due cruel things as we have experienced in floods, draught, hurricanes and fire. This is just the beginning of what can happen. We must do what climate science is telling us to mitigate the effects of climate change. We must all act together to minimize our CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and encourage conservation, promote green plant growth and energy efficiency. I believe that if the people of the world can't come together on climate change, than nature will eventually win by destroying our present day way of life on planet earth. Climate change affects the total planet and not just specific national and international treasures. This is a world problem and nature will destroy us all if we don't get our act together.

Our town is proactive in preserving open space with active suppt from the nature conservancy and the redding land trust.

I find now, that days like today, being Mother's Day, that I now find I am a voice for Mother Earth, and so, that provides a fuller dimension to what I do, to make our life on planet Earth actually livable. Likewise, I have filled a few surveys, that asked what I am a citizen of: my hometown, my country, or planet Earth. My answer: planet Earth. If more of the world citizens lived with this Big Picture view, taking actions to be a nature-based citizen and consumer, we would end up with a truly livable planet.

I have lived in and around Traverse City, my entire life. As a child, I grew up next to the Grand Traverse Bay. As I became older I came to be mesmerized by The Great Lakes. About 12yrs. ago our State Govenor, allowed a company called Nestle Waters, to come to a small town and drill wells, right next to the Great Lakes. For what benefit to our State? I have not found any. Now all these years later our Great Lakes are the lowest levels ever recorded. The DEQ and other agencies are posing possible reasons for this dire problem, but not one has asked how; 50,000 gallons of water, pumped every day by; Nestle Water is Impacting our Low Water Table. While they have enjoyed huge profits, Michigan now has to find money to Drudge many lakes to sustain barges and delivery.

I have lived in this area for many years and have watched construction and people take over so much of nature it is frightening.

As often as we can, we bring our children and grandchildren to accompany us on treks through the forest to see and talk about the wonders of nature. We love to do it, our children enjoy it, and the grandchildren always ask "when are we going again?"

I learned the wonder of the woods when I was a small boy in Cincinnati, Ohio. Though I lived in an urban area, our street ended at 30 acres of woods. I wondered through the woods, learned about nature and loved to pick wild black berries. I think it is very important to save the woods in urban areas. Bob Breving