The Milfoil Ladies
A formidable group of houseboaters has become a big factor in the debate in Portage Bay over what to do about the invasion of aquatic weeds. They recently spent the afternoon together on the SMP Citizen's Advsory Committee (CAC) Harbor Tour on September 9th. Diana Forman filed this report.
"Our group consisted of six individuals, all houseboaters from our 1213 East Shelby Dock: John and Molly Bailey, Penny Lewis, Betty Swift, and Bob and me.
Grassroots Hall of Fame
"Molly, Penny, Betty, and I have been working together since 2001 to reduce the use of aquatic herbicides to control water weeds in Portage Bay. So that we could be identified as something other than "the milfoil ladies," Molly named us the Portage Bay Coalition for Clean Water and contacted Seattle Audubon and People for Puget Sound, who signed on to support the work of our tiny coalition. Various individuals from the Washington Toxics Coalition mentored us for several years, and we were astonished and delighted to be welcomed into the Toxics Coalition's 'Grassroots Hall of Fame' in July of 2006 for our 'hard work and dedication.'
"I was made aware of the (CAC harbor) tour because I attended the first two public meetings open to anyone interested in learning about the SSMP and was was put onto the e-mail contact list of Maggie Glowacki, DPD's coordinator of the SSMP Update project.
"Maggie kindly agreed to allow five guests to accompany me, so the six of us spent a fascinating afternoon learning the history of the shorelines we were visiting, witnessing the habitat restoration going on in the Duwamish right alongside the heaviest of industries, being introduced to the complexities of zoning and infrastructure management in fragile environments, and marveling at the beauty of the entire scene"
Please see our article on the CAC Harbor Cruise.