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Phyllis Green receives Great Lakes Committee Award for ballast-water work

February 9, 2009

The Izaak Walton League of America has given the Great Lakes Committee Award to Phyllis Green, Superintendent of Isle Royale National Park, to recognize her work in establishing a “no ballast-water exchange zone‚” around Isle Royale, and her initiative in retro-fitting Park Service vessels with ballast water treatment technology. Both projects will help prevent the spread of invasive aquatic species in the Great Lakes.

In addition to her work at Isle Royal National Park, Green also serves as an advisory board chairperson for the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute at Northland College. Because of her efforts, Park Service vessels now use a chemical process that eliminates invasive aquatic species while still meeting the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency. The invasion of exotic organisms is a large concern to the Park Service, and Green’s efforts are both an effective method to protect Lake Superior from any threats that may have “hitchhiked” in Park Service vessels, and a symbolic message of the great efforts required to sustain America’s precious waters.

“She is a hero,” said David Zentner, current member and former national president of the Izaak Walton League of America. Zentner presented the award at Northland College during the Board of Trustees plenary session Friday, February 6.

The Izaak Walton League of America is a nationwide organization of conservationists seeking the preservation of America’s wild places through community conservation and effective policies. The League, founded in 1922, is one of America’s oldest conservation groups and engages in a wide range of debates, addressing issues from responsible hunting and fishing techniques to wetland preservation and effective climate change regulations, and boasts more than 36,000 members nationwide.