Michigan has long been a leader in protecting its citizens and natural resources from environmental degradation and pollution. The splendor of Michigan's natural heritage is evident in our Great Lakes vistas, shoreland beaches, 11,000 inland lakes, and 26,000 miles of streams and rivers. As Director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), it is my great fortune to work alongside skilled and talented professionals dedicated to preserving our natural legacy and to providing exceptional public service.

Through the perseverance, commitment and hard work of DEQ staff, countless citizen groups, businesses and local governments, Michigan has made great strides in protecting and improving the quality of our environment. Over the past thirty years, air quality in Michigan has significantly improved, and our lakes and streams are more fishable and swimmable today than in prior years. These successes, however, are merely investments in our future.  As we learn more about our planet, we gain greater knowledge of the human impact on nature and ecological systems.  New challenges emerge to confront us, some of which are global in scope while others test the very limits of our science and knowledge.

I am confident that we, the DEQ and citizens of Michigan, will face the known and emerging challenges with the resolve to overcome them.  Martin Luther King Jr. once observed "[T]hat all life is interrelated.  We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny.  Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."  We are, then, an integral part of a worldwide ecosystem; we are not separate, apart or above it.  Let this be our guidepost as we endeavor to preserve and protect our ecological inheritance and great natural legacy.

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