- [Narrator] Coming up on Great Lakes Now, building mountain bike trails on the shores of Lake Superior.

- There's kind of this shift, for rural communities to be building their economy (bike tires rumbling) off these experienced based activities.

- [Narrator] A Supreme Court ruling threatens U.S. wetlands.

- We've counted on the Federal Clean Water Act to protect these places, for our communities.

And now all of a sudden, the Supreme Court has blown a hole in those protections.

- [Narrator] And news from around the lake.

(bright upbeat music plays) This program is brought to you by the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Richard C. Devereaux Foundation for Energy and Environmental Programs at DPTV, Polk Family Fund, DTE Foundation, and contributions to your PBS station, from viewers like you, thank you.

- Hi, I'm Anna Sysling.

Welcome to Great Lakes Now.

Mountain biking is a growing part of the tourism and recreation industry in the Great Lakes region.

And in Michigan's Keweenaw peninsula, there's an ever expanding network of mountain biking trails.

For our first story, Ian Solomon went to Copper Harbor, Michigan, both to ride the trails, and to see what goes into building them.

- Picturesque Copper Harbor, Michigan is an outdoor fanatic's paradise, with abundant opportunities to unplug and enjoy nature.

It's also considered a premier destination for mountain biking enthusiasts.

And I'm here to check it out.

So I'm here at East Bluff Bike Park, to do a little mountain biking and also learn a bit about this place.

Copper Harbor is near the northern tip of Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula.

And East Bluff Bike Park is a few miles further east.

I'm meeting up with Aaron Rogers, owner of the park and founder of Rock Solid Trail Contracting, the largest trail building company in the world.

They designed and built all the trails here.

And he agreed to show me around.

(tires whirring) - Hey, hey.

- Hey, how's it going Ian?

- Pretty good.

- You guys ready to hit the trails?

- Definitely, let's do it.

- All right, let's do it.

- Right here.

(bright adventurous music begins) - We bought this property with the intention of building mountain bike trails here, primarily because the terrain is very desirable compared to the terrain in Copper Harbor.

The terrain in Copper Harbor is definitely more aggressive, more pronounced, a lot rockier.

And it just makes for a more advanced experience for people.

And so, like people have been saying for years when they come up to Copper Harbor, it's just like, well there's not a lot of family friendly trails here.

And that's one thing we knew we could accommodate, here at East Bluff.

- [Ian] Aaron and his team specialize in building trails that feature a design concept called flow.

Flow gives riders the experience of effortlessly moving along the trail, just like a roller coaster, but on dirt.

It creates a fun experience for riders, including newbies like me.

- We're trying to get more people on bikes, we're trying to get more people out in the woods, and more people getting involved with some sort of physical fitness.

And you know, we want to make sure the trails that we're building these days are inclusive, right?

So it's like we're making sure that the main corridors, the main arteries are capable of handling families.

- [Ian] To do so, trails include special features that riders can choose based on their skill level.

- So yeah, this is one of the many alternate features along this trail.

And so like if you're a beginner rider, you know follow the easier path.

And then the more advanced rider can hit the jumps, they can hit the rock features and have a good time.

- Wow.

- So.

- [Ian] Yeah, I think I'll stay on the beginner trails this time.

How do you think building out these trails and making it an inclusive area will affect the larger community around the space?

- Well trails are becoming big business these days, because they're becoming a very large portion of the economy.

And I think what we're seeing as a national trend is there's kind of this shift for rural communities, that have high recreational value, to be kind of building their economy off these experience based activities, like mountain biking.

(bright whimsical music) - [Ian] A sustainable revenue source is a breath of fresh air for an area like Copper Harbor, that has seen extractive industries like mining and timber come and go.

In contrast, when Rock Solid designs a trail, land conservation is a high priority.

- Conservation is kind of one of the big components of what we're trying to accomplish.

We can kind of make these minimally invasive trails.

And then utilize those trails to draw people in, so they can continue having this experience for years to come.

- To make the trails durable, interesting, and sustainable, Aaron turns to Jon Schubbe, his resident ecologist and lead trail planner.

All right Jon, so when looking at a forested area that you think may have a good potential for bike trails, what are you looking for?

- Well there's a few things that I look for.

First of all, we're on mountain bikes.

So we want to try and find an area with some good topography.

Here at East Bluff, our trails here take advantage of over 500 feet of vert.

And that means that, on our fastest trail, it takes over four minutes for some of our fastest riders to get from the top of the bottom.

So that's a pretty exciting, exhilarating experience that we want to try and take advantage of, when we're looking for a place to build trails.

A second thing we wanna look for is a forested landscape.

There's a number of reasons for that.

Primarily, it's beautiful.

You can hear the birds singing.

- Yes.

- We're here next to these large cedar trees.

It's just a very nice experience for the rider, to get out into the woods.

And then also the trees provide protection to the trails.

We also look to have large tracks of land.

So those kind of elements combine, for a memorable experience, and that's really the core of what you're looking for when you're making mountain bike trails.

- [Ian] When planning new trails, Jon and his team take many ecological factors into consideration, like the placement of waterways and old growth trees.

- We want to go by big trees because they're really neat.

And so we always try to make sure the builders know they're there.

And if we're gonna be disturbing trees in those areas we're probably gonna choose a sapling that's maybe 10 years old or younger.

And disturb that tree, versus the roots of a legacy or heritage, old growth style tree.

- [Ian] Whenever possible, Jon and his team use local native materials, to reduce the environmental footprint of construction.

This new bridge features timber and rocks harvested from the park.

And the results are pretty cool.

- Anytime we can use natural materials or native materials, it looks like it fits in.

- Totally.

- And all these rocks just kind of fit naturally into the environment.

- [Ian] I'm loving this balance between the enjoyment of the rider, as well as making sure that the ecosystem (bikes thumping) stays in place.

Does that sometimes get difficult?

- You might have sensitive nesting species, such as a bald eagle, in which case usually construction is restricted within about 330 feet of that nest during the breeding season, to make sure that those birds aren't disturbed.

- [Ian] And one of the coolest aspects of their work is that they create access to places that weren't previously accessible.

Case in point, Devil's Den State Park in Arkansas.

- We literally built a trail through a boulder field underneath cliff lines.

- Wow.

- [Jon] you really couldn't even hike for.

And now there's maybe a two foot or three foot wide corridor through there, that you can ride your bike through and experience these amazing cliffs, with very little environmental disturbance.

- All right, so I'm really excited for Aaron to roll up on us soon, so we can actually do some mountain biking.

These trails are designed and built with conservation in mind, but they also have to be a fun ride for mountain bikers.

And I'm here to tell you, they are.

I understand what they mean by flow.

It was like all I had to do was stay on track and keep my balance, and I was guaranteed to have a good time.

So in my limited experience of today, that is an absolutely exhilarating experience.

And this isn't just, of course my first time on the trail, but my first time mountain biking in general.

And I was able to go down that trail.

I expected to have to stop and get a little scared.

But I was ripping it, in my opinion.

And I can see where you guys really put that thought and effort into creating that flow for everyone, including a beginner like me.

Well, it's been a great day of riding around East Bluff Bike Park.

You know, I came to learn about mountain biking but I'm leaving with a wealth of knowledge around lands conservation, as well as the community that surrounds this sport.

Now all it's left to do is find a couple piggy banks, so I can afford one of these bad boys, and get back up here as soon as possible.

(adventurous music continues) - For more about outdoor recreation in the Great Lakes region, visit GreatLakesNow.org.

Wetlands are an important feature of our landscape, but a recent Supreme Court decision has removed Federal Clean Water Act protections from many of them, and that has a lot of people concerned.

(birds twittering) - For over 50 years, we've counted on the Federal Clean Water Act, to protect these places, for our communities.

And now all of a sudden, the Supreme Court has blown a hole in those protections.

- [Narrator] In May of 2023, the US Supreme Court ruled on a case about wetlands.

Officially it's called Sackett versus the Environmental Protection Agency.

- If they get this fine, they're done.

- [Narrator] In 2007, Michael and Chantel Sackett began developing a parcel of land, to build a house near Priest Lake in Idaho.

But the EPA halted the project, alleging the property was a protected wetland under the Clean Water Act.

The Sacketts sued.

The Clean Water Act only protects waters of the United States.

And the Sacketts said their land wasn't one, because there was dry land between it and Priest Lake.

Howard Learner is Executive Director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center.

- So the Mississippi River is a water of the U.S, no question.

A tributary that connects directly to the Mississippi River is a water of the U.S.

The question is, if you have a wetland, that on an intermittent basis, connects to a tributary of another tributary that goes into the Mississippi River, is that a waters of the U.S?

- [Narrator] In the Sackett ruling, the court's conservative majority minus Justice Kavanaugh, voted in favor of a new standard.

According to the majority opinion, to count as a water of the United States, a wetland must have a continuous surface connection to a navigable body of water.

If it doesn't, then Federal Clean Water Act protections do not apply.

Environmentalists like Learner strongly disagree.

- The Supreme Court's misguided decision in the Sackett case essentially hamstrings the Federal government's ability to regulate and protect wetlands.

- [Narrator] Builders and farmers on the other hand, generally support the ruling, saying it will prevent the EPA from encroaching on property rights.

- All this sort of confusion of what is and isn't a federal water of the U.S. has led to a lot of uncertainty, particularly among public owners.

You know, school developers, state departments of transportation, about whether to proceed with a project.

So it's led to a lot of delays, and a lot of increased construction costs.

- [Narrator] Brian Turmail of the Associated General Contractors of America says his organization welcomes the ruling because it provides clarity.

- And what the Supreme Court did was they were very clear in identifying what is, and what is not a water of the U.S. - [Narrator] But while the new definition may be clear, environmentalists say it isn't logical.

Paul Botts, executive director of the Wetlands Initiative, points to a wetland in Indiana Dunes National Park, on the Southern shore of Lake Michigan, to explain why.

- This wetland over my shoulder, which is separated from Lake Michigan by this dune we're standing on, is in fact hydrologically part of Lake Michigan.

It goes up and down with the lake levels.

But according to five justices of the Supreme Court, that is no longer a federally justifiable or regulatable wetland.

- [Narrator] This wetland will be protected even without the Clean Water Act, since it's part of a national park.

The Sackett ruling doesn't impact wetlands on public property.

But the vast majority of wetlands are on private property and environmentalists argue that, whether directly connected to another body of water or not, those wetlands provide wildlife habitat, filter water, and more.

(slower somber music) - Isolated wetlands, as they've been called are every bit wetlands just like any other wetlands.

They provide all the values and services that wetlands provide.

And in fact, they provide flood control.

They are great natural sponges.

That's actually, in some ways, the most top of mind value, particularly in the context of our climate that is changing around us.

And having lots of wetlands scattered across the landscape, which is what nature bequeaths to us in the first place, is a great thing for that.

- [Narrator] Today, there are far fewer wetland areas in this region than there were a little over a hundred years ago.

- In a blink of an eye, we gotta remember that the American Midwest went from indigenous peoples living in a wild landscape, to more or less modern, developed, human built landscaping in just a few human generations.

So it's an enormous loss in, really in the big picture, a remarkably short period of time.

(birds twittering) - [Narrator] A perfect illustration of what we've lost is the Grand Kankakee Marsh, in Northern Indiana.

At one time it covered nearly a million acres, stretching from what is modern day South Bend to the Illinois border.

But it was drained for farmland in the 1800's and today it's just 5% of its original size.

It's estimated that the eight states in the Great Lakes region have lost anywhere from 60 to 90% of their original wetlands.

They've been drained to create farmland, or filled in for roads.

Jack Darin is Illinois Director for the Sierra Club.

- Most states in the country have lost well over half their wetlands.

And so this incredibly high functioning ecosystem, that protects us all, is mostly gone.

And the ones that remain, these wetlands are working at least twice as hard, to provide those flood protection, wildlife habitat, and drinking water services for us.

- Certainly in the century since the Grand Kankakee Marsh was pretty thoroughly destroyed, we have gradually gained, and in recent decades more rapidly gained much more knowledge, both about the value of wetlands and about how to restore them.

And they can be restored.

(birds continues twittering) They can be restored, even when they've been drained, ditched, flattened, et cetera, for generations.

- [Narrator] In fact, part of the mission of the Wetlands Initiative is to design, restore, and create new wetlands.

Since 1995, the group has restored about 8,000 acres of wetlands and tall grass prairie, in Illinois and Indiana.

But there are limits to what can be done.

- We're not going to move the interstates, or the railroad lines, or the city of Chicago, or many other things that were built on or on top of or next to wetlands.

So we can restore to really remarkable high quality now if we have the will and the means.

But it's not cheap and it's not easy.

- [Narrator] While the Sackett ruling removes federal protection from some wetlands, state regulations remain unchanged.

But some states have weak regulations.

Illinois has some of the weakest in the Great Lakes region, which has activists and legislators there racing to adapt.

- I think the most important thing now is for our local governments, our states, that have for decades counted on the federal government to protect these crucial areas, to step up and put their own protections into place.

- And we're working with a number of our colleagues at the Wetlands Initiative, a number of the conservation groups in Illinois, to say how best can the state of Illinois step up to protect wetlands?

- It is a remarkable engine of value.

It reduces our flooding, it cleans our water.

It both harbors and nurtures a lot of really beautiful wildlife.

View a wetland as one of nature's gifts to us.

- To learn more about wetlands and the efforts to protect and restore them, go to GreatLakesNow.org.

And now it's time for The Catch, where we bring you news stories and events from around the Great Lakes.

In October, filmmakers and film lovers will journey to Marquette, Michigan for screenings of more than 80 films at the annual Fresh Coast Film Festival.

Aaron Peterson, the festival's co-founder and programming director, says he created Fresh Coast after attending similar events in other cities.

- I wanted to create something back home that reflected sort of the energy and creativity of those festivals.

But with a focus on the Great Lakes region and upper Midwest.

I feel like a lot of people, no matter where you come from, you kind of shed the baggage, you meet in this space, surrounded by nature, and can interact with a great audience and interact with your creative peers.

- [Narrator 2] Hollywood film festivals are known for their glitz and glamour.

However, the Fresh Coast Film Festival is undoubtedly a U.P affair.

- You know, we joke that we don't have a red carpet.

If we did have a red carpet, it would be buffalo plaid and probably a little dirty from the mud on our boots.

This is working, blue collar filmmakers and content creators, from all walks of life.

That, while you may not have heard of them, you're certainly going to, you're never gonna forget them and forget their stories afterwards.

We focus on short films, we love things 10 minutes and under.

And group those into short film blocks that are about two hours long.

We try and have as many filmmakers present with their films as possible, because that's sort of what makes a film festival a film festival.

- [Narrator 2] The 2023 Fresh Coast Film Festival runs from October 19th to the 22nd in venues across Marquette.

As the festival has grown, so has the range of voices and perspectives represented in the films that are featured.

- [Aaron] Claiming Connections is a great example of the evolution of outdoor filmmaking that we're seeing in the industry, and just the positive effects of bringing more voices into the outdoor space.

It's a film from Detroit, talking about people of color in the outdoors, in Detroit.

Which only a few years ago, you know, that was sort of a new concept in the outdoors industry, unfortunately was to include all voices.

It's being made by the folks that are in the films, it's their voices.

At Fresh Coast to be able to take that and hold that up for our audience, we're really proud of that.

- [Narrator 2] Film festivals like Fresh Coast offer audiences access to stories and storytellers, that could otherwise go unnoticed.

- There's films that I think people probably have seen bits and pieces of maybe, as it flows through their feed.

But when you come together in a room and you watch the entire thing, maybe you have a beer or two, and get to talk to the person who is either a subject in the film or made the film, I think that has an impact, that it's hard to quantify, but is certainly real.

- [Narrator 2] The Citizens' Research Council of Michigan recently published a comprehensive report titled Michigan's Path to a Prosperous Future, detailing a data based assessment, of where the state stands in terms of infrastructure, climate, and the environment.

And how these issues could impact Michigan's future.

Eric Paul Dennis, an engineer and policy analyst with the Citizens Research Council of Michigan was the lead author of this report.

- The issues of air pollution and water pollution received the most attention in our research.

This was basically because we have fairly well documented instances of air pollution and water pollution in Michigan, that have been linked to human health concerns.

- [Narrator 2] Federal and state governmental agencies play a part in identifying and managing pollution levels.

However, private citizens and environmental advocacy organizations also assist in detecting areas of concern.

- The primary regulatory approaches are through the Federal Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.

And then, state regulatory agencies are responsible to implement measures to reduce pollution.

When the state is found to exceed those limits, then the state regulatory agencies are compelled to take action, to be in compliance with the Federal laws.

What often happens in practice is that these problems are brought to light by non-governmental organizations, such as environmental advocacy groups, or sometimes it's simply concerned citizens.

Somebody notices something in their neighborhood or in their backyard, that they go out of their way to bring to the attention of the authorities, or sometimes the press.

- [Narrator 2] The elusiveness of pollution also presents concerns.

- Sometimes you have pollutants that you can smell in the air, sometimes we have pollutants that you can actually see in the water.

But most of the time, these things are invisible.

And even though they're invisible, they're still harmful and should be addressed.

- [Narrator 2] Certain areas have been historically plagued by industrial pollution, causing health concerns to some of our most vulnerable citizens.

- What often happens is you will have a community where no single environmental contaminant reaches a level that would require regulatory action, some kind of remediation.

But the culmination of all of these sources of pollution, add up to very severe and measurable impacts on human health.

- [Narrator 2] The consequences of pollution are many and varied.

Eric explains what the research has taught us, and what the implications are for the future.

- I think the biggest takeaway with this research is that we do have some severe environmental issues.

By remediating and protecting Michigan's environment we could make our natural resources an amenity, that could become an economic driver, bringing more potential residents to the state, more visitors, more economic activity around our environmental assets.

- [Narrator 2] And now an excerpt from our new online interview series, called Waves of Change, where we spotlight the diverse faces and perspectives shaping the environmental justice movement throughout the Great Lakes.

Our first guest is Detroit native and community organizer, Justin Onwenu.

After a waterfront storage site collapsed, community members were concerned about the possibility of uranium tainted soil getting into the Detroit River.

That's when Justin and others mobilized, to protect the city's drinking water sources from pollution.

- What we did is we organized to write and eventually to pass what we called the Detroit River Protection Ordinance, which basically said if you're an operator along the river in Detroit, you need to make sure that you're getting regular inspections, to make sure that your property is up to date and to make sure that things aren't collapsing and falling into the Detroit River.

Basic protections to make sure that our drinking water sources are safe.

And I think that's just an example of how we can build coalitions and get the community involved and make sure that we're working with our lawmakers, so that we have access to the Detroit River in a way that's safe and healthy for everybody.

- Was there any particular environmental organization that you were working with in a more sort of formal capacity when you were doing this work, as it relates to the Detroit River Protection?

- Absolutely.

So this work would not have been possible without a broad coalition of organizations who were on the ground, organizing, speaking at city council meetings.

So this is groups like the Sierra Club and League of Conservation Voters, Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, We The People, Detroit.

So there are just so many groups that were heavily involved.

Michigan is really a state that's shaped, that's defined by water.

And making sure that we protect our Great Lakes is, should be a priority.

From an environmental standpoint of course, but also from an economic development standpoint.

So much of our state is dependent on our waterways and our water, our drinking water sources being clean.

(waves crashing) - Thanks for watching.

For the full interview with Justin Onwenu, or for more about any of the stories in this show and the Great Lakes in general, visit GreatLakesNow.org.

When you get there, you can follow us on social media or subscribe to our newsletter, to get updates about our work.

See you out on the lakes.

(bright whimsical music continues) - [Announcer] This program is brought to you by the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Richard C. Devereux Foundation for Energy and Environmental Programs at DPTV, Polk Family Fund, DTE Foundation, and contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you, thank you.

(audio logo sounds)