Freshwater enthusiast and author with special regard for the Great Lakes. Michiganian.
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Articles by Dave Dempsey
Michigan Library Association 2026 Annual Conference
America Michigan State University Press is excited to announce our upcoming attendance at the Michigan Library Association’s 2026 Annual Conference, Beyond Buzzwords: An Enduring Public Good. We will be in Novi,... READ MORE The post Michigan Library Association 2026 Annual Conference appeared first on Michigan State University.
Fact or Fake? Readers can test their Great Lakes knowledge with excerpts from this new book
January 21, 2025 Great Lakes Fact or Fake? is a new book by Dave Dempsey. Below are adapted excerpts from the book, which bring readers along while he answers 41 myths about the Great Lakes. Drinking Sewage FACT or FAKE? There was a time when many people in the Great Lakes watershed drank sewage.
Viewpoint: Gig economy is a key ingredient for staffing success
This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of Food Management. The past few years have served up a feast of challenges for the food service industry. From pandemic-related shutdowns and supply chain woes to surging inflation, rising costs, and labor shortages–industry leaders have had their plates full.
Michigan Notable Books Fall 2022
Editor's note: This article was published in Grand Traverse Scene magazine's Fall 2022 issue. Pick up a free copy at area hotels, visitor's centers, chambers of commerce or at the Record-Eagle building on Front Street. Click here to read GT Scene in its entirety online. Magic Season: A Son’s Story By Wade Rouse Before his success in public relations, his loving marriage and his storied writing career under the pen name Viola Shipman, Wade Rouse was simply Ted Rouse’s son.
Love, death, and redemption at a castle on a hill
From the cheeky grin of Voodoo Jürgens to the fire, brimstone and glitter gospel of Nick Cave, friday night at the Burg Clam was a wild ride on an emotional rollercoaster. By Dave Dempsey Hiking up the hill to Burg Clam, the air was heavy with humidity and anticipation. Vaguely reminiscent of heading out to a night on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, just steeper.
Opinion | Michigan must protect its underground water
This fragmentation of thinking is reflected in a fragmentation of public policy and programs. And in a new report and accompanying groundwater story map just released by FLOW (For Love of Water), a Great Lakes law and policy center based in Traverse City, scientists and representatives of key constituencies call for change to protect our precious water by making groundwater a state priority for protection and conservation.
Great Lakes for Sale: From Whitecaps to Bottlecaps
Date: January 2022 Duration: 4 hours 2 minutes Summary: “Lake Michigan may be coming to Idaho.” That’s what an Idaho radio commentator said in June 2021. Holding approximately 20% of the world’s surface freshwater, the Great Lakes are once again a target for the drought-ridden West, which is facing climate change, massive fires, and shrinking water supplies.
Dave Dempsey: Protecting Michigan wilderness is one of Dale Kildee’s enduring legacies
When former U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee died last week at the age of 92, admirers celebrated his work on behalf of the community of Flint, his support for education and labor and his personal decency. Each of these merited praise, but one aspect of his career escaped mention in most quarters – his environmental values.
Dave Dempsey: It’s raining PFAS in the Sleeping Bear Dunes
Every now and then, an environmental news headline jumps out at you as though it was printed in 12-inch lettering on a newspaper front page or website. That personal reaction comes not because the news is a surprise, but because it is a symbol. Lake Huron | Dave Dempsey “It’s Raining ‘Forever Chemicals’ in the Great Lakes,” said one website recently.
Dave Dempsey: Stop polluting and neglecting Michigan’s groundwater
Imagine the Great Lakes 20 to 40% lower, thwarting commercial shipping, impairing recreational boating and fishing, leaving beaches and docks high and dry. Imagine 45% of Michigan’s population forced to pump water from lakes or streams many more miles away to supply their drinking water needs, while drawing down those already depleted water bodies.
Opinion: Gov. Milliken left enduring legacy of civility
Former Gov. William Milliken, who died Oct. 18 at the age of 97, was a member of what Tom Brokaw called the Greatest Generation, risking his life in bombing missions during World War II. In civilian life, as the longest-serving chief executive of Michigan, he also was part of the Greatest Environmental Generation, playing an instrumental role in crafting the clean air, water and natural resources laws that continue to benefit citizens.
Forum: Michigan fails to address septic systems
By Dave Dempsey Michigan prides itself as a national leader in preventing and cleaning up pollution. But our environmental safety net has a giant hole that allows pollution from human waste and household hazardous materials to foul groundwater, streams and lakes. Michigan is the only state that lacks a statewide requirement for routine inspection and maintenance of domestic septic systems. What’s the big deal about failing septic systems? First, there are many.
Opinion | Gov. Milliken's enduring legacy: civility, bridging divides
Declaring his candidacy for lieutenant governor in 1964 without the support of the incumbent Republican governor, George Romney, Milliken defeated Allison Green, Romney's choice, at the party convention that summer. Milliken served slightly more than four years as Romney's lieutenant. The two men were never close personally, although they shared a progressive brand of politics. (Photograph from the Milliken family collection.)
Opinion: Michigan should become global freshwater capital
Dave Dempsey and John Hartig Published 11:00 p.m. ET Sept. 9, 2019 Buy Photo In 2001, the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge was established 20 miles south of Detroit, with 6,000 acres of marshes, shoals, islands and waterfront lands that are a critical habitat for many fish and wildlife species.
Half Wild
People, Dogs, and Environmental Policy Published by: Michigan State University Press Imprint: Michigan State University Press 114 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 in ISBN: 9781611864434 Published: September 2022 $27.95 BUY Formats: Description Praise Humans and canines have been cohabitating for centuries, straddling a boundary that allows us to live together within and across our species.
Notable Michigan Books
Editor's note: This article was published in Grand Traverse Scene magazine's Spring 2019 issue. Pick up a free copy at area hotels, visitor's centers, chambers of commerce or at the Record-Eagle building on Front Street. Click here to read GT Scene in its entirety online. CARDINAL COAT AND OTHER STORIES by Katharine Crawford Robey Katharine Crawford Robey’s first short story collection delivers powerfully descriptive prose.
Opinion | Six ways Gretchen Whitmer and lawmakers can protect Michigan water
Many Michiganders may not realize the importance of groundwater, which supplies drinking water for 45 percent of the population. Groundwater is also critical to industrial and agricultural uses, and supplies as much as 40 percent of the volume of the Great Lakes. Because groundwater is out of sight, it is frequently out of mind for the public and policymakers. That must change. My introduction to groundwater was messy.
We Unite Over Water - MyNorth.com
In an age of division, people of the Great Lakes continue to come together in a shared devotion to their vast, fresh waters. This piece is featured in the July 2017 issue of Traverse, Northern Michigan’s Magazine. Get your copy. In our culture a river is typically a boundary, differentiating one domain from another. The Mississippi River, for example, is the border of 10 states. There’s another way to look at a river—as the center of a basin, accepting and uniting all of its tributary waters.
Dave Dempsey: In Fife, the Conservatives are determined to make meaningful progress
Cllr Dave Dempsey is Leader of the Conservative Group on Fife Council. The Fife Conservatives didn’t have a good 2012 election, which saw Labour do surprisingly well – given events before and especially since. We stayed in last place with three councillors out of 78. Disappointing, but not altogether surprising, as our efforts were concentrated on a small number of wards across what is the third biggest council in Scotland.
Admiring Gov. Milliken’s environmental legacy as he turns 94
Lost in the historical memory of the late 1960s and early 1970s firestorm over Vietnam policy, America’s simultaneous environmental reform age healed rather than wounded. The times and a man formed a confluence that for years placed Michigan in the top rank of states in protecting air, water, land and human health. As that man, Republican Gov. William G. Milliken turns 94 on Saturday (March 26), his green legacy looms ever larger.
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