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May 22, 2004Demonstrators engage in a 'tug of wetlands'Clous and DEQ situation is focusByRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - A puppet-show protest against Eastwood Custom Homes President Bill Clous greeted sleepy-eyed participants of the Michigan Wetlands Conference. Demonstrators wearing animal heads battled in a "tug of wetlands" with a puppet-head of Clous over a three-headed effigy of Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Department of Environmental Quality Director Steven Chester and the Army Corps of Engineers. The demonstration was coordinated by the Sweetwater Alliance water rights group and the Little Artshram organization. Lou Blouin, spokesman for the Sweetwater Alliance, said the focus of the demonstration at the Water Studies Institute of Northwestern Michigan College was to bring to light negotiations between Clous and the DEQ over Clous' treatment of nearly 80 acres of wetlands property in East Bay Township. He said the group wants the DEQ to hold a public hearing when it announces the terms of its settlement with Clous. "We really feel that the best forum is to have a public hearing," he said. "So far, they have been reluctant to agree to that demand." The conference gathered more than 300 participants to discuss and celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Goemaere-Anderson Wetland Protection Act. Wil Cwikiel, water resource program director at the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council and one of the organizers of the conference, invited the demonstrators in to be part of the day's events. "I have never seen my head on a stick," said Chester, who added that despite the effigy, he was happy the protesters joined the conference. But the demonstration almost derailed after an e-mail sent to members of the two groups also was sent to the media, prompting conference organizers to request the group not attend. Cwikiel said he was initially worried the protest might create a divide. After seeing the display, he was happy it was done in a positive and peaceful manner. The invitation to participate in the conference was a move Blouin said he and the other demonstrators appreciated and the kind of connection they had hoped to create. "When you hold protests, people are less inclined to stop and find out what the message is," he said. "I think it made people more comfortable and more inclined to stop and hear the message because we made it fun and enjoyable."
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