10th Congressional District of Illinois 2012 Friend of the Environment Award, to Jean B. "Susie” Schreiber
Title
10th Congressional District of Illinois 2012 Friend of the Environment Award, to Jean B. "Susie” Schreiber
Creator
Waukegan Harbor Citizens Advisory Group
Publisher
Lake Forest College
Rights
http://www.lakeforest.edu/library/archives/permission.php
Format
document
Language
eng
Type
pdf
Text
Jean B. "Susie†Schreiber
Waukegan Harbor Citizens Advisory Group
10th Congressional District of Illinois 2012 Friend of the Environment Award
Jean "Susie" Schreiber, a private citizen and chairman of the Waukegan Harbor Citizens Advisory Group (CAG), has tirelessly volunteered tens of thousands of hours to improve the water quality of Lake Michigan and the Illinois waterways that drain into the lake. Many of the waterways flow through a number of Waukegan Park District properties. The Illinois EPA formed the Waukegan Harbor Citizens Advisory Group (CAG) in 1990 to assume a leadership role in developing a remedial action plan for the Waukegan Harbor Area of Concern. The harbor at one time had the largest known concentrations of PCBs and PCB-contaminated sediments. In addition to lessening contamination in the harbor, the CAG also worked with state and local government officials to deal with the open dumping of litter, garbage and tires, and more recently has been working to identify older commercial properties that are candidates for redevelopment. Lake Michigan supplies water for millions of Canadian and US residents. Since 1993, Susie has led CAG; she has built a powerful group of citizens and representatives from local, state and federal government, lake-front industry, education, environmental groups and recreation interests to advocate for environmental needs and concerns related to the watershed, harbor and environmental justice. Through her leadership, this group collaborates on projects with the Waukegan community on projects ranging from advocacy to actual site cleanup, education, and grant writing.
One of the most exciting accomplishments is the cleanup of a polluted lakefront industrial site adjacent to one mile of pristine shoreline. CAG was responsible for the evaluation and recommendation of the process and technology. The prototype worked so well, the cleanup was completed early and will be replicated to remove ammonia from groundwater elsewhere.
Youth involvement is a trademark of Susie's efforts, nurturing a new generation of environmentally aware stewards of natural spaces. With the support from local business, she brought two different water research vessels to Waukegan for local elementary students to collect and analyze Lake Michigan water samples and learn about water quality and what affects it. Many of the children had never been on a boat before and some even stated that they had never been to Lake Michigan. This project led to additional projects in schools. With Susie's help and guidance, Waukegan Public School District 60's Hyde Park School elementary students received the IEPA Governor's Green Youth Award for reducing pollution and restoring the nearby Waukegan Park District’s Yeoman Park. Through the process, students learned about energy and water efficiency. Susie’s efforts connected students in Waukegan to the incredible resources in their backyard, the Waukegan River and Lake Michigan, and across the world to Lake Baikal in Russia, in a flourishing partnership that allows students to share results from research projects. Susie’s contact with Russian scientist, Dr. Elena Kuzevanova, resulted in an educational and scientific international partnership between CAG and the Baikal Ecological Network. Using the internet, Russian and American students compare the similarities and differences between the lakes, while exploring the principles of math, geology, geography, chemistry, ecology, art, culture and language.
At community events, children and adults are attracted to Susie’s displays and information about the environment. She is passionate about educating residents, especially recent immigrants, about the
watershed and which fish caught near the shore are safe for human consumption. In the summer of 2011, signage was installed at the lakefront providing information about fish and safe consumption. Elementary school students created the designs for these signs. Individuals who are subsistence fishing are the targets for this signage. Ms. Schreiber successfully wrote grants supporting environmental education of Waukegan elementary students, funding stream restoration, improving water quality, and counting and tracking of endangered species and plants on the environmentally challenged harbor and lakefront.
Susie engages community groups such as the Waukegan Park District, the Youth Conservation Corps, Scouts, other local agencies and homeowners to clean up ravines and streams. Volunteers remove litter, large waste items, downed trees and invasive plant materials in the ravines and wetlands and transport this waste to appropriate disposal locations. Through these efforts native wetlands and riparian plants are reintroduced.
Susie has been instrumental in the Waukegan Park District's "No Child Left Inside" initiative and its "For Earth's Sake" programming. The program fosters environmental stewardship and offers classes to educators, youth leaders, community groups and activists, families and members of the faith community to raise the awareness of the need to connect children with nature and to reconnect adults with nature's wonders. She prevailed upon the Illinois Audubon Society, Chicago Wilderness, the Lake County Forest Preserve and the former Lake County New Allies for Cultural and Nature to provide program support for the following "For Earth's Sake" and Summer HEAT programming topics: Frogs and Toads, Monarch Butterflies, Wildflowers, Owls and Falcons, Nature Walks, and Bird Banding.
Under Susie's leadership CAG has successfully coordinated agencies in clean up and educational activities. CAG's Waukegan River Watershed Planning Initiative supported the IEPA Section 319 Grants amounting to $756,697 to fund stream restoration, water quality monitoring, and wetland enhancement work in several Waukegan Park District parks. These projects reduced erosion, improved water quality, rehabilitated habitat and enhanced the waterways and parks. Roosevelt Park received a first place from the Illinois Parks and Recreation Association for its informational environmental signage.
Through her leadership, CAG collaborated with the Waukegan Park District to secure a $93,000 US Fish and Wildlife program for the Bowen Park ravine restoration in 2011. This program inventories existing threatened and endangered plants, removes invasive plant species and reintroduces native species. CAG was successful in obtaining a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant for $1.4 million, which also addresses Bowen Park ravines, the southern portion of the Illinois Beach State Park and the Waukegan beachfronts. This particular grant supports a new College of Lake County certificate program for ravine restoration with Bowen Park as the practicum site. As with previous work, community groups, volunteers and Waukegan Park District staff will be enlisted to implement the projects.
Susie has not been without recognition for her efforts over the years. A modest person who avoids the limelight, she is a heavy hitter with a kind voice, preferring behind the scenes advocacy, networking, getting the right people together at the right time, and resource coordination. Regardless of the local government discord, the current group in power or the competing ideas and plans for harbor cleanup or use of the lakefront, Susie approaches the complex cleanup with a practical, common sense, non- inflammatory, "keep the goal in mind" and "what does the current science tell us" approach. She maintains focus on that goal as she attends countless meetings with agencies, community, state and federal officials and citizens' groups.
The Scouts recognized her interest in nature and the environment going back to 1962. In 1999, she received the Girl Scouts Alliance Award and the New Trier Trailblazer from the Boy Scouts. Her community service and leadership has been recognized by the many organizations of which she is a member including the Conservation Congress. She has been recognized by the State of Illinois for community service, and the USEPA and Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund (Freshwater Future) both recognized for her community involvement. In 2009 she received a third place in the Illinois Association of Park District's Award for Outstanding Citizen Volunteer. After recognizing Susie with a number of community service awards over the years, the Waukegan Park District named Susie Schreiber as its Outstanding Volunteer of the Year in 2009. Most recently, Ms. Schreiber, who is a former Scout leader, Winnetka Park District Commissioner and member of the Winnetka Plan Commission received the 2011 National Recreation and Parks Association's Barb King Environmental Leadership Award and the Illinois Audubon Society award for her work over the past 18 years helping to drive a massive cleanup of PCB-contaminated Waukegan Harbor as well as hundreds of acres of surrounding dunes, wetlands and ravines. In addition, Schreiber has also worked on conservation issues in other capacities for decades, including helping to establish the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie near Joliet.
Susie deserves recognition for her endless energy and resolve to protect, restore and educate about the water resources in our parks and in our community and for her tireless commitment to bring national, regional, state and local resources together to remediate environmental issues facing the community. Her education of school children instills a respect for nature and caring for the environment that is often transferred to their elders. Susie’s efforts overlap with those of the Waukegan Park District as stewards of open and natural spaces and parklands. We are especially pleased to have her as a volunteer partner and to nominate her for this prestigious award. It is the Waukegan Park District's honor and duty to nominate one of our most distinguished behind the scenes volunteer and leader Jean B. "Susie" Schreiber for the 10th Congressional District of Illinois' "Friend of the Environment" award.
Claudia Freeman
Waukegan Park District
Cultural Arts Division Superintendent 39 Jack Benny Drive
Waukegan IL 60087
Waukegan Harbor Citizens Advisory Group
10th Congressional District of Illinois 2012 Friend of the Environment Award
Jean "Susie" Schreiber, a private citizen and chairman of the Waukegan Harbor Citizens Advisory Group (CAG), has tirelessly volunteered tens of thousands of hours to improve the water quality of Lake Michigan and the Illinois waterways that drain into the lake. Many of the waterways flow through a number of Waukegan Park District properties. The Illinois EPA formed the Waukegan Harbor Citizens Advisory Group (CAG) in 1990 to assume a leadership role in developing a remedial action plan for the Waukegan Harbor Area of Concern. The harbor at one time had the largest known concentrations of PCBs and PCB-contaminated sediments. In addition to lessening contamination in the harbor, the CAG also worked with state and local government officials to deal with the open dumping of litter, garbage and tires, and more recently has been working to identify older commercial properties that are candidates for redevelopment. Lake Michigan supplies water for millions of Canadian and US residents. Since 1993, Susie has led CAG; she has built a powerful group of citizens and representatives from local, state and federal government, lake-front industry, education, environmental groups and recreation interests to advocate for environmental needs and concerns related to the watershed, harbor and environmental justice. Through her leadership, this group collaborates on projects with the Waukegan community on projects ranging from advocacy to actual site cleanup, education, and grant writing.
One of the most exciting accomplishments is the cleanup of a polluted lakefront industrial site adjacent to one mile of pristine shoreline. CAG was responsible for the evaluation and recommendation of the process and technology. The prototype worked so well, the cleanup was completed early and will be replicated to remove ammonia from groundwater elsewhere.
Youth involvement is a trademark of Susie's efforts, nurturing a new generation of environmentally aware stewards of natural spaces. With the support from local business, she brought two different water research vessels to Waukegan for local elementary students to collect and analyze Lake Michigan water samples and learn about water quality and what affects it. Many of the children had never been on a boat before and some even stated that they had never been to Lake Michigan. This project led to additional projects in schools. With Susie's help and guidance, Waukegan Public School District 60's Hyde Park School elementary students received the IEPA Governor's Green Youth Award for reducing pollution and restoring the nearby Waukegan Park District’s Yeoman Park. Through the process, students learned about energy and water efficiency. Susie’s efforts connected students in Waukegan to the incredible resources in their backyard, the Waukegan River and Lake Michigan, and across the world to Lake Baikal in Russia, in a flourishing partnership that allows students to share results from research projects. Susie’s contact with Russian scientist, Dr. Elena Kuzevanova, resulted in an educational and scientific international partnership between CAG and the Baikal Ecological Network. Using the internet, Russian and American students compare the similarities and differences between the lakes, while exploring the principles of math, geology, geography, chemistry, ecology, art, culture and language.
At community events, children and adults are attracted to Susie’s displays and information about the environment. She is passionate about educating residents, especially recent immigrants, about the
watershed and which fish caught near the shore are safe for human consumption. In the summer of 2011, signage was installed at the lakefront providing information about fish and safe consumption. Elementary school students created the designs for these signs. Individuals who are subsistence fishing are the targets for this signage. Ms. Schreiber successfully wrote grants supporting environmental education of Waukegan elementary students, funding stream restoration, improving water quality, and counting and tracking of endangered species and plants on the environmentally challenged harbor and lakefront.
Susie engages community groups such as the Waukegan Park District, the Youth Conservation Corps, Scouts, other local agencies and homeowners to clean up ravines and streams. Volunteers remove litter, large waste items, downed trees and invasive plant materials in the ravines and wetlands and transport this waste to appropriate disposal locations. Through these efforts native wetlands and riparian plants are reintroduced.
Susie has been instrumental in the Waukegan Park District's "No Child Left Inside" initiative and its "For Earth's Sake" programming. The program fosters environmental stewardship and offers classes to educators, youth leaders, community groups and activists, families and members of the faith community to raise the awareness of the need to connect children with nature and to reconnect adults with nature's wonders. She prevailed upon the Illinois Audubon Society, Chicago Wilderness, the Lake County Forest Preserve and the former Lake County New Allies for Cultural and Nature to provide program support for the following "For Earth's Sake" and Summer HEAT programming topics: Frogs and Toads, Monarch Butterflies, Wildflowers, Owls and Falcons, Nature Walks, and Bird Banding.
Under Susie's leadership CAG has successfully coordinated agencies in clean up and educational activities. CAG's Waukegan River Watershed Planning Initiative supported the IEPA Section 319 Grants amounting to $756,697 to fund stream restoration, water quality monitoring, and wetland enhancement work in several Waukegan Park District parks. These projects reduced erosion, improved water quality, rehabilitated habitat and enhanced the waterways and parks. Roosevelt Park received a first place from the Illinois Parks and Recreation Association for its informational environmental signage.
Through her leadership, CAG collaborated with the Waukegan Park District to secure a $93,000 US Fish and Wildlife program for the Bowen Park ravine restoration in 2011. This program inventories existing threatened and endangered plants, removes invasive plant species and reintroduces native species. CAG was successful in obtaining a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant for $1.4 million, which also addresses Bowen Park ravines, the southern portion of the Illinois Beach State Park and the Waukegan beachfronts. This particular grant supports a new College of Lake County certificate program for ravine restoration with Bowen Park as the practicum site. As with previous work, community groups, volunteers and Waukegan Park District staff will be enlisted to implement the projects.
Susie has not been without recognition for her efforts over the years. A modest person who avoids the limelight, she is a heavy hitter with a kind voice, preferring behind the scenes advocacy, networking, getting the right people together at the right time, and resource coordination. Regardless of the local government discord, the current group in power or the competing ideas and plans for harbor cleanup or use of the lakefront, Susie approaches the complex cleanup with a practical, common sense, non- inflammatory, "keep the goal in mind" and "what does the current science tell us" approach. She maintains focus on that goal as she attends countless meetings with agencies, community, state and federal officials and citizens' groups.
The Scouts recognized her interest in nature and the environment going back to 1962. In 1999, she received the Girl Scouts Alliance Award and the New Trier Trailblazer from the Boy Scouts. Her community service and leadership has been recognized by the many organizations of which she is a member including the Conservation Congress. She has been recognized by the State of Illinois for community service, and the USEPA and Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund (Freshwater Future) both recognized for her community involvement. In 2009 she received a third place in the Illinois Association of Park District's Award for Outstanding Citizen Volunteer. After recognizing Susie with a number of community service awards over the years, the Waukegan Park District named Susie Schreiber as its Outstanding Volunteer of the Year in 2009. Most recently, Ms. Schreiber, who is a former Scout leader, Winnetka Park District Commissioner and member of the Winnetka Plan Commission received the 2011 National Recreation and Parks Association's Barb King Environmental Leadership Award and the Illinois Audubon Society award for her work over the past 18 years helping to drive a massive cleanup of PCB-contaminated Waukegan Harbor as well as hundreds of acres of surrounding dunes, wetlands and ravines. In addition, Schreiber has also worked on conservation issues in other capacities for decades, including helping to establish the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie near Joliet.
Susie deserves recognition for her endless energy and resolve to protect, restore and educate about the water resources in our parks and in our community and for her tireless commitment to bring national, regional, state and local resources together to remediate environmental issues facing the community. Her education of school children instills a respect for nature and caring for the environment that is often transferred to their elders. Susie’s efforts overlap with those of the Waukegan Park District as stewards of open and natural spaces and parklands. We are especially pleased to have her as a volunteer partner and to nominate her for this prestigious award. It is the Waukegan Park District's honor and duty to nominate one of our most distinguished behind the scenes volunteer and leader Jean B. "Susie" Schreiber for the 10th Congressional District of Illinois' "Friend of the Environment" award.
Claudia Freeman
Waukegan Park District
Cultural Arts Division Superintendent 39 Jack Benny Drive
Waukegan IL 60087
Physical Dimensions
8.5 x 11 inches
Citation
Waukegan Harbor Citizens Advisory Group, “10th Congressional District of Illinois 2012 Friend of the Environment Award, to Jean B. "Susie” Schreiber,” Digital Collections - Lake Forest College, accessed May 4, 2024, https://collections.lakeforest.edu/items/show/4204.