HomeMy WebLinkAboutEACMudLake08052020 Aug 3, 2020
Mr. Aaron Perri, Executive Director
South Bend Venues, Parks & Arts
Mr. Mark Neal, President
Ms. Consuella Hopkins, Vice President
Ms. Aimee Buccellato
Mr. Dan Farrell
South Bend Board of Bark Commissioners
219 S. St. Louis Blvd.
South Bend, IN 46617
Dear Mr. Perri and Commissioners,
The Ecological Advocacy Committee (EAC), at the recommendation of the EAC’s Mud Lake
Subcommittee, has reviewed a revised “Proposal for the City of South Bend Venues Parks &
Arts Department to commit to pursuing protection for Mud Lake.” The revised proposal was
submitted to the EAC for our June 22 meeting by Chris Cobb, Mark Blassage, and Jen Betz on
behalf of the collective known as Elbel 4 Everyone.
We support the intent of the proposal “to ensure that Mud Lake and its contributing watershed
are protected and restored,” and we especially appreciated the authors’ summation of the
ecological significance of Mud Lake. We recommend that the VPA Board of Park
Commissioners establish a working group consisting of VPA staff and interested citizens to
“pursue opportunities to ensure that Mud Lake [is] protected and restored.”
We note that the proposal is consistent with language in the 2020 “Natural Resource
Management Plan,” the guiding document for the Board of Park Commissioners with respect to
management of natural resources within VPA’s purview. Regarding “Sensitive natural zones”
not directly under VPA control, the NRMP states,
“The operations of South Bend Venues Parks & Arts operate on several spaces not under
our direct control. Operations along the riverbanks, especially on those properties not
formally owned by the city or by the South Bend Venues Parks & Arts, are one example.
In these areas we will act as responsible partners and ensure our own operations are
compliant with all regulations and the guidelines. We will work to form cooperative
partnerships to coordinate guidelines with other municipal, county, state, and federal
agencies."
Mud Lake is one of the most significant ecological resources in the VPA park portfolio and the
protection of Mud Lake, in perpetuity, is consistent with EAC’s vision to “ensure availability of
natural resources for future generations.” The time and resources that VPA contributes to
pursuing the preservation and restoration of this unique ecosystem will be a worthwhile
investment that will benefit the people of South Bend for generations.
Respectfully,
Steve Sass (chair)
Jo Borror
Lindsay Chadderton
Alicia Czarnecki
John DiTillo
Allison Pudlo
Andrew Schnabel
Andrew Tucker