RED CEDAR RIVER STEWARDSHIP IS STRONGER THAN EVER.

It has been a long journey since our first discovery of lithium-ion powered scooters being tossed and abandoned to our Red Cedar River, along the riverbanks of MSU, in December of 2022.
It wasn't until mid-July 2023 when the enormity of the problem was revealed. This was when a father and son magnet fishing team, Venture and Xan VanDulow, retrieved with ease 35 scooters and 16 bicycles from atop the Bogue Street bridge. Surprised and worried about the potential for environmental harm, every week after through November 20, volunteers led search and retrieval efforts. When done, 225 scooters and 160 bicycles were pulled from our treasured Red Cedar River.
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Venture and Xan DuLow
While we wish there would have been a quicker response and direct support offered by those key stakeholders, we are thrilled to share that great progress has since been made. Red Cedar River stewardship is stronger than ever.  

MSU Creates A Red Cedar River Oversight Committee.   

Because prior months' outreach to the University yielded very little results, it was suggested that we reach out the office of the president and its trustees. MSU was quick to respond. With this recent outreach, MSU’s response has been led by MSU’s Janet Lillie. Janet serves as the University’s assistant vice president for community relations. We also met with MSU trustee Dennis Denno.

In conversations with Janet, she acknowledges there being a gap and opportunity in MSU's approach to the Red Cedar River. In correspondence with Janet, MSU is in the process of creating a committee with representations from across the university.  The current concept of this committee is to focus on the “stewardship perspective of the Red Cedar River from many perspectives … debris, water quality, river bank quality (native species, habitats, etc.), education, recreation, etc. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of what the committee looks at rather examples of the span of the committee.”

At present this committee’s name is, "Red Cedar River Stewardship and Recreation." The first meeting of this committee is being called by Dan Bollman, Vice President for Strategic Infrastructure Planning and Facilities. 
Janet shares,” I am grateful to Mike Stout for raising the opportunity that MSU has regarding overall stewardship of the river. While MSU has many people doing work on and for the river they are across the university out of various units. This committee will help coordinate these distributed efforts.” Their first meeting has been set for Friday, March 1.

We should be encouraged by the University’s recent action.

Spin Is Acquired by Bird And Promises to Implement Preventive Measures.  

We first met with Spin in January 2023 about our concern about the large number of scooters we retrieved from the Red Cedar River in December 2022. When the enormity of the problem was revealed in July 2023 a different approach was required.

Consumer research was conducted in August to gain an improved understanding of the general public’s thoughts and opinions. Preliminary findings were shared by the end of the same month. The final brief was completed September 19, 2023, and shared with all those who participated and those who expressed an interest to learn more. 
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Click on Image for Copy of Research.
Subsequently, a planning meeting to create a comprehensive campaign to stop the practice of electric scooters, bicycles, and other evidence of campus and urban living in our Red Cedar River. There are four components to this campaign which fall under the title, “Love Our Waterways.”
  1. Awareness
  2. Deterrence
  3. Enforcement 
  4. Retrieval 
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Click on Image for Copy of Program Recco.
Our recommendations have been well received by MSU students and the cities of East Lansing and Lansing. We are pleased about Spin’s acceptance of several of our recommendations:
  • The one having the greatest immediate impact may be the removal of their staging station previously located at the northwest corner of Bogue and Auditorium Road. Removing this site eliminates the temptation and ease from which many of these tossed scooters were believed sourced.
  • Additional elements they will incorporate include eco-friendly Love our Waterways messaging via a pop-up on their app and physically placed on each electric scooter.

Additionally, Spin has agreed to immediately enforce their company practice of:
  • Immediately removing any abandoned scooters within 300 feet of the river.
  • Immediately remove any tossed scooter from the river.

​Collaboration with Spin regarding program development and implementation continues. We thank Spin for their financial contribution toward the development of our Love Our Waterways environmental education program and campaign to address this specific matter. Collaboration in this area continues.

We should be encouraged by Spin’s promises of performance and recent collaborative effort. 

We Should Be Encouraged By Key Stakeholders Recent Actions Taken.  

Since our very beginning we have experienced extraordinary community spirit and civic pride. When we ask for help, most are eager to support. Perhaps no one better demonstrates this than our MSU student population:
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Red Cedar River Cleanup Led by MSU's Delta Sigs.
  • Delta Sigma Phi:  Host and leader of biannual community-wide Red Cedar River cleanups.
  • Delta Kappa Epsilon:  Participants in pop-up waterways stewardship events.
  • MSU freshmen - business majors: Participants in pop-up waterways stewardship events.
  • MSU Photography Club:  Sharing their talents to promote our prized Red Cedar River.
  • MSU Rotaract:  Early strategy partners and impetus for the development of Love Our Waterways.
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Others also deserving of praise for their early interest and eager support: City of East Lansing, City of Lansing, Meridian Township, and Rotary of East Lansing

While it may have been a tortious journey at times, we find ourselves now in a fortuitous position. A number of timely changes have taken place to allow for a careful review, full reset, and accelerated response:
With those pieces, people, and programming in place now, we are pleased to complete the hand-off and entrust MSU, Spin, and City of East Lansing, to better manage the problem of electric scooters, bicycles, and other evidence of campus and urban living into our Red Cedar River.  

We feel certain MSU and Spin will now act in a manner consistent with their being the global leaders and environmental stewards as they proclaim. We are confident there will be much better care, protection, and improvement of our prized Red Cedar River in the immediate future and for generations to come.

Thank you MSU, City of East Lansing, and Spin, for your recent focus on this matter and promise to do better.

Mike Stout
MSU '83, President and Founder, Michigan Waterways Stewards
Protecting and Improving our Treasured Waterways.
[email protected] | (952) 239-3943

CLEANER • HEALTHIER • WATERWAYS

Whether you are a native Michigander or a transplant who just moved here, you were called to be here to protect and steward this beautiful state. Michigan’s greatest natural resource may be its abundance of fresh water. No other state is blessed with as much fresh water as Michigan. It is up to us to protect and care for our treasured and vulnerable waterways.

If we don’t, who will? Imagine the consequences if we fail.

There are three core components of Michigan Waterways Stewards programming (SEA): Stewardship, Education, and Advocacy. Love Our Waterways is the brand given to our environmental education program.

​Work in this area was accelerated due to the need to create a comprehensive program to address the problem of electric scooters, bicycles, and other evidence of campus and urban living into our Red Cedar River.  ​The program was developed with the support of community and business leaders from across the Lansing region and MSU students. 
There are four components to this Love Our Waterways campaign to address this specific challenge:
  1. Awareness
  2. Deterrence
  3. Enforcement 
  4. Retrieval 

We list suggested tactical executions for each below. We are pleased that our recommendations have received broad support by many and implementation has already begun in many areas across the greater Lansing region.

​AWARENESS BUILDING MEASURES TACTICS
Media, signage, posters and banners, table tents, Red Cedar River pledge, dedicated website/webpage, Spin POS app and stickers, use of influences (Sparty maybe), photography and essay competitions. All available for immediate use.
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Signage
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High Impact Promotional Banners
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EcoTours to improve Red Cedar River perspective.
​ DETERRENCE MEASURES TACTICS
Create Safe EcoZone of 400’. Minimally, enforce current practice of 300' (promised), Remove Spin staging station at Bogue Street and Administrative Road (promised), Overlay true geofencing measures, improved lighting, surveillance (cameras and patrol), fencing, real threat of punitive measures.
​ ENFORCEMENT MEASURES TACTICS
Without the realization of punitive measures this eliminates a powerful deterrent measure.
​RETRIEVAL EFFORTS
This is the least effective, most costly, and most dangerous. We're very good at this, but it is the act of last resort.
Michigan Waterways Stewards Key Red Cedar River Deliverables
1. Copy of 59-page consumer research study capturing the thoughts and opinions of those nearly 160 person taking the 12-point survey about the matter of electric scooters and bicycles being tossed and abandoned in our local rivers.
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Click on Image for Copy of Research.
2. Copy of 15-page project summary with program recommendations to help stop the continued practice of electric scooters and bicycles  being tossed and abandoned in our local rivers.
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Click on Image for Copy of Program Recco.
To improve the University's understanding of the problem and challenges, to accelerate their discovery an program development, a five page guide was created. Click here to review.

CITY OF EAST LANSING SPIN REVOCATION HEARING

Council Meeting Agenda Item: Tuesday, March 5, 2024
To read  Hearing Officer's, Thomas L. Lapka, Recommendation, opinion, click on the download file image below.
agenda_item_report_-_pdf.pdf
File Size: 4400 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
You have opportunity for public comment at the beginning of the council meeting scheduled for, Tuesday, March 4, 2024, 7:00PM. Council meetings are held at the Hannah Community Center, Banquet Hall, 7:00 p.m.
​ If you wish to submit your thoughts and opinion in writing, submit prior to 4pm on Tuesday, March 4, 2024. To do so, send to: [email protected].
If you are unable to attend in person but would like to comment, you can do this via Zoom. If you wish to comment via Zoom we suggest that you contact Assistant to City Council, Tammy Verchereau, for instructions on how:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (517) 337-1607
MICHIGAN WATERWAYS STEWARDS LETTER TO COUNCIL 
From our own discovery, comments from area residents, government and university officials, the problem of poor oversight, management, and usage of Spin scooters is far greater a worry than just those environmental health and personal safety matters as they relate to the Red Cedar River. Thus the reason why this matter has been put in front of you for your review.

We are encouraged by recent discussions and actions being taken, and hopeful of continued improvement. But, we are not confident that a collaborative approach and comprehensive program has been accepted to solve for those once unforeseen, but now known, challenges related to the usage of leased micromobility.  
Until a time when the City of East Lansing, Spin, and the user is prepared to accept full responsibility, to be held accountable, for their actions to be timely, transparent, and measurable, we cannot support any recommendation for the continued leasing and usage of Spin, or any brand, of electric scooters. To proceed in any other manner it is our thought it would be premature and irresponsible.
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We thank you for your careful consideration. We encourage you to act in a manner that is in the best interest of our treasured and vulnerable waterways and for the greater community.
To read our official letter to City of East Lansing council members regarding the matter of Spin's license to operate within the City of East Lansing, download the file image below.
mws_position_-_east_lansing_city_council.pdf
File Size: 114 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File