Outline, dates set for ‘ManOMin’ conference

Although guest speakers still have to be confirmed, a general outline and list of topics have been put in place for the inaugural “ManOMin” watershed conference slated here April 28-30.
Jennifer Mercer, co-ordinator for the Rainy River First Nations watershed program and whose spearheaded the conference, said the main focus will be on water quality.
Topics will cover everything from “What are we Putting in Our Waterways” to “Green Slime–Why do Algae Blooms Occur in My Lake?”
“We really want the general public to be able to attend this and get something out of it,” Mercer said.
“It’s all fine and dandy to design this conference for the people who manage the watershed but we also want individuals in the watershed to feel there is a place they can go to learn more about where they live,” she stressed.
Several issues will revolve around tourism, as well as local control over resources and international boundary issues. Government ministries and officials from both sides of the border will be on hand for the conference.
Some of these sessions will be facilitated discussions, Mercer said, while others will be straight information presentations.
“It’s opening lines of communication, and that’s between organizations and the people and from the people to the organization,” she explained.
A board of directors made up of 16 people, from as far east as Quetico and into Manitoba and Minnesota, gathered to draw up the outline of the conference, hence the name “ManOMin” (Manitoba, Ontario, Minnesota).
The outline was nailed down at their last meeting Jan. 24.
Mercer said the board has attracted interest from boating associations, municipalities, and county associations, as well as provincial, state, and federal bodies.
Despite the different agendas each group may have, Mercer said the group was able to sit down and work fairly well together.
“It was easier than I thought,” she said. “Because when we get down to it, we all have the same share of goals. The trick is finding that same share of goals.”