Joan Luedders Wolfe

Joan Luedders Wolfe is an environmental activist, having founded the West Michigan Environmental Action Council in 1968 and coordinated the passage of the landmark Michigan Environmental Protection Act of 1970. She was also active in the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act. Both she and her husband, Willard E. Wolfe, DDS, were key strategists in writing and lobbying for passage of Michigan's Inland Lakes and Streams Act of 1972.

History and career

She was appointed in 1973 by Gov. William Milliken to the Michigan Natural Resources Commission, and eventually became chair. She also was a member of the first Natural Resources Trust Fund Board, the Governor's Advisory Committee on Electric Energy Alternatives, and the board of the National Audubon Society.

In 1996, Wolfe was one of eight honorees of the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame, and holds an honorary Doctorate in Public Service from Western Michigan University. In April 2014 she was inducted into the Michigan Environmental Hall of Fame.

Wolfe is author of the book Making Things Happen: How to be an Effective Volunteer. Based on her experience in the environmental movement, Wolfe provides an assessment of volunteerism and outlines the basic skills which volunteers need to make a stronger impact. The book was published by Island Press in 1991.

She also wrote an account of the passage of the Michigan Environmental Protection Act of 1970 and the Inland Lakes and Streams Act of 1972 that can prove useful to activists seeking to enact environmental legislation today.

External links

• Dave Dempsey, 2001. Ruin and Recovery, Michigan's Rise as a Conservation Leader. University of Michigan Press. Ruin and Recovery
• Bio at Michigan Women's Hall of Fame: Joan Luedders Wolfe: Michigan Women's Hall of Fame -
• Joan L Wolfe, 1999. A History of the Michigan Environmental Protection Act of 1970 and the Inland Lakes and Streams Act 346 of 1972.[1]
• Joan L Wolfe, author.[2]