13-City Boat Tour Kicks Off Today, Highlighting Need to Restore Great Lakes

Coalition Calls for Presidential Candidates to Stand up for Great Lakes
Restoration

BUFFALO, N.Y., June 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Healing Our Waters-Great
Lakes Coalition is launching a 13-city boat tour today in Buffalo, N.Y., to
highlight the need to restore the Great Lakes and to urge the U.S. Congress
and presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama to act to restore the
lakes.

"The boat tour underscores the importance of the Great Lakes to millions of
people and the urgent need to restore them," said Jeff Skelding, national
campaign director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, the boat
tour's sponsor. "To those seeking the presidency, we ask: 'Will you use your
leadership as president to fund the restoration of the largest freshwater
resource in North America?"

The boat tour launch comes days after Sen. Obama secured the Democratic
presidential nomination, setting the stage for a contest with Sen. McCain.
Both White House aspirants have signed a Congressional pledge to restore the
Great Lakes.

The coalition will be circulating a petition at each event--also available on
its Web site www.healthylakes.org -- urging both candidates to follow through
on this pledge by committing $20 billion over five years to restore the Great
Lakes as outlined in the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy--a
comprehensive clean-up plan endorsed by citizens, industry, mayors, governors
and the region's congressional delegation.

"Our message to each candidate seeking the White House is clear: Put your
money where your mouth is," said Skelding. "We have solutions. It is time to
use them now, because every day we wait, the problems get worse and the
solutions more costly."

The Earth Voyager -- one of the fastest sailboats on the Great Lakes -- will
stop in cities along the lakes. The 60-feet-long and nearly 100-foot-tall boat
will dock in ports, anchoring a series of community events.

Coalition members will be joined at each city by local elected officials,
business leaders, conservation groups and citizens to urge federal leaders to
stop sewage contamination, halt invasive species and confront other serious
threats.

The tour will also feature restoration success stories and highlight the
economic benefit of restoring the lakes. The Brookings Institutition found
that Great Lakes restoration would generate between $80 billion and $100
billion in short- and long-term economic gains to the region.

The tour concludes in Rochester, N.Y., on September 6. A schedule follows:
June 4 - 7Buffalo, N.Y.
June 11 - 14Erie, Pa.
June 18 - 21Toledo, Ohio
June 23 - 28Detroit, Mich.
June 30 - July 11Port Huron, Mich.
July 1Sarnia, Ontario
July 12 - 14 Bayview Port Huron to Mackinac Race
July 17 - 18Chicago, Ill.
July 19 - 21 100th Chicago to Mackinac Race
July 24 - 27Traverse City, Mich.
August 6 - 9Grand Haven, Mich.
August 13 - 16Milwaukee, Wisc.
August 20 - 23Bay City, Mich.
August 27 - 30Cleveland, Ohio
September 3 - 6Rochester, N.Y.

For more information, visit: http://www.healthylakes.org/

SOURCE Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition

Jeff Skelding of Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, +1-202-797-6893,
jskelding@nwf.org; Jordan Lubetkin of the National Wildlife Federation,
+1-734-904-1589, lubetkin@nwf.org; Nora Ferrell, +1-312-408-2580 x 24,
+1-773-510-4819 (cell), nora@vdcom.com, for Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes
Coalition/National Wildlife Federation; or Hugh McMullen, +1-312-408-2580 x
15, hugh@vdcom.com, for Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition/National
Wildlife Federation