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		Dave Dempsey Profession: Policy Advisor, Michigan Environmental Council; writer; educator.

Dave Dempsey currently serves as Policy Advisor for the Michigan Environmental Council (MEC), a coalition of over 50 environmental organizations with a combined total of more than 170,000 members. MEC has provided a collective voice for the environment at the State Capitol since 1980, developing public policy, educating elected officials and the general public and providing technical assistance and support to member organizations.

The 45-year-old Dempsey has been active in Michigan environmental matters since 1982. He served as the Executive Director of MEC in 1982-83 and as environmental advisor to Michigan Governor James J. Blanchard from 1983-89.

From 1991 to 1994, Dempsey was program director and state director of Clean Water Action. In 1994, President Clinton appointed him to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, where he served until 2001. He is currently a board member of Great Lakes United, an environmental group dedicated to protection of the Great Lakes ecosystem.

Dempsey is the author of Ruin and Recovery: Michigan's Rise as a Conservation Leader, an environmental history of Michigan since its statehood in 1837. Described by George Weeks of the Detroit News as "a remarkable book" and named one of the best books on Michigan topics in the year 2001 by the Detroit Free Press, it was published by the University of Michigan Press.

A lifelong resident of Michigan, Dempsey has a bachelor of arts degree from Western Michigan University and a master's degree in resource development from Michigan State University. He serves as an instructor at MSU in environmental policy and law.

Editor's Note: To order Dave Dempsey's book, Ruin and Recovery: Michigan's Rise as a Conservation Leader, visit the University of Michigan Press Web site.

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A Choice for Governor, A Choice for Conservation

By Dave Dempsey Posted 08/01/2002

LANSING -- Guest columnist Dave Dempsey,  Policy Advisor for the Michigan Environmental Council, says Jennifer Granholm, more than any of the other gubernatorial candidates, offers to involve Michiganians in the natural resources decision-making process. Dempsey notes that for Keweenaw residents this means "decisions would be hammered out on the anvil of a conservation ethic, which keeps in mind the needs of future generations and the value of the Keweenaw's majestic beauty, not just monetary values." more