Lee Botts
Encyclopedia
Leila Botts is a prominent American environmentalist known primarily for her work related to conservation and restoration of the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...

. She has founded two successful non-profit organizations, directed a subagency of the U.S. Department of the Interior in the administration of President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...

, authored or co-authored a number of books and reports on environmental issues, and served in the administration of the late Chicago Mayor Harold Washington
Harold Washington
Harold Lee Washington was an American lawyer and politician who became the first African-American Mayor of Chicago, serving from 1983 until his death in 1987.- Early years and military service :...

.

Born Leila Carman in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

 in 1928 and raised in that state and Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

, Botts settled in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 in the early 1950s with her husband. While raising four children in the city's Hyde Park neighborhood in the 1950s and 1960s, Botts formed a strong personal interest in the Indiana Dunes. Botts became involved as a volunteer in several local issues such as the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, and took a leadership role in the campaign which in 1966 resulted in the creation of the federal Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is a U.S. National Lakeshore located in northwest Indiana and managed by the National Park Service. It was authorized by Congress in 1966. The national lakeshore runs for nearly along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, from Gary, Indiana, on the west to Michigan...

. In the early 1960s she was a columnist
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....

 for, and then editor
Editor
The term editor may refer to:As a person who does editing:* Editor in chief, having final responsibility for a publication's operations and policies* Copy editing, making formatting changes and other improvements to text...

 of, the weekly Hyde Park Herald
Hyde Park Herald
The Hyde Park Herald is a weekly newspaper that serves the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.- Early history :The newspaper was founded in 1882, and claims on its masthead to be "Chicago's Oldest Community Newspaper." For the Herald's first seven years, it was a suburban newspaper...

. In 1969 she became a staff member at the newly-created Openlands Project in Chicago.

In 1970 Botts founded the Lake Michigan Federation, which today operates as the Alliance for the Great Lakes
Alliance for the Great Lakes
The Alliance for the Great Lakes was originally founded in 1970 by Lee Botts as the Lake Michigan Federation, which Botts had established a year earlier as a project of The Openlands Project in Chicago. The purpose of the Lake Michigan Federation was to promote awareness and policy to protect and...

. Within the wave of new interest in environmental issues in the U.S. during that period, the Federation was the first independent citizens' organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of a specific Great Lake.

After several years leading the Federation including numerous trips to Washington D.C. to lobby
Lobbying
Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...

 Congress on issues such as first-ever federal Clean Water Act
Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Commonly abbreviated as the CWA, the act established the goals of eliminating releases of high amounts of toxic substances into water, eliminating additional water pollution by 1985, and ensuring that...

, Botts spent two years as a staff member at the Region 5 office of the young federal Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...

 (USEPA). In 1978 President Carter named her head of the Great Lakes Basin Commission, headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...

. After all federal basin commissions were eliminated in President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

's first federal budget, Botts held for several years a faculty research appointment at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 followed by two years as a staffer and consultant for the City of Chicago's new Department of the Environment. In 1986 she narrowly lost an election to the board of Chicago's countywide
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...

 wastewater treatment
Wastewater Treatment
Wastewater treatment may refer to:* Sewage treatment* Industrial wastewater treatment...

 district.

Botts planned and in 1997 founded the Indiana Dunes Environmental Learning Center. Located within the National Lakeshore at the former Camp Goodfellow, which was a summer camp for children of U.S. Steel employees during the middle of the 20th century, the learning center offers sleepover environmental education programs for grade-school students and teachers. In 2006 Botts co-authored a scholarly book on the landmark Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

Botts is a board member emeritus for the Alliance for the Great Lakes
Alliance for the Great Lakes
The Alliance for the Great Lakes was originally founded in 1970 by Lee Botts as the Lake Michigan Federation, which Botts had established a year earlier as a project of The Openlands Project in Chicago. The purpose of the Lake Michigan Federation was to promote awareness and policy to protect and...

, formerly served on the board of the Delta Institute and the Save the Dunes Council, and continues as an advisor to other environmental groups including the Shirley Heinze Land Trust. In 1987 she was honored by the United Nations Environmental Program for making a difference for the global environment and has received awards from the USEPA and numerous local, regional and national environmental organizations and agencies. In 2002 the 1,400-member national Clean Water Network
Clean Water Network
The Clean Water Network is an American coalition of more than 1,200 local, state and national non-profit interest groups coordinating to promote water health, safety, and quality interests in the United States. CWN was formed in 1992 as a project of the...

 named her as one of the 30 persons who had made the most difference under the pioneering federal 1972 Clean Water Act
Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Commonly abbreviated as the CWA, the act established the goals of eliminating releases of high amounts of toxic substances into water, eliminating additional water pollution by 1985, and ensuring that...

. Currently she represents environmental interests on the Indiana Water Pollution Control Board. Most recently she was named one of 60 fellows for the Purpose Prize Institute from 1,000 persons nominated nationally, a program of the John Templeton Foundation
John Templeton Foundation
"The John Templeton Foundation is a philanthropic organizationthat funds inter-disciplinary research about human purpose and ultimate reality. It is usually referred to simply as the Templeton Foundation...

 that recognizes persons who make a difference in their communities after the age of 60. In 2009 she was among the first inductees into the newly-created Indiana Conservation Hall of Fame in Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

.
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