The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization with a mission of education and advocacy , that encourages active participation in government and public policy. The national group was formed in 1920, just 6 months before the ratification of the 19th amendment that gave most women the right to vote.

The purpose of the group was to educate women voters on the issues of the day. There are now more than 700 chapters nationwide, with 35 in Minnesota. The League of Women Voters of Duluth was started in 1922 and is currently one of the largest Leagues in the state with more than 220 members.

For more than 100 years, it has worked to promote and ensure voter rights with actions such as voter registration, candidate forums and support for legislation that allows everyone to exercise their right to vote.

The League of Women Voters may be less well known for their work in other areas –  Social Policy, International Relations and Natural Resources. The work done in those areas follows careful study of an issue with a consensus vote taken by Leagues across the country. The position statements that are created are then used as guidelines for individual Leagues to take action within their own communities. With more than 10% of the world’s fresh water on our doorstep, it is not at all surprising that the League of Women Voters of Duluth has had an active Environmental Action Committee (formerly Natural Resources Committee) for many years to educate our members and at times the general public on issues that could impact our natural resources and to urge legislative action when necessary.

This is the LWV position statement that most informs our environmental work: Promote an environment beneficial to life through the protection and wise management of natural resources in the public interest. Position in Brief: The League of Women Voters of the United States believes that natural resources should be managed as interrelated parts of life-supporting ecosystems. Resources should be conserved and protected to assure their future availability. Pollution of these resources should be controlled in order to preserve the physical, chemical and biological integrity of ecosystems and to protect public health.  

Through the years, based on the above position statement the Duluth League has worked extensively in the environmental arena by hosting a wide variety of educational programs some jointly with the Izaak Walton League McCabe Chapter. Those programs have included climate change, copper nickel mining, plastic pollution, public lands, water issues, community solar and energy conservation. In addition to specific programs, we have spoken at hearings and City Council meetings, written commentaries, monitored the Duluth Tree Commission and the Natural Resources Commission and through our membership in the Minnesota Environmental Partnership (MEP) continually updated members on the potential risks of copper nickel mining in Northeastern Minnesota.

Knowing that climate change is the overarching environmental issue of our time, the League of Women Voters of Duluth participates in the statewide League of Women Voters Minnesota Climate Change Task Force and updates members on climate change issues. With that in mind, the League advocated strongly for the 100% Clean Energy bill that passed this session. Current areas of interest include climate change, copper nickel mining, clean water and solar on schools. In addition, recently after learning about the sources and impacts of de-icing salts (sodium chloride) on area waterways, including Lake Superior, as well as on roadways and bridges, a subcommittee of the Environmental Action Committee was formed to learn more about potential solutions and actions that could be taken to mitigate the impacts of the salt.

The Environmental Action Committee meets the third Monday of the month from September to May, generally in hybrid format. Current Chairs are Jeri Quest and Beth Hippert. If you would like to learn more about the League of Women Voters Environmental Action Committee and other League activities we invite you to check out the League of Women Voters website lwvduluth.org League of Women Voters members, especially those that have worked on environmental issues for years, understand that Mother Earth needs representation and a voice. Women might understand this in a more personal way as they were denied a voice for over 72 years!

Curiously, we do use the feminine pronoun when referring to the Earth—how about granting her rights?

Sally Munger and Gay Trachsel are longtime members of the League of Women Voters of Duluth. They served as Co-Chairs of the Environmental Action Committee (formerly Natural Resources Committee) for several years prior to 2022.