Jane Silberstein will address the Opening Plenary at the conference on the topic of Eco-Municipalities. She will describe the ecomunicipality model for sustainable community development, and how the idea has taken hold in the Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior. Her focus is not bicycling and walking per se, but rather on an overall context for alternatives to the automobile making a lot of sense.

Jane's long and abiding interest in building sustainable communities brought her to this relatively untouched part of the country. Currently, she is an associate professor, University of Wisconsin Extension, and serves as the Community, Natural Resource and Economic Development Educator for Ashland County. Jane grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she received a B.A. from Hamline University and an M.A. in journalism and mass communications theory and research from the University of Minnesota. In 2000, she co-authored, with Chris Maser, Land Use Planning for Sustainable Development.

Those of you who attended Pro Bike/Pro Walk 98, hosted in Santa Barbara, California, have seen Jane's work before. "My first professional experience out of grad school (back in the early 70s) was working for the City of Santa Barbara, designing and assuring the implementation of a citywide bikeway system," Jane writes. "It's now fully in use!!" She
served as a city planner for approximately 17 years in both Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz, California, before moving to the Chequamegon Bay area of Lake Superior in 1991.

Jane's primary interests include furthering the implementation of the Sustainable Chequamegon Initiative. "My hobbies include kayaking, birdwatching, and wildlife in general (not to be confused with wild life)," she adds.

Don't miss the Opening Plenary, Wednesday morning at 8a.m., when you can learn more about the ecomunicipality model taking root in Wisconsin.