Stewardship Spotlight: Richard Fowler. Caring for the environment, then and now
12/20/2023.
“We must provide strong financial support for our premier water quality organizations; they are essential to our environmental well-being. That's why I support Great River Greening!” -Richard Fowler
Here at Great River Greening (GRG) we build strong, community-based partnerships, from our staff and Board of Directors to volunteer groups, donors, municipalities, vendors, schools, and the State of Minnesota. Minnesota’s land and water are shared natural systems, and we rely on the support of individuals and groups to protect them.
Today we’re shining the spotlight on our partnership with Richard Fowler, who has been supporting GRG for a milestone 20 years. His commitment to land restoration in Minnesota springs from a reverence for clean water.
For Richard Fowler, Minnesota’s land and waters are priceless gifts worth taking bold action to preserve—and he’s no stranger to taking bold action. As a young process engineer working for Andersen Corporation (Andersen), in Bayport, Minnesota in the 1960s, Richard alerted management to polluted runoff flowing directly into the wild and scenic St. Croix River. He immediately took action, and with the support of Andersen, began protecting the river and improving processes overall. This defining moment led to both a successful 32-year career in corporate environmental management for Richard at the company, and Andersen setting course to establish itself as an industry leader in environmental stewardship.
We sat down with Richard to talk about his lifelong passion for environmental protection, and abiding interest in GRG’s community-focused, collaborative approach to caring for our shared land and water.
GRG: How did you come to care for natural landscapes and water as deeply as you do? Have you always had a passion for the outdoors and conservation?
Richard: I developed my reverence for clean, fresh water during the summers I spent up at my grandparents’ cabin on Lake Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula. This was in the 1950s, before increased industrial development started changing the chemistry of our beautiful lakes. I would spend all day on the beach and in the clear, clean water, which was teeming with life—all kinds of little bugs and critters swimming around. It was just spiritual for me, swimming in those pure, vibrant waters every day. It had a great effect on me, which I probably didn’t realize until later on.
GRG: In your first job out of college at Andersen, you discovered that chemicals from plant operations were ending up in the St Croix River. You brought this to the attention of management—a brave act for a young man starting his career—and addressed the problem. How did these events shape your career at Andersen and the company’s stewardship of the St. Croix?
Richard: That was the defining act of my career. I was working on the paint line, doing some investigative work to try to make it more efficient. There was this vat of malted milk-looking material—emulsified paint particles collected from the air. I followed the outlet from this vat down into the stormwater sewer, and the sewer out to the river, where I found white paint solids floating in the water. That was shocking enough, and then I—a young, green technician—had to go to my boss and tell him that we couldn’t do that. My supervisor—a wonderful man—said, “fix it.” I built a collection and filtration system that processed wastewater from the paint machine and then pumped the water into the sanitary sewer to keep it out of the river. This was 1968; there was no Clean Water Act, no Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to oversee emissions into the river. By the early 1970s, when laws creating air and water regulations were passed, we had pretty well cleaned up the wastewater issues. In 1974 Andersen received a federal permit to discharge clean stormwater into the St. Croix River.
I evolved into environmental management by default. Operations management would get a letter from the brand new MPCA asking questions about disposition of materials, and they’d send it to me. The environmental movement was upon us, and that brought a massive increase in compliance activity, for which we weren’t quite prepared. Suddenly I had this enormous responsibility in addition to my production duties. I found it somewhat overwhelming.
GRG: Today Andersen has a sterling reputation for safeguarding the environment in its operations. How did you help to build that reputation during your career?
Richard: With the tidal wave of environmental regulations coming on in the ‘70s and ‘80s, corporate management recognized that I needed help. I was able to hire consultants and staff to make some major changes in our operations to protect the environment. The big one was working with our research department to effect change in material toxicity. Some of our paints, adhesives, and wood preservatives had very toxic chemicals in them. We started talking to our suppliers to reformulate these materials, to eliminate toxic pollutants that could get into the air and water. Andersen is a large user of materials, so we had a bit of clout with our suppliers. We replaced toxic solvents with less toxic solvents, and in some cases converted to water-based chemistry. That was a huge thing.
GRG: You were a lone voice in those early years. How did it feel to make progress, and to receive recognition for your efforts?
Richard: It was very gratifying. Some of my successes were recognized by the production people in the plant. They started saying, “Hey, this company is doing the right thing.” Office employees I worked with day-to-day would say, “You know, it’s really neat what you’re doing; it makes me really proud of this company,” and that message got up to management. All of a sudden, the whole company had this feeling of environmental quality. The family who owns the company and the executives supported and promoted me, and Andersen became an environmental leader in the St. Croix Valley. That was gratifying to see; it made me proud.
GRG: Together we’re celebrating 20 years since your first gift to GRG, and we thank you immensely. What is meaningful to you about supporting our work?
Richard: What we do on the land affects the water—there’s a strong connection there. GRG is Minnesota’s leading organization working on the land to keep our water clean and fresh. I’ve been invited to visit sites that GRG has been working on, planting trees, clearing buckthorn, and so on. You see change happening in the landscape that creates positive results; it’s a wonderful thing. Seeing the excitement of young volunteers working on the land has a profound effect on me. It’s very simple, very clear—you’re educating young people on the importance of environmental quality.
GRG: Our Vision for 2030 focuses on nature-based climate solutions—making landscapes more resilient so that they can weather the storm of climate change. When you think about climate change in Minnesota, what concerns you?
Richard: It’s absolutely a concern. We’re not dying, we’re not choking to death, but we’ve lost so much since I was young, swimming in the pristine waters of Lake Michigan. Just look at the lakes in the Twin Cities—they’re not in very good shape; some have algae blooms in the summer. Come on; why are there algae blooms in 2023? That’s why we have to fight hard to keep what we have and impress upon young people the importance of that fight to clean up the environment.
GRG: GRG’s climate-focused work includes restoring woodlands and prairies, and encouraging farmers to grow crops that store carbon in the soil. Does this nature-based approach to mitigating climate change make sense to you?
Richard: There’s no choice; we have to do that while we wait for the world powers to act to minimize industrial emissions that are changing our climate. We may not have much effect on the world powers, but we can still work on the land a little bit at a time, keep plugging away to demonstrate that we can make a difference by taking care of our land and water. We need to work hard on this part of climate change, and we can’t give up.
GRG: You’ve devoted much of your life to caring for Minnesota’s natural environment. What is your hope for the future? Are you optimistic that those who come after you will find a way to preserve our land and waters—and the sense of wonder in the natural world that you’ve experienced?
Richard: I’m hopeful that the state of Minnesota can clean up the waterways—get rid of the phosphorus pollution—to the point where they’re really clean again. Cleaning up the lakes and rivers would be a doable next step, and obviously working on the land is a big part of that—improving the soil, reducing erosion and chemical runoff. To me that’s something you can get your arms around. It’s a huge issue; it will probably take decades to see real change you can point to—the return of truly pristine waters. But the will is there, and I think we’re making some headway.
Thank you, Richard. We are truly thankful for your bold support of GRG and your lasting commitment to Minnesota’s land and water.
Curious to know how you, too, can take bold action to protect Minnesota’s shared climate future?
Partner with us. Support Great River Greening. Volunteer.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Photo Credits:
Richard Fowler standing alongside the wild and scenic St. Croix River on a chilly day (Phil Davies).
Fast moving water in a creek (Phil Davies).
Waterfalls in a forest (Phil Davies).