The Lone Tree Council records consist of materials collected by the organization in response to the dioxins found in the Tittabawassee River and the area surrounding Dow Chemical Company's Midland headquarters.
In 1978, individuals from Bay City, MI began discussing and becoming frustrated by the nuclear construction from the Consumer Power Company. These five Bay City residents formally joined to become the Lone Tree Council to highlight the issue of nuclear construction in the area with the help of environmentalist, Mary P. Sinclair. The Lone Tree Council took to Washington D.C. to inform congressional delegation, while also bringing attention to the issue in the Saginaw Valley area. The Lone Tree Council's efforts succeeded as the Midland Nuclear Plant project was canceled in 1984.
Looking to expand efforts to other issues, the organization began focusing on water pollution, specifically in the Saginaw River and the Saginaw Bay, attempting to clean these bodies of water. During the mid-2000s the Lone Tree Council focused their efforts on the long-standing problems within the Tittabawassee River. The Dow Chemical Company's headquarters, located in the city of Midland, had been emitting dioxins into the river as well as into the air as a result of their operations. In an attempt to make Dow responsible for the problem, the organization brought the issue to the public's attention while pressing legal action. Since the beginning of the project, the Lone Tree Council has been successful in lowering the chemical levels in the area and making sure that Dow has taken responsibility for the cleaning of the area.
While the Lone Tree Council has focused on large scale projects, in more recent years the non-profit environmental organization has supported other causes including the Student March for Clean Energy, the Saginaw River Basin 350 Fair, the Teachers Climate Action Committee, and many more.
