Appreciation Shown to Tribes

Governor Jim Doyle (center) after presenting the sculpture to Sandra Rachal (left), Tribal Chair of the Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa and Harold “Gus” Frank, Tribal Chair of the Forest County Potawatomi. in appreciation of the tribes purchase of the Crandon mine site.

Last minute preparations under way for WSN’s Friday evening panel. From left to right: Michael Furtman, Melissa Scanlan, Steve Hiniker, George Meyer and Doug LaFollette.

At the Wisconsin Stewardship Network (WSN) Conference on February 6–7, a sculpture was presented to two tribes in appreciation of their purchase of the Crandon mine property and mineral rights from its previous owners. Governor Jim Doyle made the presentation to Sandra Rachal, chair of the Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa and Harold “Gus” Frank, chair of the Forest County Potawatomi.

The two tribes paid $16.5 million, including the assumption of around $8 million in debt, in order to purchase the site and thus permanently remove the threat of a mine polluting the Wolf River and desecrating sacred sites in the area. They immediately withdrew the pending request for a mining permit. That long and costly battle, which brought together environmentalists, hunters, anglers and Native Americans to form the Wisconsin Stewardship Network, is finally over. We can remove our tattered bumper stickers and move on to other equally pressing issues.

The sculpture, commissioned by the WSN and paid for by donations from the Sierra Club, other environmental and conservation organizations, and individuals, was made by Native American artist, Jeff Savage. The names of the donors will be inscribed on the base.

“The design of the sculpture is of a Wolf figure facing a Heron figure; they are based on a circle of blue with red and black Pipestone circles leading to the green base which the figures rest upon…the circle is predominant in the design, the blue symbolizes the waters of mother earth”, wrote Savage. “(The) Sacred Red Pipestone comes from the old Quarry in southern Minnesota. It symbolizes the Mother Earth as well as the blood of the Native People. The next layer is of Wisconsin Steatite or Black Pipestone. The wolf is a symbol of the northern woods and its pristine nature. It also symbolizes the Anishinabe People. (The) heron or water bird figure represents all the creatures that are dependent on the waters and who have a place and job on this earth just like all the people with whom we share this Land and Water. There are also chips of a core drilling sample in the Figures’ eyes; this represents how close a vision this was to becoming a reality.”

The circular base is cut in two so that each tribe will take one half to their tribal halls. The cut represents the Wolf River, but the complete circle represents the “circle of friendship that has brought Tribes and many others in The Wisconsin Stewardship Network together in the way that people on the Turtle Island are supposed to, in concert to preserve for the future generations.”

Nancy Hennessy Wins Sparkplug Award

John Berge presents the Spark Plug Award to Nancy Hennessey.

We are a little late in reporting this, but at last December’s general meeting of the Southeast Gateway Group of the Sierra Club, Nancy Hennessy was presented with the “prestigious” Sparkplug Award by John Berge.

“This handcrafted award had not been given out for several years”, John said, “because there had not been an individual that stood out from the rest in the way Nancy has, with the possible exception of some of those who had already won it in the past.” Nancy was honored for her outstanding contributions and continued efforts in opposition to the expansion of the power plant in Oak Creek. In addition she has been the Group’s Secretary, on the Conservation Committee, a delegate to the John Muir Chapter Executive Committee, active in the work at Colonial Park cleaning out invasive species and planting native species, a frequent participant in the Group’s third-Saturday hikes and an unofficial liaison to several other organizations in the area.

“In order to make this award more prestigious and meaningful”, John stated, “it will not be given out every year, but only when the appropriate person comes along … when someone truly is a sparkplug, igniting the group to greater and better goals.

Green Award

The Green Award is presented each year at our May Southeast Gateway Group Dinner Meeting. The award which includes a $100 stipend is given to promote environmental awareness among high school students. The award has been used to support such things as attendance at environmental conferences, travel to environmentally significant places, and environmental projects or presentations. The recipient of the award and up to two guests will be invited to attend our dinner meeting on May 20, 2004 to receive the award. To apply or nominate someone, please contact Barry Thomas, 1312 93rd Avenue, Kenosha, Wisconsin 53144; (262) 859-2960 by May 1, 2004.

Focus on Energy…

Focus on Energy, our May 20 program, is a public-private partnership offering energy information. It offers services to utilities and customers in Wisconsin to help protect our environment and save our natural resources.

Their goals are to encourage energy efficiency and renewable energy which would enhance the environment and help to ensure the future energy supplies. Energy efficient choices can save families about a third of their energy bill and thus save money, increase electric reliability and reduce the need for fossil fuels.

Focus on Energy offers programs on home improvement, new home construction, appliances and lighting. They work with contractors and vendors throughout Wisconsin.

From the Chair…
by Barry Thomas

One of the joys in getting together with our fellow Sierrans is that we are in the company of like-minded individuals. We value clean air and water and the preservation of environmentally sensitive lands. We enjoy being outdoors and observing prairies, woods, wetlands and the wildlife that inhabit them. We recognize the need for conserving our precious natural resources for future generations.

However these values are hardly unique to Sierra Club members. They are embraced by much of the population. Recently as a neighbor and I extolled the virtues of our backyard ponds, he remarked, “Isn’t it great that we enjoy the same things and think so much alike?” I was dumbfounded because we usually cancel out each other’s votes when we go to the polls.

Somehow there is a disconnect between the environmental values that people hold and how they vote. How can we account for this? One reason, of course, is that people vote for candidates based on many issues other than the environment. Some just can’t get by the social issues of gay rights and abortion. However, others are just poorly informed about how legislation affects the environment. It’s no wonder they are confused when we look at the creative way in which legislation is now labeled. It’s hard to fathom that the Clean Skies Initiative actually does the opposite.

We need to be aware of environmental legislation and to educate our friends and neighbors about what really is going on. Even if they don’t change the way they intend to vote, they may pressure the candidates they do support to change their views. We are a grassroots organization and need to start talking to the people we interact with in our daily lives.

Wisconsin Stewardship Network Annual Conference
by Lila and John Berge

We have attended the Wisconsin Stewardship Network’s Annual Conferences for several years, coming home encouraged and with new energy seeing the diversity of groups and individuals working together to protect Wisconsin’s environmental heritage. Not this year. We came home with the sober realization that our State Legislature has adopted the same “majority rules alone” tactics practiced by Congress in Washington.

Friday’s session started out in a depressing mood as a panel of speakers outlined the attacks on the environment and personal freedoms by the Bush administration, Congress and the State Legislature. The panel consisted of Doug LaFollette, Wisconsin Secretary of State; Michael Furtman, outdoor and conservation writer; George Meyer, Executive Director of the WI Wildlife Federation and former Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) Secretary; Steve Hiniker, Executive Director of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin and former Executive Director of the Citizen Utility Board; and Melissa Scanlan, founder and Executive Director of Midwest Environmental Advocates.

LaFollette pointed out how trees are clear cut under a “Healthy Forest Plan”, air pollution is increased and clean-up delayed under a “Clean Skies Initiative”, and our freedoms are taken away with big brother watching you under the “Patriot’s Act”. Meyer outlined the cutbacks in the WDNR and the attack on the Public Trust Doctrine in such bills as the so-called Jobs Creation Act of 2004, which would not create any jobs but attacks the Public Trust Doctrine which generations of Wisconsin legislators and judges have held sacred. This doctrine requires the state to intervene to protect public rights in the commercial or recreational use of navigable waters. Wisconsin lakes and rivers are, by constitutional law, public resources owned in common by all Wisconsin citizens. They are ruled in trust by the WDNR. The Wisconsin State Supreme Court has ruled that the public’s rights are primary and riparian owner’s secondary. Any project that affects water quality, public recreational access, the reasonable taking of water for commerce, or that affects scenic beauty is covered by local zoning, state and federal laws to protect that Public Trust. The Sierra Club and 27 other organizations have written WDNR Secretary Scott Hassett asking the WDNR to propose emergency rules restoring the environmental regulatory standards to protect public rights in navigable waters that were removed by Act 118, the Jobs Creation Act of 2003.

Other natural resources threatened by legislation include publicly owned forests, wildlife, minerals, park lands and clean air. These should be managed for the benefit of the public, but Meyer told us that 50 out of 70 bills in the 2003 legislature would change regulations to benefit private owners, not the public. Environmentally sound bills and amendments die in committee with no hearings, even when nobody publicly objects to them. An example is the bill to ban the sale of mercury thermometers. “Bad bills” are written behind closed doors with the help or dictation of corporate lawyers and lobbyists. They then are rushed to the floor with their hundreds of pages of arcane language and voted on before the legislators have had time to study — or even read— them. The public seldom hears about them because the news media no longer covers the legislature adequately.

Enforcement of laws to protect the public is also being cut due to WDNR staff and budget cuts, and legislative action requiring the speed up of issuing permits by the WDNR. There often isn’t time for adequate inspections or study of proposed projects. Economics and politics overrule scientific reason.

What does all this mean for environmentalists and conservationists? We lose the battles in the legislature because we cannot marshal our forces in time and so we have to go to the courts more often. Legal appeals are costly in both time and money. As Hiniker said, we must not only be concerned about the legislators we elect, but also the judges.

What kinds of anti-environment bills are in the works, some of which may be passed before this newsletter reaches you? One would remove local zoning control in siting confined animal feed lots (CAFOs or animal factories). Another would remove restrictions on building nuclear power plants in the state.

Not all of the Conference was gloomy, fortunately. We celebrated the victory over Perrier in their effort to pump out huge amounts of water (so they moved to Michigan). Governor Doyle gave a long list of his vetoes that never made the local papers or television. He then presented two Native American tribes with symbolic statues in appreciation of their purchase of the Crandon mine property and mineral rights for preservation by the tribes. See the article on page one of this newsletter.

Saturday afternoon, the WSN member organizations voted on the six top priorities for the current year. This year one of us (John) was asked to cast the John Muir Chapter’s ballot, as directed by the Chapter. The results are listed in the article on the next page.

One of the breakout sessions that Lila attended was on nuclear power plants and their radioactive waste problem. Wisconsin’s Wolf River batholith area was considered in the 1980’s as a good potential waste storage site. Because of well-organized opposition here, Congress chose the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada. Because of years of delay, most power plant radioactive waste is still stored in pools or casks on site. Nevada and others are fighting to prevent the transportation of waste to Yucca Mt. Before a new nuclear power plant could be built here, Wisconsin law required (1) an open repository site for radioactive waste and (2) it must be cost effective to build and operate the power plant. Currently there are bills in the legislature to revoke those restrictions. It was stated that if the energy conservation measures of the ‘80’s were still in place, new plants and more transmission lines would not be the “least cost” answer. Deregulation in the ‘90’s allowed power companies to sell off transmission lines to a monopolistic company and conservation programs were allowed to settle to the back burner. Half of the public benefit funds were taken to balance the state budget.John attended breakout sessions on negotiating, led by Glen Stoddard who is the John Muir Chapter’s compliance officer and Legal Committee Chair, and another on how money influence and corrupts conservation issues. Numerous negotiating strategies and pitfalls were discussed in the former, including how to state your case and protect your fall back position. Considerable data on the money trail were presented in the latter by representatives of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and the Wisconsin League of Conservation voters. Was this news to us? No, just well documented with illustrations based in part on the “Jobs Creation Act”.

WSN Votes for 2004 Priorities

Each year representatives of the 65 organizations that make up the Wisconsin Stewardship Network (WSN) are given the opportunity to vote on the priorities for the current year. Speakers supporting the eight issues on the ballot were given the microphone for short presentations prior to the voting. There were also many tables around the room supporting and giving out information on these and other environmental issues. When the ballots were tabulated, the following were picked as the top natural resources concerns, in the order of votes received:

- Water Regulations: The WSN supports enacting legislation that sets standards for water withdrawals, promotes efficient water use, and improves the integrity of the Wisconsin water supply.

- Shoreland Zoning Rules Rewrite: The WSN supports strong standards to protect water quality, fish and wildlife habitat, recreational opportunities and natural scenic beauty in Wisconsin through participating in the WDNR rewrite of the statewide shoreland zoning rules (NR115), strengthening local shoreland ordinances, defending our navigable waterways and the public trust doctrine and through outreach and education.

- Arrowhead-Weston Line: The WSN opposes the Arrowhead-to-Weston transmission line or any other large-scale energy scheme that endangers the land, air, water or beauty of Northern Wisconsin.

- Environmental Education Initiatives: The WSN supports a healthy relationship between people and the land facilitated by the renewal of Wisconsin’s commitment to environmental education and a collective effort to acquaint Wisconsin citizens with Aldo Leopold’s idea of a “land ethic”.

- Forest and Habitat Fragmentation: The WSN will promote public policies that prevent forest fragmentation by urging our elected officials to support the Forest Legacy and Stewardship programs and helping raise awareness on the benefits these habitat protection programs provide our citizens.

- Motorboat Gas Tax: The WSN supports adjustment of the motor gas tax allocation formula to reflect average annual consumption of 100 gallons of gasoline per motorboat in the next state budget with the allocation targeted primarily toward the traditional mix of activities funded by the Water Resources Account.

WSN member organization submitted proposed issues to the WSN Board two months before the conference and the Board pared that list down to the eight presented on the ballot. Those issues eliminated by the Board or the election were: prevent farm manure runoff, help implement the state’s nonpoint pollution rules, require producers of computer equipment to recycle their old products, reduce electrical pollution, limit billboard construction, repeal the farmland use value assessment penalty, support a prohibition on deer baiting and feeding, and oppose the promotion of nuclear power generation and the resultant long-term radioactive waste storage in Wisconsin.

Southeast Gateway Group Members Honored…

Barbara Meyocks will be honored by induction into the Southeast Wisconsin Educators Hall of Fame at the University of Wisconsin – Parkside on the same day! She has taught high school science for 34 years, 26 of which were in Kenosha. Barb used an environmental grant to study the Pike River watershed and has served on the Board at Hawthorn Hollow Preserve. She and husband Dennis Flath were SEGG Co-Chairs in 1992.

Donna Peterson will receive an Environmental Volunteer Recognition Award from the Volunteer Center of Racine at a noon luncheon on April 16. Beginning in 1982, she has organized Environmental Education programs seen by over 65,300 school children and adults. She has served as SEGG Environmental Education Chair or Co-Chair ever since.

Updating Wisconsin’s Shoreline Management
by Lila Berge

A 25-member advisory committee worked for a year to update the rules for management of shorelines along Wisconsin lakes and streams. Chapter NR115 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code was designed thirty years ago to protect water quality, fish and wildlife habitat and scenic beauty.

Growing waterfront development and complaints from property owner and local governments spurred the revision effort. Information sessions on the recommended revisions were held by the WDNR in 2003. This spring the Natural Resources Board will hold public hearings on the proposed rules and, if the Board approves either proposal A (most restrictive) or B (least restrictive), the final rules will be sent to the state legislature for assignment to the appropriate committees this fall.

Some recommended rule changes affect increasing shoreline buffer strips from 35 to 75 feet, measured from the ordinary high water mark (OHWM). This would include both a primary and a secondary buffer with different requirements. A “viewing access corridor” (VAC), not to exceed a prescribed width through the primary corridor would be allowed.

A setback of 75 feet from the OHWM is required for all buildings and structures except piers, boat hoists and those necessary for handicapped access. Non-conforming structures had been regulated under a 50% of assessed value rule covering repairs or replacement over the life of the structure. New rules would allow expansion within the secondary buffer, but not the primary buffer. Major reconstruction in the primary buffer could require removal to another location on the lot. Other rules would also apply based on size. These rules address vague or confusing elements of the old rules. New lots would have to meet new minimum size depending on whether they are served by public sanitary sewers or not.

There are no changes from current law (Ch. 30 stats.) proposed in these rules for filling, grading, dredging, ditching and excavating, but did you see what “The Jobs Creation Bill of 2003” has done to those rules? It will be interesting to watch what happens to protection of our lakes and waterways when the proposed new rules get to Legislative committees.

There are many other provisions within this proposal that are too detailed to go into in this article. To obtain this detailed information, a copy of the WDNR proposal is available from www.dnr.state.wi.us or by writing to the WDNR at 101 S. Webster St., Box 7921, Madison WI 53707-7921. A free educational CD is available from The Shoreland Connection, P.O. Box 695, Rhinelander, WI 54501.

Kenosha to Recycle Residential C&D
by John Berge

In the previous issue of the Southeast Sierran, Barry Thomas, Group Chair, wrote about the surprise Kenoshans received when they received a notice that the City of Kenosha would no longer have curbside collection of glass for recycling. Since then, we have received additional information from Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) Secretary Scott Hassett, in response to a letter from John Berge, Group Conservation Chair.

Wis. Admins. Code ch NR544.20 to 27 states that a city may use “alternative methods” to comply with the landfill prohibitions in the State’s recycling law setting up “pilot programs” such as Kenosha has been allowed to do. In place of collecting glass for recycling, the City will accept and recycle residential concrete, stone, brick, masonry and clean wood, materials that are considered construction and demolition (or C&D) debris. Secretary Hassett states that these C&D materials “account for 3% of residential waste or 15% of all waste (residential and non-residential) going to Wisconsin landfills”, further claiming that, “Overall, C&D debris accounts for almost 30% of the total waste stream going to our landfills!”

Kenosha has a 40-pound limit on curbside waste collection which wouldn’t go very far with a significant amount of C&D material, but the City won’t collect it anyway. Clean wood must be dropped off at the recycling center at 1001 50th Street and the first four C&D materials must be dropped off at the Streets Division site, 6415 35th Avenue, which is not much more convenient than dropping it off at the landfill. The real difference is that the clean wood will be shredded into animal bedding and the rest ground up for road projects.

As a condition of approval for the pilot program, the City must demonstrate that it will continue to meet or exceed its “baseline” recycling rate for the last three years. This is an average (by percentage) of the amount of post consumer waste that the City has diverted from landfills to the recycling stream under its recycling program prior to implementation of the pilot program.

Will Kenosha meet that condition? “We certainly are going to try”, said Ron Bursek, City of Kenosha Director of Public Works. “We have already had a number of calls from residents about how to recycle their household C&D waste and we expect the number of such calls to increase when the weather warms up.”
 

Eagle Watching Days
by Dana Huck
 

Two rehabilitated eagles that had suffered from West Nile virus were released on Sunday, January 18.

Bald Eagle Watching Days 2004 is now history. A small, but hardy, group of Southeast Sierrans braved the frigid temperatures to travel to Sauk City on January 18 for the annual celebration sponsored by the Ferry Bluff Eagle Council, Sauk Prairie Area Chamber of Commerce, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and Alliant Energy, as well as various other local businesses and civic organizations. The hydroelectric dam on the river just above Sauk City keeps the water open and fish available, concentrating the eagle population in the area.

We arrived at the River Arts Center in plenty of time to get our free tickets to the Live Birds of Prey/Radio Tracking program. Marge Gibson of Raptor Education Group Inc. presented an educational and very entertaining array of raptors, including among others, Murray, a turkey vulture who suffered from smoke inhalation as a youngster. Ms. Gibson’s organization also rehabilitates injured or sick birds and returns them to the wild, if possible. The rehabilitated Bald Eagles that were released were cared for at her facility.

Lunch at Leystra’s, including homemade pie a la mode, of course, fortified us for the eagle release. Despite the temperature, a large crowd gathered at the VFW Park Boat Launch to see not one, but two rehabilitated Bald Eagles released back into the wild. Both birds had recovered from West Nile virus. While waiting for Ms. Gibson and friends, we counted at least six eagles flying near the dam. Then, as the crowd counted, “One, two, three,” the first eagle was released. You could have heard a pin drop in that instant before the bird found his wings and, to cheers and whistles, flew strongly toward the other side of the river. The second eagle soon followed and the crowd dispersed. A quick stop at the Wollersheim Winery for a bottle of Eagle White completed the day. We’ll be back next year for more eagles.