Door County Outing a Success

The annual cross-country skiing weekend in Door County was blessed with plenty of snow, good food, good weather and good fellowship. Eleven Southeast Sierrans enjoyed their stay in a chalet at the Wagon Wheel Resort on Rowley Bay the first weekend in March. Not everyone skied, but those who did found excellent conditions under sunny skies at Peninsula and Newport State Parks and on the Resort’s trails until the weather turned a little too warm around midday. Others took to their snowshoes, hiked along the shoreline or just enjoyed the fellowship, the fire in the fireplace, the heated indoor pool and the hot tubs. This is an annual trip which has enjoyed snow each year since we switched to Door County, so those who missed this year’s outing should consider joining us next year. There have been years we have rented up to three chalets.

One of the highlights this year was skiing or hiking in to explore the Mink River, one of “the last great places on earth” saved by The Nature Conservancy. Other highlights are the meals, both at the chalet and at Door County restaurants.


Jim and Connie Molbeck take to the trail on the March 4–6 outing.


Jim Molbeck and John Berge study the trail map.

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Back at the lodge, left to right around the table are John Berge, Juanita Patterson, Connie Molbeck, Harry Knipp, Dana Huck and Nancy Henessy.


Other hungry participants were: (around the table, left to right) Mary Ann Ortmayer, Lila Berge, Bob and Dian Sorenson.


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Calendar:

April 7: Conservation Committee Meeting at Berges’ house, 1529 Crabapple Drive, Racine, at 7:00 p.m. Contact John at (262) 633-8455 with questions, items for the agenda, directions or any other additional information.

April 14: Southeast Gateway Group Executive Committee meeting at Messiah Lutheran Church, 3015 Pritchard Dr. in Racine, starting at 7:00 p.m. All members welcome.

April 16, 2005, 10:00 a.m.: Third Saturday Hike and Lunch - Beulah Bog State Natural Area (Walworth County). Meet in the parking area on the east side of Stringers Bridge Road, 0.8 mile south of Walworth County Highway J. This is a very short trail, but steep in sections and may be muddy, and slippery, if wet. Beulah Bog is a unique undisturbed bog that features regionally rare plants more typical of northern Wisconsin bogs. The state-threatened plant, Kitten tails (Bessya bullii) is found there. Contact Dana Huck at (262) 639-0465 to sign up.

April 21: Rick Burt will tell us about the Bright Public Power Initiative (BPPI). Come and learn about the possibility of creating a public power utility in Racine. What would the creation of a public power utility mean for the citizens of Racine? Would there be benefits for ratepayers? for the environment? The regular meeting will be at Messiah Lutheran Church, located at Durand Ave. and Pritchard Ave. in Racine at 7:00 p.m. Before the meeting an optional “get together” dinner will be at the Olive Garden, Highways 31 and 11, at 5:30 p.m. All are welcome.

April 23: Earth Day Planting in Colonial Park. Starting at 9:00 a.m. we will be planting a native species educational area at the north entrance to the Root River Pathway in Colonial Park. For additional information see the article on page five.

April 30: Highway 38 Cleanup. Report at Bob and Betty Gericke’s house, 3927 North Lane, Franksville at 9:00 a.m. to pick up assignments and equipment. Pot luck lunch after the cleanup. Call Bob or Betty at (262) 886-9057 for directions or additional information. Our next cleanup dates are July 23 and October 1. Mark your calendar.

May 1: Deadline for the June-July Southeast Sierran. See back page for information.

May 5: Conservation Committee Meeting at Berges’ house, 1529 Crabapple Drive, Racine, at 7:00 p.m. Contact John at (262) 633-8455 with questions, items for the agenda, directions or any other additional information.

May 12: Southeast Gateway Group Executive Committee meeting at Messiah Lutheran Church, 3015 Pritchard Dr. in Racine, starting at 7:00 p.m. All members welcome.

May 14: Canoe Des Plaines River. Meet at 9:30 a.m. to car pool at East Frontage Road one mile south of Hwy. 50 (75th St.). Park car, enter river on south bank. Bring binoculars and lunch. Experience and learn about wetlands and wildlife in an urban environment. Call Maryann Ortmayer, (262) 554-5058, for reservation or information.

May 19, 2005: May Dinner Meeting Program will be by Megan Owers, a Parkside student. She will present The Perils and Problems of Nuclear Energy. This meeting will be held at Bombay Louie’s located 2227 60th Street in Kenosha. We will meet at 5:30 p.m. for cocktails and dinner at 6:00 p.m. The winner of our Green Award will be announced.

Please choose from the following menu items: 1. Northwoods Grilled Chicken, served on a bed of rice pilaf with fresh vegetables. 2. Broiled Alaskan Haddock, 8 oz. filet topped with lemon dill butter served with choice of potato and vegetable. 3. Old World Pot Roast, grandma’s favorite with onion, carrots and celery, served with mashed potatoes and beef gravy. 4. Vegetarian Ravioli Al Forno, stuffed with ricotta cheese and sautéd with tomato basil sauce and baked with Parmesan and provolone cheese. The cost is $17.00, which includes beverages, tax and tip. Please call Donna (637-3141) or Roz (694-3351) for reservations by May 17th.

May 21, 2005, 10:00 a.m.: Third Saturday Hike and Lunch - Hike on the Caledonia Conservancy trail system. Learn how conservancy and residential areas can co-exist with each other. Meet at the end of the cul de sac on Mary Drew Drive (Off Highway 31 between 5 Mile Rd. and 6 Mile Rd. in Racine County). The Caledonia Conservancy was formed 10 years ago to protect a system of horseback riding trails, but has since expanded its focus to include preserving land in the Caledonia area. The hike will start in Tabor Woods, a conservancy property adjoining a conservation subdivision.

May 21: 5th Annual Fox River Cleanup. A fun morning cleaning up the Fox River in Kenosha and Racine Counties followed by a free lunch and door prizes. Call Tom Gram at (262) 652-5206 or Leif Dickinson at (262) 694-1244 for when and where to meet. See the article on page five for additional information.

June 2: Conservation Committee Meeting at Berges’ house, 1529 Crabapple Drive, Racine, at 7:00 p.m. Contact John at (262) 633-8455 with questions, items for the agenda, directions or any other additional information.

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From the Chair
by Nancy Hennessy

I’ve been a Sierra Club member for a long time. I joined in the 80’s when James Watt, Ronald Regan’s Secretary of the Interior, seemed to be on a mission to dismantle much of the structure that had been put in place to protect the environment. I was concerned, but I wasn’t an active member. I read the newsletter (sometimes) and the Sierra Club magazine but, I didn’t attend meetings. I was working full time and raising four kids. I didn’t think I had the time. I wrote my annual check to the Sierra Club and counted on others to do the work of fighting for the environment. Well, my kids are grown and I’m retired. It took me a while to evolve from member to “active” member.

You don’t have to wait as long as I did. Here’s an opportunity to get involved right now. Learn more about an issue that interests you—become a part of the Sierra Club Activist Network. You will receive information/updates/alerts by e-mail about that issue. You will become more informed. You might be inspired to take action on that issue, or…you may not have the time. It’s up to you.

Here are the Activist Network areas of concern: Agriculture, Air Quality, Contained Animal Feeding, Campaign Finance Reform, Corporate Responsibility, Endangered Species/Wildlife, Energy, Environmental Justice, Genetic Engineering, Global Warming/CAFE, Grazing, International Human Rights/Environment, International Population, International Trade, Marine, Mining, National Forests, Parks/Refuges, Sprawl, State Forests, Transportation, Waste, Water Quality/Habitats, Wetlands, Wilderness/Wild Lands. Phew.

Let me know what interests you and I’ll sign you up.

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Focus on Energy Funding by Betsy Georg

Focus on Energy, a private-public partnership, is Wisconsin’s energy efficiency and renewable energy program. Funded by utility ratepayers, it offers educational programs, grants, technical assistance and low-interest loans for renewable energy. The program also helps low-income customers pay their utility bills.

Although each dollar spent on the Focus on Energy program returns almost $6 to the state economy (in the form of environmental benefits, smaller energy bills and job creation), $47 million of its funding was diverted to general revenues in the previous budget. The $27 million cut was originally proposed by Governor Doyle was eagerly increased to $47 million by Republicans in the legislature.

Although the Governor’s Task Force on Energy Efficiency and Renewables recommended last December that the Focus on Energy program be strengthened, Governor Doyle has now proposed diverting $53 million, or about 40%, from the Focus on Energy Program to general revenues in the next budget. There is always a danger that Republi-cans will again increase that amount.

You can do two things to help restore funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs. One is to contact the Governor’s office by phone or email regarding the issue. The second—and more important one right now—is to contact your legislators and ask them to restore the funding for these essential programs.

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Household Hazardous Waste in Racine by John Berge

Racine took a big step forward on properly disposing of household hazardous waste (HHW) on February 22 when the Wastewater Commission voted unanimously to recommend that the Racine City Council adopt a HHW collection and disposal program. The City Council had referred a communication from Alderman David Maack to the Wastewater Commission requesting that the City of Racine establish a HHW program in the Racine area and the Commission directed the staff to study the issue and report back.

On Tuesday, March 1, the Racine City Council unanimously accepted that recommendation and we should expect to see the program in the 2006 budget and implemented in the spring.

The Wastewater Utility had previously conducted a study in 2001 which came to the conclusion that this should be done on a countywide basis and that the Utility didn’t want to be involved. The Southeast Gateway Group had agreed that it would be best to have this a countywide program, but had been frustrated in trying to convince two County Executives and numerous County Board Committees that this should be adopted and so reluctantly agreed that the City of Racine should institute a HHW program and invite the other nearby municipalities to join in the program. The Wastewater Commission voted also to send letters to these municipalities inviting them to sign on to a HHW letter of agreement.

The vote of the Wastewater Commission and the City Council was a big step forward, but it was a timid step. The staff recommended that the HHW program “be phased in and staged based on success in negotiating agreements with Mt. Pleasant and Caledonia, as well as other communities tributary to the Treatment Plant”.
The nine point proposal included operation of the program by the Racine Wastewater Utility, that it be placed in the 2006 budget, and that it have a permanent site centrally located, possibly at the Kestral Hawk landfill. But the site would be open only once a month, for 8 months “or until the money runs out, beginning in 2006 or early 2007”, yet they budgeted approximately $6/household/year (fifty cents a month).

Our studies showed that the Green Bay/Brown County facility is open three days per week, all year round, for $1.10/person/year ($2.31/household/year assuming as does the Wastewater Utility that there are 2.1 persons/household). Waukesha County has a complex schedule at three locations for $0.63 to $0.88/household/year; their costs are held down by “put and take shelves”. Dane County is open 3 days/week, for eight months plus a mobile unit operating one day/week for $1.34 to $1.43/household/year. Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage District operates permanent sites at Menomonee Falls and in Franklin which are open 5 or 6 days/week plus satellite pickups at eleven sites for $1.74/household/year. Kenosha is the only program we investigated that was not countywide and had run into difficulty collecting from outlying municipalities. Their costs were $2.80/household/year for the City of Kenosha.

In other points of the proposal, the Utility would develop and sign regional governmental contracts for other than Racine ratepayers at the same rate per household. The operation would be privatized completely so that no additional staff would be required. Onyx Environmental Services, which runs the Milwaukee and Waukesha programs, had a representative at the Commission meeting who said they could, and would like to, run a mobile or stationary program for Racine. There are other companies which will probably like to bid on the contract as well. All monies for this program would stay in the program and the fees would be adjusted as costs were stabilized. For a permanent site at Kestral Hawk, a simple pole building would need to be constructed.

The proposal thus was high in the cost and low in service, but it is a first step.

I met with the Racine City Mayor to share our research and suggestions to improve the proposal. He appeared to be very receptive and liked the possibility of lowering the fee and increasing the availability after the first year. He said that the next important need is for Sierrans and others to contact their governmental leaders in the other municipalities (especially those that are part of the sewer agreement) to urge their joining into this HHW program.

One of the additional programs that several counties have found useful, economical, and good politics is to include a VSQG (Very Small Quantity Generator) program. This is for small businesses that generate less than 220 pounds of hazardous waste per month. (People are said to generate 4 to 5 pounds per year or about 10 lbs./household.) The Utility would charge them less than it costs the generator to dispose of the waste properly but more than it costs the Utility, thus helping to pay for the program and giving assistance to small businesses in the community.

An advisory committee to the Commission made up of local environmentally concerned citizens and representatives of all municipalities signing the agreement for this program will be named. Until this HHW program is instituted in Racine, we are stuck with once a year “Clean Sweeps” with limited state funding.

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Native Planting in Colonial Park by John Berge

The Southeast Gateway Group (SEGG), along with the Environmental Club at St. Catherine’s High School, have unofficially adopted the Root River Pathway through Colonial Park as a continuing project. We have removed uncounted tons of alien species such as buckthorn, domestic honeysuckle, burdock, garlic mustard, thistles, dames rocket and others. We have planted many native herbs, understory trees and shrubs with the help of one grant from the Root-Pike Watershed Initiative Network (WIN) and a Hanat grant from the John Muir Chapter. This is a project which has no end in sight, as we knew from the start.

Although we have been replacing alien species with native species along the pathway, the city had used nonnative shrubs at the north entrance to the pathway by the bench, map and sign. Members of the SEGG Conservation Committee met with the Director of Racine’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services and offered to replace these with well-labeled native shrubs and small trees. He agreed and also agreed to transfer the current shrubs to a more appropriate place outside of Colonial Park. SEGG and Saint Cat’s applied for and received another WIN grant to cover this project. We also consulted with Johnson’s Nursery to select the appropriate species.

Starting at 9:00 a.m. on April 23, the Saturday after Earthday, we invite and urge you to join us in planting a native species educational area at the north entrance to the Root River Pathway in Colonial Park. Bring gloves, shovels and other suitable tools. With enough willing hands we will be able to plant the selected shrubs and small trees and maybe even eliminate some more invasive species by noon. For additional information and any questions, call John Berge at (262) 633-8455 or Melissa Warner at (262) 639-0918.

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Fox River Cleanup by John Berge

Leif Dickinson and Tom Gram, in coordination with the WDNR, invite the members of the Southeast Gateway Group to join them and other groups in a cleanup of the Fox River in Kenosha and Racine Counties on Saturday, May 21. This is a chance for those Sierrans on the west side of these counties and in Walworth County, to join in and help cleanup the environment in their neighborhood. They have divided the Fox River from Waterford to Wilmot into seven sections for cleanup. They hope to have up to 80 canoers, sportsmen and women and concerned citizens volunteering.

Dickinson promises “a fun morning”, “free lunch” and “door prizes”. For additional information such as when and where to meet, call either Tom Gram at (262) 652-5206 or Leif Dickinson at (262) 694-1244. The latter’s e-mail address is ldickinson3@wi.rr.com.

A rain or flood date of September 10, 2005, has been set, so we will hope for good weather.

Outings: Liability Waiver & Carpooling…
In order to participate on one of the Sierra Club’s outings, you will need to sign a liability waiver. If you would like to read a copy of the waiver prior to the outing, please see http://www.sierraclub.org/outings/chapter/forms or call (415) 977-5630. In the interests of facilitating the logistics of some outings, it is customary that participants make carpooling arrangements. The Sierra Club does not have insurance for car-pooling arrangements and assumes no liability for them. Carpooling, ride sharing or anything similar is strictly a private arrangement among the participants. Participants assume the risks associated with this travel.