Sailing Through the Green...

Staff retreats for many organizations means a posh beach resort, bonding exercises disguised as games, a motivational speaker and an imported expert or two, and lots of down time when people still work their Blackberries.

But the River Rats of the River Alliance will have none of those trappings. We went right into the thick of our work -- the thick, stinky, mottled and multi-hued cakes of algae that choke the Wisconsin River this time of year. (Enjoy the video, and be glad it's not scratch-and-sniff.) We sailed with our good friends, the Petenwell and Castle Rock Stewards, who have been heroic in their patience and persistence in reducing the pollution that causes the algae blooms.

The River Alliance team after a day of sailing...and avoiding
noxious algae blooms. (Photo Credit: Matt Krueger)

Thick, smelly algae swirls in the wake of our sailboat.
(Video Credit: Matt Krueger)

Don't know didymo from diddly squat? Read on...

Didymo, affectionately known as "rock snot", may be an invasive coming to a river near you...

Today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel features a great article about River Alliance's own Laura Lueders MacFarland and her work on invasive species detection in rivers with Project RED (slogan: "Find it; Report it; Fight it!). Go read, and find out how you can learn to tell didymo from diddly-squat and help protect our rivers from invasive species!

The Dark Side of Beer's Best Ingredient....

In Wisconsin, the delightful nectar created by the brewing of barley, malt and hops is not just a beverage, it's a way of life. Domestic Pilsner, American Pale Ale, English-style Bitter...you name it, we have it. And in the trinity of primary ingredients, the hop is arguably the best and most vital. Providing bouquet and a bit (or a lot) of bitterness, hops make Wisconsin's state drink great.

Problem is, not all hops are hopalicious (kudos to Ale Asylum Brewery in Madison for coining that word...). Some don't do anything but grow crazily and overtake riverbanks. And by some I mean Japanese hops. And not the kind you'll find in Sapporo.

Japanese hops do not produce the very useful fruit used to make delicious pale ales. These invasive plants, instead, have spiny little hairs along their stem and leaves that grab onto innocent river rats. And they hurt.

Big deal, you say? What's the problem, you think? The problem is these neutered nettles cover everything once they're introduced amongst native vegetation. And their shallow, wimpy root structure does little to help hold soil in place, leading to streambank erosion.

Japanese hops have only been found in four counties in Wisconsin. The largest infestation is on the Little Platte River in Grant County, Wisconsin. Local landowner, fellow river rat, and outdoor recreation specialist at UW Platteville, Mark Sethne, led an outing last week for DNR and River Alliance to help them attempt to wrap their heads around this problem.

Currently, no one's really sure the extent of the infestation by our spiny, invasive "friends." So, the River Alliance of Wisconsin and the Friends of the Platte River aim to get to the bottom of this by monitoring throughout the watershed in canoes and kayaks. If something isn’t done quickly, we can expect this infestation to spread to the Mississippi River.

Want to help? Then attend the Project RED (riverine early detectors) training on Sunday, August 30 at the Dickeyville Community Center from 1:00pm to 5:00pm. You'll learn how to monitor for Japanese hops and 14 other invasive species, visit the Little Platte infestation, and come away better equipped to keep your rivers free of invaders. And when the training is over, I'm sure it won't be hard to talk your fellow trainees into enjoying the fruits of good hops at a local Dickeyville establishment...

Wolf RIver among National Geographic's Must-Do Rafting trips!

(Photograph by Woods Wheatcroft for National Geographic Adventure)

While this river rat has long known there's great whitewater to be had on the Wolf and Menominee rivers - just to name a couple of Wisconsin destinations - it seems that National Geographic has caught on too. The August/September edition of National Geographic Adventure magazine featured "Six Wild and Scenic Rivers. Six Must-Do Raft Trips" and included our very own Wolf River as the only mid-western destination. Coupled with Outside Magazine's August feature on Great Lakes adventures that highlights the amazing kayaking and mountain biking opportunities in Wisconsin, it's a great reminder of how much fun staying at home can be.

posted by the River Rat