tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67388345361385777862024-03-20T19:48:47.988-05:00The River Rat"And you really live by the river? What a jolly life!"
"By it and with it and on it and in it," said the Rat. "It's brother and sister to me, and aunts, and company, and food and drink, and (naturally) washing. It's my world, and I don't want any other. What it hasn't got is not worth having, and what it doesn't know is not worth knowing. Lord! the times we've had together!
-Wind in the WillowsRiver Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.comBlogger122125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-75979536843167230212013-10-21T15:17:00.001-05:002013-10-21T15:17:15.521-05:00A Modest Proposal for Frac Sand Mining We're serious. We hope he will take this proposal seriously.<br />
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October 21, 2013</div>
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<br /></div>
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Governor Scott Walker</div>
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115 East State Capitol</div>
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Madison, Wisconsin<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>53702</div>
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Sent by email:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>govgeneral@wisconsin.gov</div>
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<br /></div>
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Dear Gov. Walker:</div>
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<br /></div>
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At a recent appearance at the Wisconsin Freight Rail Day in
Madison, you thanked “God and the glaciers” for the rapidly expanding frac sand
mining industry.</div>
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<br /></div>
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It is indeed a booming industry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An industrial sand executive estimates there
are about 2,000 jobs associated with frac sand mining in Wisconsin. </div>
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<br /></div>
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As you no doubt know, the development of the industry has
not been without controversy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dust,
noise, truck traffic and other community and environmental concerns have
surfaced all across western Wisconsin. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We note that you have added two positions at
the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources devoted to frac sand mining.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it appears those positions are designed
to expedite permit processing rather than to improve the scrutiny of permits
for sand mines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do understand that
the positions were not developed to monitor air and water quality and quantity
impacts of the mines once they are operating. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Long-term environmental damage from frac sand mining – in
particular, air quality and groundwater depletion – may not be well understood
yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is well understood – and you
acknowledged this in your Freight Rail Day comments – that Wisconsin sand is a
very valuable and highly sought after product that is essential to the
expansion of oil and natural gas production, both domestically and globally.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Given the high value of Wisconsin sand to the extremely
lucrative oil and gas industry; and given that Wisconsin (and to a far lesser
extent, Minnesota) are the premier locations for such sand; and given the
quantifiable impacts (road damage, reclamation, local and state government
environmental and zoning review) of developing sand mines, processing
facilities and loading terminals, we believe it makes eminent sense for
Wisconsin to develop a severance tax for frac sand.</div>
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Wisconsin already has a severance tax for oil and gas (WI
Chapter 70.397), but it clearly doesn’t include sand for fracking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(The state is very unlikely to generate much
revenue from an oil and gas severance tax, with no known reserves here.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would not be alone in having a severance
tax:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to MineralWise.com, a
total of 23 states have oil/gas severance taxes, among them conservative and
business-friendly states such as Wyoming and Texas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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More appropriate examples for Wisconsin include Alabama’s
forest products and local solid minerals severance taxes, and there is
Colorado’s severance tax, very applicable to Wisconsin, that applies to
“non-renewable natural resources that are removed from the earth.”</div>
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<br /></div>
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Minds more creative than our own could develop ideas for how
a severance tax could be used.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At a
minimum, the revenues could be directed to the local communities most affected
by sand mining.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But clearly more revenue
could be generated, for the benefit of the entire state, than what would be
required to provide for affected local communities.</div>
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<br /></div>
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According to a Wisconsin DNR fact sheet, a “conservative
estimate” of the amount of sand mined in Wisconsin (in 2012) was 12 million
tons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Using that figure, a small
25-cent-per-ton severance tax would generate $3 million in revenues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would be an insignificant “hit” on the
industry and would allow Wisconsin to capture a small part of the considerable
wealth of this highly valuable product that the state is essentially giving
away to the industry. </div>
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<br /></div>
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We hope that as you continue to promote industrial sand
mining in Wisconsin that you also consider how the state should seriously “get
in the game” of the hydrocarbon extraction business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We possess a product the oil and gas industry
are very anxious to have, and it seems only right and sensible that Wisconsin
capture a small part of the obvious value of this product.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also urge you to take seriously the
ongoing human health and resource depletion concerns arising from frac sand
mining.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our tax idea might be one way to
support the expenses of necessary studies and monitoring of this billion-dollar
industry.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We appreciate your consideration.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sincerely,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Denny Caneff</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Executive Director<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
River Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-65522254126444227302013-05-28T06:50:00.002-05:002013-05-28T06:50:44.349-05:00Political Back-Alley Surgery<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Imagine if a doctor were just about to cut you open on the
surgery table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All is well:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the surgeon is ready to go, the support crew is scrubbed and attentive, and the anesthesiologist is managing your drip so you are blissfully unaware of
what’s going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You trust all will be well.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then imagine an insurance company hack sulking into the surgery suite and telling the surgeon, “Would you mind taking a few shortcuts to save
us some money?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have the political equivalent of shady back-alley surgery going
on in the State Capitol, dressed up as the business of the state biennial
budget.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The surgical team is the members
of the Joint Finance Committee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The insurance industry equivalent from Rat’s little illustration
above are the special interests, insisting on their own surgical procedures for the
patient -- the state budget. This Legislature's surgical team is all too willing to entertain diversions from normal operations of the budget. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sure, the budgeting process is rife with politics, but there were two surgical intrusions which caught Rat’s
eye lately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These intrusions are small,
but not unlike how a little bacterium can cause a nasty infection, these intrusions are pernicious.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5rvjDTdcrjnQ4P_IF7WzteiKLe1-64CcSSkvRwM7MJxFYq_GQ_Asn3JDuFvVU_-SQX7v2_yqhi2CTMa_uviZiiOIUR-VZwtWlujO-rf0JSX6Ny2Qz7pQWUHgsU_OHNqjNxO_ge7LlNiQ/s1600/surgeon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5rvjDTdcrjnQ4P_IF7WzteiKLe1-64CcSSkvRwM7MJxFYq_GQ_Asn3JDuFvVU_-SQX7v2_yqhi2CTMa_uviZiiOIUR-VZwtWlujO-rf0JSX6Ny2Qz7pQWUHgsU_OHNqjNxO_ge7LlNiQ/s1600/surgeon.jpg" /></a>One would force local communities to go to the lowest common
denominator – state standards – for controlling storm water runoff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This one is a classic product of the home
builders and construction industry, which doesn’t want to be bothered with how
much dirt and mess their building practices, and their finished products, send to rivers and lakes. Milwaukee or Mauston would not be free to manage their water; they'd be forced to go with weaker state standards, which of course the home builders will write for the DNR. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The other – clearly the handiwork of dairy industry defenders of
factory farms -- would make a mess or regulating big wells. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All the wells in an area affect all the water in that area. Big Dairy interests inserted
into the budget by the Joint Finance Committee a policy that would block anyone from calling the question with the DNR:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Will this new well, along with all the others
in the neighborhood, dry up the river there?"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It would essentially </span><br />
give license to anyone drilling big wells
pumping over 100,000 gallons a day to pump with impunity, never mind the impact
on nearby lakes and creeks or other wells.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This gambit also attempts to kneecap lawsuits currently in
the pipeline that call out DNR’s failure to consider so-called “cumulative
impacts” of big wells.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Just be glad you won’t go to the Joint Finance Committee to
fix your gall bladder. They’d take your bile duct too, put in a spare part from
someone else, and charge you an arm and a leg for it. </div>
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<![endif]-->River Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-79876657659999488402013-03-05T14:40:00.000-06:002013-03-05T14:40:51.871-06:00A River Runs Through the ManureThere's much to read in between the lines of this recent Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources press release:<br />
<br />
http://dnr.wi.gov/news/Weekly/Article_Lookup.asp?id=2499<br />
<br />
Its headline reads: "Bumper Bass Crop One More Reason to Land Spread Manure Carefully." (Showing real new media savvy, the DNR released this to "agricultural media" first.)<br />
<br />
The agency crows about the "bumper" small mouth bass crop in 2012, which they attribute to "hot and dry years." Rat is a rodent expert, not a fisheries expert, but I'm not sure it's just "hot and dry" that helped out the baby bass last year. DNR's tying that good news with a warning about manure spreading is a little hint.<br />
<br />
Translation: the bass probably did well in a "hot and dry" year like 2012 because we had a drought. The lack of snow and rain meant no manure was flushed into the rivers via water running off the land.<br />
<br />
Why is DNR talking about this now? T'is the season for manure to run off the fields and to the rivers, where it will kill the baby bass. Farmers spread manure like there's no tomorrow this time of year. The ground is still frozen and supports the heavy weights of tractors and spreaders. Farmers with storage pits that have been filling up over the winter empty them now, fast. Those who don't have pits have already been spreading, all winter long.<br />
<br />
That manure is just sitting on top of the frozen ground. When the snow melts or it rains at this time of year, when the ground is still frozen, that manure ends up in the rivers. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsSpf_nRPCsTnxDXJqxkl3XhlTmQUvCu5-VXmEeYICq0joESjkb5NyfEeP9HjXCfEwj_2iGfKrUq0ESGgh8k3i5iYCuHntE8Dmz7BjiOVqZnBzSHULfKTjEy4ib41h0LWgOGJZY6uT5lA/s1600/spreading-manure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsSpf_nRPCsTnxDXJqxkl3XhlTmQUvCu5-VXmEeYICq0joESjkb5NyfEeP9HjXCfEwj_2iGfKrUq0ESGgh8k3i5iYCuHntE8Dmz7BjiOVqZnBzSHULfKTjEy4ib41h0LWgOGJZY6uT5lA/s320/spreading-manure.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>
Above-freezing temps are predicted for the coming days. So is rain. We rats wish you well this spring, baby bass. River Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-80093337581636727812013-02-04T12:51:00.002-06:002013-02-04T12:51:51.260-06:00Rat Riffs on "What if?" Your Ratly correspondent does get out of her rat hole on occasion to see the sights of this lovely state. <br />
This weekend I passed two very different and unrelated places in Wisconsin, but that got me to thinking.<br />
<br />
One place, draped in fresh snow, was the Penokee Hills, the site of a proposed iron mine in Ashland County. I also passed by a couple of paper mills -- homely and hulking, towering over their home communities (in this case, of Port Edwards and Rothschild), and steaming away in the cold air. <br />
<br />
Let me explain how an iron mine site pertains to a paper mill. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD0ghARgauHaTycXeKlSila33cnRekkW8cjtN-r7Gcn3Y2gZx1TKeyZ13DaiOyvYAmlZK6Kk8txtqswoJADGwyJqm1iQoFzsXrjhyYFvdhFLEjLIAq_UPnT9e1Wwex6lWPOGbHi5FbIEE/s1600/nekoosa218x218.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD0ghARgauHaTycXeKlSila33cnRekkW8cjtN-r7Gcn3Y2gZx1TKeyZ13DaiOyvYAmlZK6Kk8txtqswoJADGwyJqm1iQoFzsXrjhyYFvdhFLEjLIAq_UPnT9e1Wwex6lWPOGbHi5FbIEE/s1600/nekoosa218x218.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo courtesy Domtar Corp. (Nekoosa plant)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Despite its past glory, there is not much of a mining industry in Wisconsin, and no iron mining to speak of. There's a good reason there's no iron mining -- what little low-grade ore exists is very hard to extract without considerable environmental disruption. No infrastructure exists: the related ore processing would all have to be built from scratch. <br />
<br />
Mindless energy and attention has been given to this non-industry by legislators and business leaders. It got me to thinking: what if all the energy and resources devoted to a divisive and disruptive iron mine had been put instead to reviving Wisconsin's paper industry?<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Bring Back Paper</b><br />
We were the paper kings, after all, for more than a century. Paper built this state. We had the rivers and the trees and the workers and the knowhow. Paper defined the Fox and Wisconsin river valleys. But like an ill and elderly man, the industry is in decline. In an excellent two-part story, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel outlined the Wisconsin paper industry's history and the many forces undermining it.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"> http://www.jsonline.com/business/bankrolled-and-bioengineered-china-supplants-wisconsins-paper-industry-183049221.html</span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i> </i></span><br />
<br />
Wisconsin has not consciously decided to give up on the paper industry, as far as this Rat knows. But have their been discussions at high levels -- the governor, legislators, business leaders, academics, regulators -- about what the state could do to make that industry competitive again? Do we think there is no job strategy in paper making? Have we really given over the industry to China? <br />
<br />
Seems to me it would make a lot more sense to put our time and brain power into a well-known industry that has a presence in a dozen or more communities, still employs thousands of workers, has its environmental performance figured out, and -- despite the fact you are not reading this on a piece of paper anymore -- still makes a useful product. <br />
<br />
The "experts" might say Wisconsin's paper industry is beyond salvation. But Rat is certain that conversation has not happened, and The End has not been declared. A concerted effort for paper, by the same people who insist we need an iron mine, just seems so much more sensible than trying to ram an iron mine down our throats. <br />
<br />
Forget paper, you say? Okay, but think about other possibilities: there's the biofuels industry, among other industries of the future, that has great promise for economic development. This first-class state could do so much better than trying to revive a Third World industry. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />River Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-74187939893590798942013-01-28T07:24:00.001-06:002013-01-28T07:24:42.611-06:00Mining the Truth from Last Week’s Capitol Spectacle<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
This Rat’s perspective on last week’s Capitol hearing on
mining was constrained. It wasn't just
the restrictions imposed on the humans in the room on cell phone and Ipad use,
and even whispering and smiling. A
scurrilous Rat like yours truly must keep way low and watch the proceedings
between chair legs, high heels, and microphone cords. But my finely tuned Rat ears heard plenty.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I could hear the legislators parrying with the orange-hatted
mining supporters – not dudes in suits, but real (appearing) working folks –
about the jobs the mine would bring. I
could not tell if pro-mine legislators looked those folks in the eyes and, with
a straight face, say, “You will see mining jobs.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Photo courtesy Michelle Stocker, The Capital Times)</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOv19YW4XUjOycElWqN0SJ6EYLv5p1ZZlq5ZqtZ0F5hRZIcV-PA-cyhiwLI0RuRAONKpR5kbXB_H-EaKKdabEM8YaQm7n7jGg25uSuECUKgFBCoknOp-ALn7XwcpLEPsQcuHST7rPmU_o/s1600/51005c3a7b5b8.preview-620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOv19YW4XUjOycElWqN0SJ6EYLv5p1ZZlq5ZqtZ0F5hRZIcV-PA-cyhiwLI0RuRAONKpR5kbXB_H-EaKKdabEM8YaQm7n7jGg25uSuECUKgFBCoknOp-ALn7XwcpLEPsQcuHST7rPmU_o/s320/51005c3a7b5b8.preview-620.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>What? No Mine?
Really??<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Maybe they couldn’t promise that because they know in their hearts there
may never be a mine in the Penokees.
But in their political calculations, Republican mining proponents are
pretty clever. They have their bases
covered, mine or no mine.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1.
They have said, “Here’s how high?” when their political contribution patrons demanded they
all jump for mining. If a mine doesn’t
get built, they can say they tried mightily, without drying up that source of campaign cash. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
2.
If they try mightily and fail, they can blame the Republicans' favorite nemeses: shrill and clueless <st1:city w:st="on">Madison</st1:city> environmentalists
and obstructionist Indians invoking their dreaded treaty rights. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
3.
But Republicans will reserve their greatest wrath for the faceless
federal bureaucrats of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In what could be a rare instance of
bureaucratic heroism (you don’t put those two words in a sentence about that agency very often), the Army Corps has told legislators that what the state won’t do
to review a mining proposal, the Corps will. That could take 4 or more
years. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
4.
Back to the Indians, specifically the Bad River Band of Lake Superior
Chippewa – they will fight this mine to the death, using their
“treatment-as-a-state” status that gives them authority to regulate water quality
on their lands. The Penokee mine would
essentially destroy the headwaters of the tribe’s lifeblood, the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Bad</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">River</st1:placetype></st1:place>. Tribal chairman Mike Wiggins did look
legislators in the eye last week and declared, in no uncertain terms, they will
fight the mine to the death. Building a
mine upstream from their homeland would be “genocide,” he said. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Finally, in a rather misleading take on mining and jobs, the
<i>Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel</i> calls Sen.
Chris Larson’s statement that the mine won’t create jobs for at least 7 years
“mostly false” on its Politi-Fact page January 27. The hair the paper split was
that even though there might not be actual rocks dug up for mining for at least
7 years, there might be “jobs created along the way.” This article misses the bigger point that the
promise of jobs in the numbers offered by mining proponents is an audacious act
of smoke-blowing. They have to know the Army Corps’ assessment process and the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Bad</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">River</st1:placetype></st1:place> tribe’s legal
battle, will stymie, for years and years, any meaningful job creation in
Hurley and other nearby towns. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But you see my point?
They get a mine, they cheer; in the likely event they don’t, they spray
unmerciful blame like a weed killer, without reflecting how they could have
done this right from the outset. </div>
River Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-63973479597458186052013-01-10T11:51:00.000-06:002013-01-10T11:51:14.863-06:00Nice Ice, Chill Winds <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Postcards from my muskrat cousins are pouring in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are relieved that there is ice this
winter under which to hide from hungry eagles and other hawk-eyed birds (such
as hawks).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some muskrats tell me they
even pop up onto the surface of the ice at night, through holes the ice
fishermen make, and slip-slide around under the light of the moon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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And I thought river rats had fun.</div>
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This River Rat is having no fun anticipating the chill winds
blowing down from the state Capitol.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When it comes to conservation, it is nothing but ill chill winds.</div>
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The biggest gust of ill wind is mining legislation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> (To paraphrase Dylan, we should call these idiot winds.) </span>Lawmakers, with the governor’s approval, are
poised to pass a bill that would rip a hole in northern Wisconsin a quarter
mile wide by up to 15 miles long and nearly 2,000 feet deep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re also itching to blow up a “mining
moratorium” law, in place since the mid 1990s, that has successfully prevented
mining that would cause the dreaded acid mine drainage.</div>
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The governor wants an income tax decrease, which he will
get.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you reduce revenue to state
coffers, you gotta reduce costs, and that likely means state employees will get
whacked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Legislators’ favorite target to
starve is the state’s guardian of natural resources, the DNR.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Frac away</b></div>
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And you know all that valuable frac sand being mined and
shipped out of state – an extremely valuable commodity without which the
domestic natural gas and oil boom couldn’t be?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It leaves Wisconsin, free of charge, and the local communities that pay
the price for the environmental and social disruption, get nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nor does the state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wisconsin is a now a player in the oil
industry, but it’s dressed up like a bar-sponsored softball team playing Major
League Baseball.</div>
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Hostility to conservation is not unique to the Legislature.
It starts, and it prospers, at the top, with Governor Walker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He gives his annual state of the state speech
next week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s an opportunity for the
Gov surprise us. Rat offers this simple language to be inserted into the
speech.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not tree-hugging,
blow-up-the-ship-to-save-the-whales rhetoric here; it’s pragmatic and common
sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Water cannot be afterthought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no economy, there is no life,
without clean and plentiful water. </div>
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Hang around your radio the night of January
15 and see if the Gov works any of Rat’s fine prose into his speech. </div>
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I know
what you’re thinking – that’s as likely as muskrats enjoying ice in July. But it's worth a try. </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The State of the
State’s Waters</b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wisconsin is defined
by water – our borders, our name, our economy, our identity, are formed and
shaped by water.</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Water is essential to
who we are and what we do – as manufacturers, utilities, farmers and service
providers who depend on water to do their business, and as people who have fun
in and by the water. </i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It is essential that
we protect our water – both its quality and its quantity – vigorously,
systematically and with the seriousness it deserves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our economy, our quality of life, and our
future as a state depend on it. </i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It will be my (Gov.
Scott Walker) administration’s policy to mobilize those state agencies and
offices equipped to defend the public trust to protect our water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We will
ensure that drinking water drawn from underground sources will not be
depleted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We will
also ensure that that same groundwater – the drinking water for 90% of
Wisconsin residents – will be protected from contamination by pesticides,
nitrates, bacteria, viruses and other pollutants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We will
work to reduce to the greatest extent possible the pollution of our surface
waters of algae-producing phosphorus and keep the soil that delivers that
phosphorus on the land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We will
strive to limit, even eliminate, exotic plants and animals that wreak havoc on
our waters and cause tens of millions of dollars of damage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We will
follow the letter and the spirit of the Great Lakes Compact to protect our
Great Lakes. </i></li>
</ul>
River Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-65514400636371263342012-10-19T16:28:00.001-05:002012-10-19T17:00:28.029-05:00What the Frack? <br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream<br />
Make him the cutest that I've ever seen<br />
Give him two lips like roses and clover<br />
Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over</i></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">What the Frack?</span></b></div>
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Be careful what you wish for, Wisconsin humanoids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You say you don’t like burning coal to run your air conditioners, so the power companies replace those by plants that burn natural gas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Enter frac sand mining in Wisconsin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sand mines are more prolific in Wisconsin than rats immune to strychnine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This byproduct of the glaciers is an essential ingredient for liberating hard-to-get natural gas from underground -- the gas headed for those power plants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To get the gas, the oil boys blast water and chemicals and sand – this ideal sand from Wisconsin – into fine cracks in the rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sand acts like tiny ball bearings to keep those cracks open to allow the gas (or oil) to be captured.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Technical term:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>hydraulic fracking.</div>
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They’re not mining natural gas here, mind you; they are mining the sand in order to mine the gas out of the ground (in the Dakotas, Pennsylvania and elsewhere). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of these sand mines are getting uncomfortably close to Wisconsin rivers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it’s not just rivers they’re messing with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sand mining is causing all kinds of grief for communities – truck traffic, noise and dust, shaky reclamation plans, and exploitation not just of a resource but of local decision-making. Other than a few trucking jobs and a few guys to run equipment and processing machines, virtually none of the oil-boom wealth of this sand stays in Wisconsin, and no one is talking about some kind of severance tax.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why would we keep the oil companies from getting all they want?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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A frac sand mine sprang a leak and dumped sand and water into the St. Croix River last summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Oh, by the way: Rat has it on good information that your natural resources agency in Wisconsin prefers the term “industrial sands” to “frac sand – SO <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">jobby</i>-sounding, isn’t it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it sure doesn’t sound like another four-letter word that starts with “f.”) That may not be the worst of it along what is a National Scenic Riverway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jerry Dorff, a good friend of this Rat and a river trip outfitter, told his town board recently, “Our concern is the noise from the mine and what the mine is doing to the value of the river."</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Value of the river….”</i></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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That’s a hard one for those who see economic development as monolithic:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>create jobs no matter the cost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can the value of a river be matched up against the value of sand that’s extracted and shipped away?</div>
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And what river is more valued in this state than the Lower Wisconsin Riverway?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It too has a sand mining proposal near its bank, in Crawford County not far from Prairie du Chien.</div>
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The Lower Wisconsin is a unique creature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The land inside the river corridor is legally protected from activities that would be visible from the river.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even a house has to have colors and windows that make it inconspicuous from the river.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While there seems little the Riverway can do to restrict this mine, this may well be the time to – sorry, Rat can’t help himself – draw a line in the sand to restrict this mine, or even prevent it from going in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s more sand in that thar valley, according to geologists, and the Riverway could end up with several of these things.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Jh6iAVqs8kA5TY-HJsun0VsStRXgbEi6Lms2dpCBgByrP74IN2miTYdROVkuzZpVVLeR72AgH92qOneRUGzBHN_D1z804ZDkf25vDcGC-GNTdbgc4V9hVjr0EVATruJJRng9XyylwOM/s1600/frac+sand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Jh6iAVqs8kA5TY-HJsun0VsStRXgbEi6Lms2dpCBgByrP74IN2miTYdROVkuzZpVVLeR72AgH92qOneRUGzBHN_D1z804ZDkf25vDcGC-GNTdbgc4V9hVjr0EVATruJJRng9XyylwOM/s1600/frac+sand.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Koch Brothers – who else?</b></div>
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One last possible sand mining insult to the river is the possibility of sand trains, running day and night, on the track that runs parallel to the river from Prairie du Chien to Muscoda.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wisconsinites will love the intrigue behind the railroad company that owns the track. It’s owned by Wisconsin and Southern, really a Kansas company (WATCO) whose biggest customers are Koch Brothers enterprises.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rat saw track crews recently replacing ties on this line, and a train buff took pictures of a sand train on those rails, as recently as October 4. (Ya gotta love the photographer's attempt at making a train look sexy.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.wsorrailroad.com/fan/gallery29.html" target="_new">http://www.wsorrailroad.com/fan/gallery29.html</a></div>
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Whether or not sand mines are developed on the river, it seems likely that the rumblings of sand trains may serenade Wisconsin river paddlers and campers soon.</div>
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Fellow river rats, we may have to get familiar with the state railroad commissioner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know, we’re supposed to love trains…but as I said at the top, nothing is clear-cut anymore. </div>
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<i>posted by the River Rat</i>River Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-9125993219862138822012-08-24T13:34:00.002-05:002012-08-24T13:40:10.103-05:00Hot New Findings! Are invaders benefiting from the record breaking high temperatures and drought?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<h2 class="MsoNormal">
</h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even us amphibious creatures could not catch a break from
the sweltering heat this summer as water temps soared and side-channels sizzled
dry under the unrelenting scorching skies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As the waters recede the neighborhood can get a little crowded,
especially with all the new immigrants!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From
the Mississippi to the Sugar River, we have seen unwanted guests flocking here like
snowbirds to Florida finding great pleasure in the heat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the Mississippi River near Alma, Wisconsin about 1,000 <a href="http://www.fws.gov/midwest/News/release.cfm?rid=571" target="_blank">water hyacinth</a> and <a href="http://www.fws.gov/midwest/News/release.cfm?rid=571" target="_blank">water lettuce</a>, two of the world’s worst invasive species that are
are not regulated here in Wisconsin due to their assumed intolerance of our winter, were
found last year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a rapid response
to squelch this new invasion, WDNR and USFWS staff hoped that the literature
was right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, low and behold this
summer the two plants (nearly 10,000 of them) reemerged from seed to be joined by yet another nasty
invader, parrot feather.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> For more on this infestation, <a href="http://www.fws.gov/midwest/News/release.cfm?rid=571">http://www.fws.gov/midwest/News/release.cfm?rid=571</a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggvRP7WxD7WFWfA98jDUnfnWuHORrnGKs1p5YCQ4Y-n8jAy46bwoJzJXHCYDGwztk7WmVRfRAeJ_Oy8luwKWIxzsXF0f6MLl-SAahTw-yOoByVC911py5Na10BhkQ5DMIgDFyxNH5sHYE/s1600/RAT_Pistia+Eichhornia+Mississippi+R+081512+3-Skawinski.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggvRP7WxD7WFWfA98jDUnfnWuHORrnGKs1p5YCQ4Y-n8jAy46bwoJzJXHCYDGwztk7WmVRfRAeJ_Oy8luwKWIxzsXF0f6MLl-SAahTw-yOoByVC911py5Na10BhkQ5DMIgDFyxNH5sHYE/s320/RAT_Pistia+Eichhornia+Mississippi+R+081512+3-Skawinski.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Water lettuce and water hyacinth in the
Mississippi River (credit: Paul Skawinski) </td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/aquatics/zebramussel.shtml#.UDfHHHlSSN4" target="_blank">Zebra mussels</a> are not new to the Wisconsin River.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, this year something monumental
happened; their populations exploded!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
a recent survey of a native mussel bed near Muscoda 90% of the native mussels
collected had juvenile zebra mussels attached to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In total there were over 10,000 young zebra
mussels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is 10,000 future heal
cutting shells to litter our sandbars. While they have been in the area since
2008, they have remained a mere minority until this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now at their current numbers they pose a
substantial threat to natives, recreational opportunities, and the bottom line
of river-based businesses.</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNLE4Ul8R8JbS5xM4ReawCeZwujh5Dj9tjiqqK6G4rBuZQOv-Db37Kf7Ecwl3RM1a1T1wCnNyIMgnwvB-mcIQFoJBbgVmIuyC2uP9RykSxMgq1nvRzZO9kkQEdc34_whs0kATKXtje-rg/s1600/RAT_zebrarock.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNLE4Ul8R8JbS5xM4ReawCeZwujh5Dj9tjiqqK6G4rBuZQOv-Db37Kf7Ecwl3RM1a1T1wCnNyIMgnwvB-mcIQFoJBbgVmIuyC2uP9RykSxMgq1nvRzZO9kkQEdc34_whs0kATKXtje-rg/s320/RAT_zebrarock.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Juvenile zebra mussels on from the Lower Wisconsin River</td></tr>
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<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A stone’s throw over the Military Ridge in the Sugar River
watershed the <a href="http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=846" target="_blank">mosquitofish</a>, an exotic species that was also thought to not like
our Wisconsin winters, is thriving much to the detriment of our native
blackstripe topminnow and state endangered <a href="http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/EndangeredResources/Animals.asp?mode=detail&SpecCode=AFCNB04250" target="_blank">starhead topminnow</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
year’s drought has decreased the back water slough habitat within the river where
these three species have competed for resources in years past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A survey last month discovered that there were now no topminnows and a plethora of mosquitofish in what was left of the
shallow sloughs. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj08N6c9eV6Kw3eelcuxdT4Pq9g8eCucCo1V9wNQ4BP0LTiV1iY51FKo22vpODqmET389Afkho9HhEKxVC7tQy91P7f1WvgYCDHAD1yBe9PmHGOrMrf8M8mj1DW23DTSeWyHXy7j9F0mo/s1600/RAT_SugarSloughNoMore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj08N6c9eV6Kw3eelcuxdT4Pq9g8eCucCo1V9wNQ4BP0LTiV1iY51FKo22vpODqmET389Afkho9HhEKxVC7tQy91P7f1WvgYCDHAD1yBe9PmHGOrMrf8M8mj1DW23DTSeWyHXy7j9F0mo/s320/RAT_SugarSloughNoMore.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Biologists walk through the site of a former slough<br />
</td></tr>
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One hot summer a trend does not make.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Us river dwellers, like you, hope that this
season does indeed prove to be a fluke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
the meanwhile, it’s time to get down to business to mitigate the damage that
has been done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stay tuned for more
information on what the River Alliance and their partners are doing to keep
these invaders at bay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As for you,
please keep an eye out for the unusual while you visit your favorite
waters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<br />
posted by the River RatRiver Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-2568157893223411722012-07-24T14:04:00.001-05:002012-07-24T14:04:24.714-05:00Delton's Dubious Dye Dump<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Allow Rat to begin by posing a basic home repair question. Imagine for a minute that you live in a house
with a leaky roof. To be clear, we’re
not talking about a rundown old rat hole (which has an undeniable charm of its
own), but a genuinely nice place. Every
time it rains, water drips onto the wood floor. After a few leaky years, the wood floor is in
bad shape, completely water-stained, warped, and rotten. Repairs are badly needed. Do you pony up the dough for a nice new wood floor,
knowing full well that the roof leaks? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Village of Lake Delton, known far and wide for its most
river-rat-unfriendly of water skiing shows, is deeply invested in the appearance
of its namesake lake, which drives its tourism-based economy. Recently, the lake has been fouled with green
water and algae blooms, caused by upstream polluted runoff that brings excess
nutrients into the lake. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Village was apparently looking for a short-term fix to the
dirty water that would allow water ski shows and other water-based recreation to
continue unimpeded by unsightly and stinky algae. So, they poured $30,000 worth (or some <b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">500 GALLONS</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">)<b> </b></span>of “AquaBlue” dye into the
waters of Lake Delton. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPAMh3G0VG91pgEsO4mhQ21WfNcp0XQzBh6faJ2Zk_cWrCnUsFXih7hmexuAM0X5-nf6sVfjDy1R7npqhg3QP1HIUEHC9RrA94OjChVevYiwUCGTPqhkOSO6mzK-jUvRKg6Gv5sOnO1BE/s1600/Delton_dye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPAMh3G0VG91pgEsO4mhQ21WfNcp0XQzBh6faJ2Zk_cWrCnUsFXih7hmexuAM0X5-nf6sVfjDy1R7npqhg3QP1HIUEHC9RrA94OjChVevYiwUCGTPqhkOSO6mzK-jUvRKg6Gv5sOnO1BE/s400/Delton_dye.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Visibility in Delton's dyed waters is no more than a few feet.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
AquaBlue, in case you are wondering, is a “non-toxic” dye
for use in ponds—think of artificial blue ponds on golf courses. Its contents are a trade secret—“concentrated
acid blue dye #9” is all they tell us. The
dye, working its dark magic in Lake Delton at this very moment, prevents
sunlight from penetrating more than a couple feet in the water. According to its label, it provides a “beautiful
blue tint” to the water. Eyewitnesses confirm
that it Lake Delton is indeed dark blue presently, with visibility at no more
than a foot or two.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTRvcxUP_T-YjKGiRCselOMWxCujTEjw5_d-HmGL0Qrq9vmBDPCsCK4l9CFHrRPKHIzWZedEXmOcMTFsffvc9s1EKHZAX_D3-y-lqG-vFcO51H5T-agdmcaKV6zQHfozj_g77G7nWvUos/s1600/AquaBlue+label1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTRvcxUP_T-YjKGiRCselOMWxCujTEjw5_d-HmGL0Qrq9vmBDPCsCK4l9CFHrRPKHIzWZedEXmOcMTFsffvc9s1EKHZAX_D3-y-lqG-vFcO51H5T-agdmcaKV6zQHfozj_g77G7nWvUos/s320/AquaBlue+label1.JPG" width="266" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rat’s pretty skeptical about this whole operation, which
stinks as badly as the algae it was supposed to suppress. Amid all of the murkiness over the dye, some light
needs to be shed on a few important issues, such as the impact of this supposedly
harmless dye. If light doesn’t penetrate
the dyed water beyond a couple of feet, how do sight-feeding fish find prey? And if light can’t reach submerged aquatic
plants, and the life-giving process of photosynthesis shuts down, what happens
to the aquatic critters?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The question of whether or not the Village could legally
dump the dye into public waters without a DNR permit is presently being
evaluated by authorities, so stay tuned on that. But it’s pretty clear that the dye was used as
a workaround to the Village actually obtaining a DNR permit for any of the
alternative treatments they could have sought.
You see, the dye isn’t registered (read: approved) by the EPA, which is likely
why it was used.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And then there’s the not-so-insignificant issue of where the
dye was dumped. Deltonites ought to
remember that their namesake “lake” is in truth Dell Creek, held up behind a
dam. (The creek infamously reminded us
of this during the flood of 2008, when it blew out the dam and artificial lake,
taking several homes with it). Whether
AquaBlue, PlayfulPink or RosyRed, the lake’s dye-tainted waters are currently
draining out of the lake, and right into the Wisconsin River. A greenish plume into the river was visible
shortly after the dye was dumped.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxaOeq1NklEEzVWpjow74ikeiKOhXxWAGG9-DBwpXZDGVebyqCiNeJyXLdSOobFXo-AX66X-P1c7BHcLcWs7DBdRQ1nKzugXR3nAds42E43uPok2I4-Ub50m7LKHQHtVAlcQzcZwVG1Qs/s1600/AquaBlue+label.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxaOeq1NklEEzVWpjow74ikeiKOhXxWAGG9-DBwpXZDGVebyqCiNeJyXLdSOobFXo-AX66X-P1c7BHcLcWs7DBdRQ1nKzugXR3nAds42E43uPok2I4-Ub50m7LKHQHtVAlcQzcZwVG1Qs/s320/AquaBlue+label.JPG" width="261" /></a>Trouble is, the dye is meant to be used “in confined
systems,” explicitly NOT for use in streams, rivers, or other flowing water bodies
that are “not under control of the user.”
Rat can’t say with authority what kind of impacts the blue colorant will
ultimately have on plants and animals downstream, but, he can say with full
certainty that the Village of Lake Delton does NOT “control” the public waters
of our state.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rat knows desperation when he smells it. And in his heart of hearts he can’t help but
feel sympathy for folks yearning for crystal blue clean water. The green plague seems to grow worse every
year, wreaking havoc on Wisconsin’s rivers and streams. Visitors flee from the hideous stuff and small
businesses suffer the loss of income when summertime waters are marred by
algae. Here’s an idea: how about the fat
cats on the hill in Madison pay as much attention to the concerns of small
business owners affected by dirty water as they do the cries of other
businesses who want regulations gutted?
They seem to only hear one type of small business owner…the one who
hates government regulations.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib7v_uqbLSiVHq5gWeqgeuGHYKDVnrdCP4tytPlwVOqjV9iSbI8AqcClMBde7rxxrJav6F388pbCfJ5I-H6KWp7QX2L-oKnNk5uZodLV74fv-jdx44_qDlSaRfJtmcE63adARpWdnPIxw/s1600/AquaBlue_DyeSpill.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib7v_uqbLSiVHq5gWeqgeuGHYKDVnrdCP4tytPlwVOqjV9iSbI8AqcClMBde7rxxrJav6F388pbCfJ5I-H6KWp7QX2L-oKnNk5uZodLV74fv-jdx44_qDlSaRfJtmcE63adARpWdnPIxw/s400/AquaBlue_DyeSpill.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abstract art? Nope, just a boat landing dyed a pleasing blue tint.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the meantime, any rat worth his whiskers could tell you
that this expensive, temporary, and downright foolish “fix” (and significant
expenditure of local taxpayer money) won’t clean up Lake Delton in the long
term. The only way out of this slimy
mess is to look upstream and address polluted runoff problems, stopping the
slime-causing sludge at the source. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Remember our home repair question above? The algae blooms in this case are merely a <i>symptom</i> of the upstream problem<i> </i>of polluted runoff, much like
the rotten floor is a symptom of a leaky roof. Treating the symptom does nothing to alleviate the bigger problem. Fortunately, Wisconsin has tools in place, such as a progressive set of phosphorus
rules, which allow us to holistically treat upstream “problems.” But until we actually start looking for
upstream solutions instead of downstream band-aids, quick “fixes” like Lake
Delton dye dumps, Lake Menomin “<a href="http://www.leadertelegram.com/news/front_page/article_35ec636e-c6f9-11e0-8b83-001cc4c03286.html?mode=story" target="_blank">scumsuckers</a>,” or Lake Monona “<a href="http://host.madison.com/news/local/article_7221d045-12e6-5fce-a5de-db8ae3036f3f.html" target="_blank">solar bees</a>,” are
looking like damned expensive lipstick on the proverbial pig.</div>
<br />
<br />
posted by the River RatRiver Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-6904916755875679322012-05-21T09:59:00.001-05:002012-05-21T13:41:56.961-05:00The White Salmon: A River Reborn<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s not often this Rat gets to commune with his fellow
bank-dwellers, let alone a horde of 750 of them. But that’s exactly what
happened two weeks ago, when river rats from all over the country—the world,
actually—converged in Portland, Oregon. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What, beyond an appearance by the Pied Piper himself, could
attract so many from so far—a 20-year Limburger, perhaps? (Definitely…but not this time.) In this case, we gathered for <a href="http://www.rivernetwork.org/programs/river-rally" target="_blank">River Rally</a> an
annual celebration of river and environmental victories hosted by the <a href="http://www.rivernetwork.org/" target="_blank">River Network</a> and (for the first time)
the <a href="http://www.waterkeeper.org/" target="_blank">Waterkeeper Alliance</a>. It was the
largest international gathering of river rats to date. To the terror of some,
it appears that we river rats are multiplying. Rapidly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Time and time again over the weekend, Rat heard
inspirational tales of countless steadfast and dedicated river rats, toiling
away to protect their local river, stream, bay, sound, or slough. Many of them,
it appears, are winning these battles, and we rightly celebrated them with good
food and drink, sometimes until the wee hours of morning. But even this
party-loving Rat needs a break from the reveling, so I stole away up the
Columbia River Gorge to see the recently-uncovered new digs of the White Salmon
River.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo-g7o0BW2zeVtNU0CDBVe_ketJ6ZiWKpGM7Bn8wGI8n_KjOw-WtSRREM79QPb0bSjMHkoKiDYMnKR3IhYoTN1SyHM_04MjoiSA8Eao8I9FD6Li8hHysZnnndZEtMygld2Q28HH_q80hc/s1600/DSCF8282.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo-g7o0BW2zeVtNU0CDBVe_ketJ6ZiWKpGM7Bn8wGI8n_KjOw-WtSRREM79QPb0bSjMHkoKiDYMnKR3IhYoTN1SyHM_04MjoiSA8Eao8I9FD6Li8hHysZnnndZEtMygld2Q28HH_q80hc/s320/DSCF8282.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The former site of Northwestern Lake--now the free-flowing White Salmon River--1/4 mile upstream of the breached Condit Dam.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The White Salmon, as you may have heard, is just about tops
for recent river success stories. It, combined with its Washington brethren the
Elwha River, represents the largest dam removal effort to date in the nation. The
White Salmon enters the mighty Columbia River—historically known for its epic salmon
and steelhead runs—about 25 miles upstream of the Bonneville Dam, the lowest
dam on the Columbia. The narrow canyons and raging rapids of the White Salmon
are a powerful force, so much so that you humans decided to plop a hydropower
dam on it (as you like to do, it seems).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Condit Dam, built in 1913, had long lost its maximum
power-generating capacity over its 100-year lifespan, due the buildup of an
estimated 2,300,000 cubic yards of sediment that reduced reservoir storage by
60% (Steve Stampfli, <i>Condit Hydroelectric
Project, Information Series, Sheet 1</i>). Additionally, the dam’s owner, PacificCorp,
in order to obtain a new Federal Energy Regulatory Committee (FERC) license,
would have been required (per the Endangered Species Act) to get salmon and
steelhead past the 125-foot dam, to access native spawning grounds upstream.
Between the cost of facility upgrades and lost reservoir storage, maintaining
the dam as a hydropower facility was seen as unprofitable, and PacificCorp removed
the dam this past October (culiminating years of discussion and planning
efforts). Do yourself a favor and watch the stunning timelapse video of the breaching of the dam,
taken by fellow river rats Andy Maser and Steve Stampfli, posted below.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/31305629" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="400"></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Today, the White Salmon runs with all of the unbridled force
and energy that a wild river should. The river has scoured through about 50
feet of sediment that was formerly lakebed to return to its original riverbed
from 100 years ago. With a big spring snowmelt and runoff event in the next
couple years, possibly along with some help from PacificCorp, it should wipe
out much of the unsightly sediment on its banks in due time. PacificCorp will
also revegetate the remaining sediment banks over the next two years, and
maintain the site for the next ten years (Stampfli, <i>Condit Hydroelectric Project, Information Series, Sheet 3</i>).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGA7dyi0NZ1_nKGScAywVshDo3WV4SSogcSdC1BkFK9dF417ArE62NwB1zEaoN45Eoh6YNN1RSPzvtogupqHnR0cCqxxs5fuFs8NWZ9ekWVS1UzoNP81jQkCPpGeoAwbBRC1Ubt9q7MU/s1600/DSCF8279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGA7dyi0NZ1_nKGScAywVshDo3WV4SSogcSdC1BkFK9dF417ArE62NwB1zEaoN45Eoh6YNN1RSPzvtogupqHnR0cCqxxs5fuFs8NWZ9ekWVS1UzoNP81jQkCPpGeoAwbBRC1Ubt9q7MU/s320/DSCF8279.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bank erosion is significant on Little Buck Creek, once a 'finger' of Northwestern Lake and now a tributary to the White Salmon. Note the dock protruding from the bank, and the section of dock lying on the bank ten feet below.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rat spent a perfect May afternoon nosing around the banks of
the river in the area upstream of the now-breached Condit Dam, at the former
site of Northwestern Lake (in an area once known as “Jaws Canyon” prior to the construction
of the dam). Notable were stumps of massive trees along the riverbank that were
removed 100 years ago (because you can’t have trees growing up through the
surface of an impoundment). Though the landscape still bears a somewhat traumatized
appearance, its scars are only temporary…but its rejuvenation is eternal, and
unmistakable. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rat, not normally a mystical sort, was roused by the aura
and vitality of this renewed place. It holds a sacred feeling, the kind usually
ascribed only to houses of worship or holy sites. But here, below towering
Douglas firs and western red cedars, the divine waters of the White Salmon run
free again. For the first time in 100 years, it will beckon forth the return of
coho salmon, spring and fall Chinook salmon, and steelhead trout runs, which form
the life-giving base of the entire Pacific Northwest foodweb. Their inevitable return
will signify a miracle of its own kind, rivaled by few others Rat has ever encountered.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYAkUjnydP-WqxnJC-MemBHBQKUPSq2qQdyXW072RlnIj-J3-XYm6EDTfgMJ4xvpBbt63V5xs83Gj8jZ9azlPnHntkh_Y0ESiKQwvzgUaBF9fEEmcYiwD0DlNB9qyOikrksxAGHeXdL4Y/s1600/DSCF8271.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYAkUjnydP-WqxnJC-MemBHBQKUPSq2qQdyXW072RlnIj-J3-XYm6EDTfgMJ4xvpBbt63V5xs83Gj8jZ9azlPnHntkh_Y0ESiKQwvzgUaBF9fEEmcYiwD0DlNB9qyOikrksxAGHeXdL4Y/s320/DSCF8271.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Massive stumps, relics from tree removal efforts 100 years ago during construction of the Condit Dam, mark the former (original) riverbank.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
*For an incredible wealth of resources about the White
Salmon dam removal, see Andy Maser and Steve Stampfli’s exceptional blog <i>White Salmon Restored: A Timelapse Project</i>
at <a href="http://whitesalmontimelapse.wordpress.com/">http://whitesalmontimelapse.wordpress.com/</a>.
Rat wishes to personally thank Andy and Steve for the content and information
contained on their blog that was referenced or used in the writing of this
post.River Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-88960278332483098622012-05-16T15:02:00.002-05:002012-05-16T15:02:42.133-05:00All Hail Hurley and the Hell They AvoidedThis Rat was nosing around northern Wisconsin recently, discovering, among other things, that one of Wisconsin's border rivers -- the Montreal, that is, the river no one gets right in a quiz about border rivers -- has two branches. <br />
<br />
Wow, huh? <br />
<br />
Well, there's more. In tracking the branches of the Montreal, you travel to Hurley, Wisconsin, in northern Iron County hard against the Michigan border and its twin city, Ironwood.<br />
<br />
<b>Past Glory</b><br />
Hurley lets you know, early and often, that is is a mining town. Or WAS a mining town. It's clear by the names of the businesses and streets, the public art and historic markers, that this burg clings to its iron mining past like a rusty nail to a magnet. It's clear by the pro-mining yard signs that they continue to cling to mining as its future. <br />
<br />
There's something sad about that. Area residents are no doubt sad and angry that their chance for another iron mine, and the jobs and activity that comes with it, was snatched from their grasp like a pick axe wrenched from their hand by a cranky straw boss. Rat overheard none of this, but it is known they blame environmentalists and Indians and one state Senator who blocked legislation that would have allowed the mine to operate without any meaningful environmental standards.<br />
<br />
That mine would not have been their granddad's mine. <br />
<br />
Rat's sadness about all this runs in a couple of directions. Rat is sad for the good folks of Hurley who were led down a primrose path by a mining company that knew from the beginning a mine in that area would not work unless they could be utterly careless with water and tailings and paying local governments for the damage they'd cause. Rat is sad for the fact that it is obvious that the good folks of Hurley need some new kind of economic activity. There are way too many bars per capita in that town -- not a good measure of community health.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Hurley's Hurdles</b><br />
We then advise them, "Protect your resources and make money through tourism!" But you sense a "been there done that" attitude about tourism in the town, and perhaps a self-fulfilling prophesy even: "Tourism didn't really work before, so let's not try very hard at it," they think. And because they don't try very hard, it's not a very appealing place, and its charms are hard to find. So tourists don't come, and they say, "See, tourism doesn't really work here." And there's your vicious cycle. <br />
<br />
This Rat did his best to spend a few special grains and nuts to do my share for the local economy. But the occasional "quiet sport" tourist is notorious for not spending much money -- kayaks don't use gas, we bring our Clif Bars from downstate, and we drink modestly. (Okay, not my friends.) One barkeep, in sizing up the tourism potential, told me that snowmobilers "don't even drink no more." That's probably a good thing, but it hints at the limited imagination that appears to permeate the town about what it could be. <br />
<br />
I went back to the Montreal River to find Peterson Falls, a sweet little cascade of the East Branch. It's poorly marked, and its very unofficial feel made it deliciously primitive. But Iron County boasts 18 waterfalls. What could they do to make Iron County Wisconsin's "waterfall destination?" Would that be the catalyst to put in the map -- the draw that triggers the new restaurant, that inspires the new convenience store, which in turn convinces some retirees to settle there, which puts money into a developer's pocket who then feeds the local lumber mart and Friday fish fry joint? <br />
<br />
Hurley could at least try. They would be in total charge of their own fate, and maybe begin to imagine a new future. <br />
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Meanwhile, go to Peterson Falls while in Hurley, and while you're at it, find the confluence of the two branches of the river. Nothing breathtaking or spectacular, but very satisfying. That river has seen change and upheaval over the millenia. So will Hurley. River Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-13916409793394944112012-05-09T13:06:00.001-05:002012-05-09T13:06:16.362-05:00That Smell of Sewage, and of Shirking Responsibility<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
This business of the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources
cutting slack to a septic waste hauler smells, well, like raw sewage. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #0b5394;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/environment/dnr-appointee-resolved-massive-waste-violation-internally-instead-of-referring/article_07a64834-96e3-11e1-b4c6-0019bb2963f4.html</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp’s responses have gone from
defensiveness, to shooting the messenger (criticizing the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wisconsin State Journal</i> for, essentially, doing what a good
newspaper does), to proposing that DNR political appointees reveal if they got
campaign contributions from someone they expect to regulate. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rat will take up the stinky problem of “septage” spreading
on farmland in a minute, but first – to the almost-as-stinky proposal by
Secretary Stepp to “fix” this problem by having agency staff reveal conflicts
of interest they might have with people they should regulate. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This assumes that DNR is run by people who get campaign
contributions. The fact is, very few people, even political appointees, are in
a position to get campaign contributions that would affect their decisions at
the agency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYPYvFQj5R_p1fHFB2loy9Cly4VlFwy9830pxzkPVaDpM1eV4cgHOHJd0YPYBz0YfNxLziBDxTv0w5YzlesR56DtWn-QEwmcHkzuWgEpcgXE84K3TaA5XWdtY1uRgjU8dGkrgeInK2r9k/s1600/sludge+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYPYvFQj5R_p1fHFB2loy9Cly4VlFwy9830pxzkPVaDpM1eV4cgHOHJd0YPYBz0YfNxLziBDxTv0w5YzlesR56DtWn-QEwmcHkzuWgEpcgXE84K3TaA5XWdtY1uRgjU8dGkrgeInK2r9k/s200/sludge+2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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This “fix” is a smokescreen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The underlying problem with the DNR is its single-minded focus on
serving the “customer,” whom the current regime sees as business people who
should not be regulated, and the DNR’s job is to clear regulatory brush out of
their way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This mentality overlooks an
essential fact:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that ALL citizens of the
state are DNR’s “customers.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The agency’s
job is to protect the resource.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By
giving this septic waste hauler a pass for violating state law, they were
willing to risk contaminating the wells of other “customers” – those people whose
houses adjoined the fields where the septic waste was illegally spread.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One not unreasonable excuse Stepp gave for lax enforcement
by DNR since Scott Walker was elected was a lack of staff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the Walker administration has no
intention of beefing up enforcement of polluters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gov. Walker defended the DNR's actions on the septic waste incident in a statement
last week, and in a recent email invitation to environmental groups to discuss
the DNR’s upcoming budget, the Governor’s office told us we should come to the
meeting with these “guiding principles” in mind:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“….not spending money that the state doesn’t have; smaller
government is better government; and people create jobs, not government.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Translation:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>don’t
come asking for more DNR staff, and don’t ask us to enforce the law. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Speaking of laws– those regulating the spreading of liquid
waste, colloquially known as “sludge” –spreading sludge on farmland is legal,
and is mildly regulated by DNR.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>State
and county conservation staffers who work with sludge haulers say that while
municipalities and industries can generally be trusted to play by the rules,
the guys hauling septic wastes are often cowboys – flaunting the rules and not
bothering with the paperwork required.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A simple policy solution to that problem would be to send
all septic wastes to the nearest municipal sewage treatment plant, rather than
spreading it, raw and untreated, on farmland.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even with that change, we need a DNR willing to enforce the
law. We’ll see if DNR can give a credible response to what’s been exposed,
through this stinky incident, about its official mindset.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>River Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-60795241997188970332012-03-07T15:45:00.003-06:002012-03-07T15:49:52.593-06:00Conspiracy Theory? Never.....<p class="MsoNormal"><span ><span>The Rat finds himself feeling a little sorry for Mr. Williams, the president of Gogebic Taconite, the day after the Assembly’s mining bill hit a brick wall in the Senate.</span><span> </span><span>Not because he didn’t get changes in the state mining law that would have allowed his company to take the iron and run at the expense of Wisconsin’s water resources, but because it sure seems like poor Mr. Williams became a pawn in a much bigger plan.</span><span> </span><span>Sure, he lied to folks in Northern Wisconsin when he said they didn’t need any changes in law to do their mine.</span><span> </span><span>Then a few months later he said GTac would stop pursuing a permit until they had “certainty” on a timeline for their permit review.</span><span> </span><span>And shortly after that a draft bill came out that set a ridiculous timeline, shut out the public, and exempted mining operations from environmental protections.</span><span> </span><span>But it was the business lobby, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, that was the tail wagging this dog.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: normal; "><span >Now Rat is by no means an expert on the economics of mining, but after a few conversations with some of the folks who are, discovered they were just as perplexed about how the GTac mine could actually pencil out. Taconite, the material they want to mine in the Penokee Hills, is by definition a low-quality ore. The percentage of iron in the rock is low, and it takes a lot of time and effort to sort out the good stuff. The Penokee deposit is also very deep, over 1000’ in some locations, and buried at an angle that makes it hard to get. Even with higher prices for iron, it’s hard to figure how the expense of extracting, processing and transporting the iron could be profitable. No doubt being able to go after it without worrying about pesky environmental regulations would help, but even if they were given free rein to dig as they pleased, it hardly seems worth it. </span></p> <span><span style="font-weight: normal; " >Rat is betting Mr. Williams figured that out for himself, but agreed to stay in the game to help with WMC’s real agenda – use the perfect foil of jobs for the depressed North and factory workers in Milwaukee to topple the first domino in their plan to dismantle environmental laws one industry at a time. Iron mining would be first, even though there was no guarantee GTac would actually proceed, then on to sulfide mining! And after that, sky’s the limit. Too bad the whole jobs screen started to fall apart at the final hour. Even though GTac claimed they would hire Wisconsin workers, they earlier noted no one here had the skills, and there were no provisions for job training. Then, the day before the vote in the Senate, WisBusiness reported that Milwaukee area mining equipment manufacturers could sell lots of stuff if GTac opened a mine, but no new manufacturing jobs would be created. That didn’t stop WMC from pulling out all the stops and getting union workers to lobby Milwaukee-area senators to vote yes. Luckily, they read the paper too and saw the bill for the sham that it was. </span></span><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><span ><span style="font-weight: normal; " ></span>posted by the River Rat</span></div>River Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-12037727257130506262012-03-05T16:54:00.004-06:002012-03-06T10:22:17.047-06:00Her Bark Is Stronger Than Their Bite<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXiaD3qgSayKdwXLLwI52Ndm2NSwaQQ2hrnYmZVJjtd4IdarQuvP9ATMwfLq27rx9eTwdZUrYl_KrXgKs1u-7ErISBc91XEEWt6h_jdsGwze9ERKld90Sf_3qL0L8LXz6zamnbSwGZjYE/s1600/marg-point.JPG"><br /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI6r-9FNGYJhgvsakaspFz5of7_f-avZBCc5BB6niaLVoc0wCEIbOlc9i6cVxL9HXJre6094fXv4IY5NojapyMgrjzDu4xTS-wtCQEhXBZJrqAOOvNpAOBHm5ghbeUZZwQBXoIlsSKpiQ/s1600/IMG_9572.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI6r-9FNGYJhgvsakaspFz5of7_f-avZBCc5BB6niaLVoc0wCEIbOlc9i6cVxL9HXJre6094fXv4IY5NojapyMgrjzDu4xTS-wtCQEhXBZJrqAOOvNpAOBHm5ghbeUZZwQBXoIlsSKpiQ/s400/IMG_9572.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716553735403226722" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Nemahbin Dam and Mill</span><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:relyonvml/> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> 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style="line-height: normal; font-family: arial;"><span style=";font-size:100%;" >Ol’ Rat has not been the chronicler of good water news lately. So it’s extra satisfying to report some good news once in a while. Delafield dam owner and friend of the River Alliance, Margaret Zerwekh, is <a href="http://www.livinglakecountry.com/blogs/staffblogs/140800483.html">one step closer to removing her aging dam</a>. Something she's been trying to do for over 10 years.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXiaD3qgSayKdwXLLwI52Ndm2NSwaQQ2hrnYmZVJjtd4IdarQuvP9ATMwfLq27rx9eTwdZUrYl_KrXgKs1u-7ErISBc91XEEWt6h_jdsGwze9ERKld90Sf_3qL0L8LXz6zamnbSwGZjYE/s1600/marg-point.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXiaD3qgSayKdwXLLwI52Ndm2NSwaQQ2hrnYmZVJjtd4IdarQuvP9ATMwfLq27rx9eTwdZUrYl_KrXgKs1u-7ErISBc91XEEWt6h_jdsGwze9ERKld90Sf_3qL0L8LXz6zamnbSwGZjYE/s400/marg-point.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716554591128072834" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Margaret Zerwekh giving a tour of the millhouse, 2006.</span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; font-family: arial;"><span style=";font-size:100%;" >Margaret, and her late husband Kenneth, have lived in the mill attached to the dam for over 60 years and Margaret has been maintaining it on her own since 1989 (read a great River Alliance profile of this feisty woman <a href="http://wisconsinrivers.org/documents/newsletter/Summer06_finalforweb.pdf">here</a>). In the early 1990s, the DNR informed Margaret the dam was undersized to safely manage flows from large rain events and that homes and people downstream were at risk of being harmed if the dam failed in a rainstorm. Given her age (a sprightly 92!), the age of the dam (an even sprightlier 160) and the cost of rebuilding (conservative estimate: $500-700 K), Margaret made the decision to abandon the dam and restore the Bark River to “a nice little stream with bluebirds on the banks.” In 1998, summer rains swelled the Bark River and the DNR ordered the dam permanently drawn down due to concerns about dam failure and the potential to wash out homes downstream.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; font-family: arial;"><span style=";font-size:100%;" >Neighbors on the pond were not happy. They rarely are in these circumstances. But this set of neighbors was particularly unrelenting. They tried to get the city to condemn her property and take the dam (that failed). They tried to create a lake district to take over the dam (failed). They took her to court four different times.<span style=""> </span>The most recent legal maneuver was to take their sad tale of lost riparian rights and private nuisance before a jury in circuit court. Oh, and to ask for a million dollars in damages from a little old lady living in a mill.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; font-family: arial;"><span style=";font-size:100%;" >Last week, that jury <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/regbrfs29-ft4ced3-140824043.html">unanimously rejected the property owners’ claims</a>. Margaret won her case<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; font-family: arial;"><span style=";font-size:100%;" >For all their dogged determination, here’s something the neighbors did not do: sit down with the dam owner and try to reach a sensible agreement to grant them access to the river. They also squandered the opportunity to work with the dam owner, the City and other partners to make something beautiful happen in their backyard where an algae- and sediment-choked pond used to be. Instead, they dragged a 92-year-old woman into court for a week and tried to bankrupt her because she followed orders from the DNR. It’s hard not to feel a little vindication for the dam owner after all she’s been through. <span style=""> </span>As for Margaret, there’s nothing like 60 years’ of living on a dammed river to bring the project into perspective. She has clearly said that after so many years of service to people, it’s time to let the river be a river again and to restore it to a healthy ecosystem. As she stated to the River Alliance back in 2006, </span><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" >“I don’t think people understand how it can be a great benefit,” she says. “If we do this right in restoring the river, people will come from all over the place to see what we’re doing.” </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:";font-size:100%;color:black;" >I know I’ll be there to see it happen. I’ll be the rodent in the water, popping the cork.</span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ></span></p><br /><br />posted by the River RatRiver Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-89431915608276173922012-01-31T09:38:00.005-06:002012-01-31T12:40:25.885-06:00No need to re-plumb MN and WI to stop Asian carp<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm1azqpKLrF5riV2WnwPtITcCTK0uT3PXiWETIDDGeNxIW_vWwuw72GvKTFaprK9T_Z9D6Riub78_b6GhuVfvg8UzKHlUUoMIy12AC_zooKhZdbACRDr-4ngCL8mlVy8LrrvqbU67dpJs/s1600/Lower+Wisconsin+sloughs_7-15-10+006.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm1azqpKLrF5riV2WnwPtITcCTK0uT3PXiWETIDDGeNxIW_vWwuw72GvKTFaprK9T_Z9D6Riub78_b6GhuVfvg8UzKHlUUoMIy12AC_zooKhZdbACRDr-4ngCL8mlVy8LrrvqbU67dpJs/s320/Lower+Wisconsin+sloughs_7-15-10+006.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703864948719075458" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">What a mess Asian carp would make of this treasure: the Lower Wisconsin Riverway</span></span>.<br /><br /><br /><br />Rat has harped -- or should I say, "carped" -- on this before. It's about the inattention paid to the threat of Asian carp invading the upper reaches of the Mississippi River basin -- meaning great Wisconsin rivers like the St. Croix, Black, Chippewa and Wisconsin.<br /><br />It's in sharp contrast to all the attention paid -- in a recent instance, $2 million of attention -- to how to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. (The Asian invaders are far likelier to find a path to Wisconsin via the Mississippi than via Lake Michigan.) A group of private foundations bankrolled a study to see how the Chicago canal and related stormwater and sewage systems would have to be re-plumbed. The study was released today (January 31).<br /><br />http://www.glc.org/announce/12/01caws.html<br /><br />At first glance, this report is great work: it details plans and their costs to separate the basins to minimize the spread of invasive creatures between the two basins.<br /><br />It exposes two other things: how excruciatingly slow the Corps of Engineers is in doing the same work (their own study of the issue is more comprehensive, but won't be completed until 2015), and shows how desperately we need a similar investment for the upper reaches of the Mississippi River.<br /><br />Minnesota's natural resources department has put more effort to this question than its Wisconsin counterpart, but you get a sense from both agencies of contradictory positions: that either Asian carp are inevitable, or that because a few strays have been found in our border waters for years doesn't mean there will be an infestation (i.e. no evidence that they're breeding).<br /><br />You gotta wonder how a couple million dollars of intense and serious study might clarify this question. Rat's not sure where such money is lying around, but the first step has to be making a case for it.River Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-68739065052427358652012-01-26T13:47:00.002-06:002012-01-26T13:52:31.912-06:00Wretched Mining Bill Moves Up<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" >Before the party-line vote to approve the awful mining bill and send it to the full Assembly, it was all Rat could do to keep from squeaking out loud in outrage at the antics of some of the legislators. Representatives Louis Molepske, Penny Bernard Schaber and Sandy Pasch asked hard questions about the eight amendments to the bill that were offered up by Republican members of the Assembly Committee on Jobs, the Economy and Small Business. The mealy mouthed answers they received made it abundantly clear that none of the amendments did a thing to address the myriad concerns raised by citizens from around the state. Representative Pasch didn’t mince words: “This whole process has been tainted. The amendments don’t address any of the concerns we all heard over and over again.” <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" >The proposed bill significantly weakens protections for groundwater, lakes, streams and wetlands, undercuts public participation and reduces the ability of the communities most impacted by a mine to protect themselves. At a day-long hearing in Milwaukee, those in opposition to the bill outnumbered supporters two to one. Even more telling, at another day-long hearing in Hurley where support for a new mine and the hope of jobs it represents runs high, no local citizen or elected official supported the provisions that weaken environmental protections or public process. But on Tuesday, the Assembly Committee approved it anyway. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" >And the amendments they made have nothing to do with protecting people or the environment – they are about covering the butts of the bill authors, pure and simple. The changes made do nothing more than <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" >obscure the bill’s most blatant violations of federal law and Wisconsin’s constitution. Incredibly, Representative Amy Loudenbeck showed the cards of the Republican Assembly caucus when she stated that was in fact the intent of at least one of the amendments. The Public Trust Doctrine, a long-standing component of the state constitution, mandates the state protect waterways for the public. The proposed bill stated that because a mine <i>is in the public interest </i>(?!!), water withdrawals needed for mining activities outweigh any subsequent harm done to lakes and rivers. Recognizing this clearly violates the Public Trust Doctrine, an amendment to soften this language was offered “to reduce the chance for legal challenges,” according to Representative Loudenbeck.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <span ><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">Despite the outpouring of concerns and recommended revisions to the bill to protect Wisconsin citizens and natural resources, the Committee’s Republican members chose instead to just listen to the warnings of their attorneys about where the bill is most vulnerable to be overturned in court. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">Nothing like sound public policymaking, eh?</span></span><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><span >Posted by the River Rat</span></div>River Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-83023424440335025112012-01-19T13:53:00.004-06:002012-01-19T14:26:53.895-06:00A million reasons why there won't be a mining bill<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1XX6JyAhE9YqQXb_y-zcLu0v52-5ZDlReOuXGOlcjiKVmOgHVmJ3S4gUelPOFW4QJmt09MZh2zYJV8ZfZpwgYtHZJMgfp8VDlHgrInCiRR_ZK0EQ8WRNBuANoInk48vJ6DIBxtutYOFs/s1600/Hibbing+2.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1XX6JyAhE9YqQXb_y-zcLu0v52-5ZDlReOuXGOlcjiKVmOgHVmJ3S4gUelPOFW4QJmt09MZh2zYJV8ZfZpwgYtHZJMgfp8VDlHgrInCiRR_ZK0EQ8WRNBuANoInk48vJ6DIBxtutYOFs/s320/Hibbing+2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699441046393285602" border="0" /></a><br />The environmental crowd is pensive these days, waiting to see what the Wisconsin Legislature does with the mining legislation that Republican legislators have cooked up, with chefs from the mining industry clearly present in the kitchen. Hundreds have testified at two different hearings against this bill. So too have supporters, but a public opinion poll last fall showed a majority of Wisconsinites do NOT favor weakening environmental laws for the sake of an iron mine.<br /><br />The mining bill is the proverbial elephant in the room when it comes to environmental matters, but there are also a couple of skunks in that same room that could do equal or greater damage to the rivers, lakes and land, all across Wisconsin. More on those in a minute.<br /><br />The next act with that elephant should be that the bill gets passed out of the committee that spawned it, the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economy and Small Business. That's what Capitol watchers are watching for: will the bill get voted out of committee, so the Assembly as a whole can vote on it (where it will pass)?<br /><br />Rat's guess: <span style="font-weight: bold;">NO,</span> it will not make it out of committee. Why? In part because of well orchestrated and passionate opposition to the bill, but also because Republican cash constituents got a lot of what they wanted with the skunks that have been passed out of committee.<br /><br />And there's another reason they don't want to put it to a vote. But let Rat wax about those skunks for a minute. One skunk deregulates digging, dirt-moving, tree-cutting and so forth on land next to water. Ya can't let some dumb environmental law get in the way of a guy carving out a small harbor for his pontoon boat on a tiny lake. The other skunk is a trash-the-wetlands bill, whose authors believe you wreck a wetland where you want to put a truck stop as long as you get to make a fake wetland somewhere else where it will never bother developers.<br /><br />These crappy bills HAVE been voted out of committees in both chambers of the Legislature. They will likely pass in both chambers next week and Gov. Walker will sign them.<br /><br />So, Republican legislators can tell the home builders, the realtors, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and other enemies of the environment that they delivered. Delivering for an out-of-state mining company is less important politically to them than keeping the aforementioned homeboys happy and their campaign donations rolling in.<br /><br />But there's another reason Republicans would just as soon sit on a mining bill right now -- oh, make that about a million reasons. That would be the fact that their man, Gov. Scott Walker, will be recalled and put to another vote. The last thing Republicans want is to have a few pounds of iron ore hanging around the neck of Walker in a recall election, when the populace is at best ambivalent about a fast-tracked open-pit iron mine 25 miles from the beloved Lake Superior.<br /><br />Walker has been pretty quiet about the Penokee Hills mine, other than to utter his usual "jobs" line. But a mining bill, foisted and passed by fellow Republicans, would wash up on Walker's shore in a recall election, and the GOP does not want to deal with that litter.River Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-3886011984691923262011-12-15T16:55:00.003-06:002011-12-15T17:08:17.610-06:00Stinky Process, Stinky Bill<p class="MsoNormal"><span >Rat snuck into the December 14 Assembly Committee on Jobs, Small Business and the Economy hearing on their fit-for-the-garbage-pail (and I don’t mean that in a good way) mining bill. Held in Milwaukee so the suits at Caterpillar, one of the biggest manufacturers of mining equipment in the world, could claim that jobs would be saved in Milwaukee if a big strip mine is allowed in northern Wisconsin, the committee’s ploy ended up biting them in the behind. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span><o:p>T</o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span">he suits were certainly there, but they were far outnumbered by folks who saw the bill for what it is – a give-away of Wisconsin’s natural resources to an out-of-state company.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">People came from around the state, including a busload of opponents from Ashland County where the impacts from a strip mine would be focused, who braved icy roads and an over seven-hour drive to be there.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">It was hard to avoid getting stepped on as the room was packed with about 400 people, and of the people who registered to speak, opponents outnumbered supporters 121 to 64, a ratio of 2:1.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" >Here’s what River Alliance Policy Program Manager/River Rat Lori Grant had to say to the committee:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span><o:p> </o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span">“In 2006, after several years of work, the River Alliance was very pleased when the legislature designated 40 northern rivers as Outstanding and Exceptional Resource Waters.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">Six were in the Bad River Watershed, including the Bad River itself.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">In 2009, the Brunsweiler River, also in the Bad River Watershed, was the first state Wild River designated in over 40 years.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">But now we fear those efforts may have been a waste of time.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span">To be clear, the River Alliance of Wisconsin is not opposed to mining in general, or a fair process for considering a mine – as long as the environment is protected.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">However, any strip mine constructed and operated in the Bad River Watershed under the proposed bill would be allowed to irreparably damage these pristine waterways and the watershed as a whole.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" >Make no mistake – this bill substantially reduces environmental protections from mining.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span">We are opposed to:</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" >Rushing the bill to hearing without providing citizens the opportunity to read and understand it’s far-reaching implications for our natural resources</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -24px; " >Preventing the citizens most impacted by a mine, not to mention DNR, from challenging the information provided by a mining company</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span style="text-indent: -24px; font-family: Symbol; "><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -24px; ">Forcing DNR to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and make permit decisions in an absurdly short time frame, without adequate staff or funds - in essence removing science from the permit process</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" >But our greatest concerns are the drastic changes to protections for water.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span><o:p> </o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span">Unlike Minnesota and Michigan, those states most cited as having model mining laws, as well as Wisconsin’s current mining law, this bill creates “special” environmental standards for iron mines.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">Other industries and businesses in the state, not to mention property owners, must adhere to common, statewide standards to protect groundwater, lakes, streams and wetlands. But this bill sets its own standards for mining, and goes so far to state that where the mining law conflicts with other laws, the mining law trumps all others.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" >These “special” standards:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -24px; " >Allow mine wastes to be piled next to rivers and lakes, in floodplains and areas where groundwater contamination is deemed likely. A property owner can’t build their cottage too close to the water, but mine wastes with up to a 50% slope? No problem.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -24px; " >Require DNR to allow critical wetlands to be filled, as long as there is mitigation someplace in the state. That certainly doesn’t do much for the rivers fed by that wetland if the mitigation is three counties away.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -24px; " >Completely reverse consideration for making major alterations to rivers – dredging, filling, widening, straightening (or shall we say burying in mine waste or obliterating altogether?). Current law <i>prohibits</i> alterations that do irreparable damage to natural resources. Instead, the bill <i>requires</i> DNR to allow such alterations if they will not “significantly” impair public rights or degrade water quality. The term “significantly” is not defined, and the bill prohibits DNR from creating rules that would better define or list criteria for making such a call. Given that one of the stated intentions of the bill is to take subjective decisions out of the mine review process, this provision adds more.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="text-indent: -24px; ">The bill requires DNR to allow huge groundwater withdrawals and direct withdrawals from rivers or lakes, even if it will severely draw down the resource. Why? Because remarkably, the bill <i>declares</i> that the needs of the mine, when it comes to water withdrawals, are in the best interest of the public. The needs of a mine are declared to prevail over drinking water and trout streams?</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span">This is just a short list of the potential damage the bill would allow, but the overriding presumption that mining should be permitted at all cost is pervasive throughout the bill.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">The River Alliance cannot support any bill that maintains this presumption”.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" >It should be quite on the mining front until after the holidays, but Rat will be keeping nose to the ground on this one.</span></p>River Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-48894224225982865822011-12-15T09:33:00.006-06:002011-12-19T09:52:54.422-06:00KO'd by CAFOs<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqTvRmRxu8tyaeKtmovd4XqoGVd5vrwZTdwC69yx_Hq7EwIiqzMsm4tVTpDC4b_4Vfm3F1qidYhxWgZnW_eFYJPTAg2FoVcL7GWHaGmPbB99aKcpE8N31ip9JNzTCJZGYKo5SBxhDDdcw/s1600/rosendale2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 310px; height: 235px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqTvRmRxu8tyaeKtmovd4XqoGVd5vrwZTdwC69yx_Hq7EwIiqzMsm4tVTpDC4b_4Vfm3F1qidYhxWgZnW_eFYJPTAg2FoVcL7GWHaGmPbB99aKcpE8N31ip9JNzTCJZGYKo5SBxhDDdcw/s320/rosendale2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687867134037088946" border="0" /></a><br />CAFO is not a new brew at your local coffee shop. It's a classic bureaucratic acronym --<span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> C</span></span>onfined (or some say Concentrated) <span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A</span></span>nimal <span style="font-size:180%;">F</span>eeding <span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">O</span></span>peration.<br /><br />It goes by more pejorative descriptions -- factory farm, industrial agriculture, animal factory.<br />Technically speaking, a CAFO is a CAFO only if it has at least 1,000 "animal units" -- another peculiar bureaucratic formulation that translates to about 700 milk cows.<br /><br />And in Wisconsin it's the milk-cow CAFO we worry about. As dairy farms got big and broke through the CAFO sound barrier, they housed around 1,000, maybe 2,000 cows tops. That's been the case for years until another sound barrier was broken, to where 5,000, 7,000, even 10,000-cow dairy operations are starting to appear. The first and most notorious was Rosendale Dairy, in Fond du Lac County, whose huge size and cavalier attitude about the impacts of tens of millions of gallons of manure prompted neighbors, People Organized to Protect the Land, to organize, challenge and resist.<br /><br />Equally notorious is Larson Acres, in Rock County, whose legal troubles with neighbors over groundwater and stream contamination prompted the dairy industry to successfully push for removal of most local decision-making regarding big livestock farms. Larson Acres is still in litigation; its neighbors and the town government made their case against Larson Farms' water pollution before the Wisconsin Supreme Court this fall.<br /><br />Rock County citizens see deja vu all over again with another mega-dairy of 5,000 cows. This one, Rock Prairie Dairy, had originally proposed to spray its manure through sprinkler-like irrigation devices, but public outcry forced a change in those plans. The farm got its pollution discharge permit from the Wisconsin DNR in June.<br /><br />And Big Dairy arrived in Adams County too, with 6000-cow Richfield Dairy getting permitted both for pollution discharge and to pump up to 130 million gallons of water per year in a part of the state where groundwater is being stretched to its limit.<br /><br />Like most of these huge dairies, Richfield's permits are being legally challenged by neighbors likely to be affected by the hundreds of millions of gallons of manure being spread and tens of millions of gallons of water being withdrawn (and exported away, in the form of milk, of course).<br /><br />One retired DNR official has said that agency is totally ill-equipped to give good scrutiny to these huge dairy farms. But even if the agency had 20 people devoted full time to reviewing CAFO permits, it would be up against this political and economic fact: no one in charge of state government wants to mess with the dairy industry. And it's not just the Scott Walker regime; Jim Doyle also had a sweet "Deal With Big Dairy."<br /><br />Is this due simply to the industry's political clout? While that clout is considerable, Rat doesn't believe it's that simple. Given this state's struggling economy and as the other pillar of Cheesehead economic clout, manufacturing, continues to decline, the "raw wealth" of agriculture, in particular the dairy industry, is very appealing. Dairy farmers take natural resources and render it into high-value products. There's little infrastructure cost to prop up the industry, no unions to fight (just undocumented workers, but that's another story), and pollution controls are minimal.<br /><br />It's an economic gift that gives generously, and no elected official accountable for the Wisconsin economy wants to mess with a (excuse the pun) cash cow like that. Opponents of CAFOs have to acknowledge that as they storm the dairy industry's barricades.River Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-36984778931844063882011-12-13T13:03:00.002-06:002011-12-13T13:08:25.988-06:00Christmas Rush – At the Capitol, not the Mall<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> 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mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> </p>Some members of the legislature are hell bent on adding to their list of attacks on protections of Wisconsin’s natural resources before the year is out.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Confused by the bum-rush?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That seems to be the intent.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>While we haven’t yet seen (as of today, anyway) an expected bill revising wetland protections, here are the two biggies: <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">1.<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Gutting Protections and Public Process for Mines</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Assembly bill LRB 3520/1, written at the behest of an out-of-state mining company behind closed doors, dramatically weakens environmental protections, removes local citizens from the permit review process, and forces DNR to rubber stamp permits for new iron mines.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Less than a week after the 183 bill saw the light of day, the Assembly will hold their public hearing in Milwaukee, more than 325 miles from the proposed mine site.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><br /></p><p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">In a nutshell:</p> <ul><li><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore"></span></span>The bill and the process by which it is being rammed through the legislature takes away the voice of Wisconsin citizens.</li><li><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore"></span></span>It elevates mining above all other industries and businesses in the state, applying special rules that allow mines to bypass the environmental and public health requirements that apply to everyone else.</li><li><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore"></span></span>It takes science out of decision making, from preventing experts from questioning the mining company’s data to cutting the permit review time so short, DNR literally won’t have the time to review information and make valid decisions.</li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal">The hearing will be held at State Fair Park, Tommy Thompson Youth Center, beginning at 10:00.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;">2.<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Fast-Tracking Development in Lakes and Rivers</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">While conservationists are headed to Milwaukee to oppose the Assembly’s mining bill on Wednesday, December14, both the Senate and Assembly Natural Resource Committees will be voting on the controversial bill that “streamlines” the permit process for private projects in our public waterways.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;">The tremendous outpouring of concern by many of you to your legislators and at the public hearing in October did make a difference.</span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The authors have removed many of the most blatant special interest giveaways, but the rotten heart of the bill remains.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Now known as SB 326 in the Senate and AB 421 in the Assembly, the bill still:</p> <ul><li><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore"><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""></span></span></span>Requires automatic approval for private projects in public waters;</li><li><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore"></span></span>Places the burden of proving a project will be harmful on neighbors instead of requiring the developer to prove it won’t;</li><li><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore"><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""></span></span></span>Legalizes party decks and gazebos illegally built on lakes and rivers; and </li><li><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore"></span></span>Stops DNR from limiting pier construction in the state’s most sensitive shore areas.</li></ul> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">The Assembly Committee on Natural Resources and the Environment will meet at 9:30 in Room 412E of the Capitol</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Senate Natural Resources Committee will meet at 10:00 in Room 300 SE.</span><span style=""><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"></span>No public testimony will be taken, but don’t let them take their votes out of the public eye.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If you can’t make the mining hearing in Milwaukee, take a few minutes of your Wednesday morning to let the committee members know, we are watching.</p>River Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-80448896390269577562011-10-21T15:58:00.003-05:002011-10-21T16:05:44.952-05:00It Finally Has a Name -- Even Two<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" 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name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">Credit the Occupy Wall Street people with simplifying the complicated topic of the dominance of the bankers over the political system by naming the bankers the “One Percent” and the rest of us rats on this sinking ship the 99%.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>One photo Rat saw from the Wall Street occupation said it beautifully.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It depicted a woman holding her granddaughter and a sign that read, “99% chance that you’re with us.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Finding an easy way to explain how wealth has become skewed to the top of the economic food chain is hard to do without pummeling people with lots of numbers and arcane economic theory.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But there are people – and from the mainstream academic world, not just a park bench in Manhattan – who are making this topic more accessible and interesting. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rat recently found a rat hole in the swank new Wisconsin Institute for Discovery at UW-Madison, where I snuck in to overhear a talk by Yale University political scientist Jacob Hacker.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Winner Take All Politics</i>, Hacker tossed out lots of numbers to explain the wealth disparity.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The most salient:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>how the One Percent’s percentage increase in income since 1970 is six times higher than that for the rest of us.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Another:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>40% of all income increases in the U.S. since 1970 went to the One Percent.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The typical rat brain struggles with numbers, but also with big words. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Rat hopes the big word “oligarchy” rings a bell with the 99% of Americans who are not the One Percent.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Another academic, political economist Jeffrey Winters, of Northwestern University, has re-introduced that term to the political discussion, along with one he may have coined –the wealth defense industry.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Read his article <a href="http://www.the-american-interest.com/article.cfm?piece=1048">http://www.the-american-interest.com/article.cfm?piece=1048</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>A useful complement to Hacker’s numbers, Winters’ narrative account of how the uber-rich have wired the political system (for them, the most important thing to do) to their considerable advantage, and they more wealth they amass, the more lawyers, lobbyists, right-wing think tanks and political contributions they deploy it to protect it. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">You have to hope the powerful evidence these two scholars have assembled, paired with the gritty passion of the Occupy Wall Streeters, will give ordinary Americans, in their beleaguered status as the 99%, pause to ask how the country got where it is.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Sure, it’s “the government,” but bad government is a byproduct of the oligarchy’s putting the wealth defense industry to work to manipulate government to its benefit. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rat remains nonpartisan, so I will end this note about partisan politics.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Both Hacker and Winters make it clear there is not one political party on which to hang the country’s financial crisis; both have the blood of the 99%’s ever-shrinking economic prospects on their hands.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Sure, Republicans align much more with wealthy interests, but Democrats have abetted them at crucial times, and failed to explain to American voters, in real and honest terms, the threats to their economic self-interest.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p>River Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-44132175756673502312011-10-18T14:01:00.003-05:002011-10-18T14:49:31.036-05:00Someone please put a lamprey on some congressmen<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4mXOmF91oraSZm_RLf6bSkFY4Q8QqCSk-E7MHewmhgs-aUC7AevFFJ2H6QQm1JDlJWrack-9fNj6XmOGqBsMF5e_z1PicAfarP4pP3_0HnbL2Qdawm_igLgw-CmZrerRqMkkGsjrDHNM/s1600/lamp3.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 190px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4mXOmF91oraSZm_RLf6bSkFY4Q8QqCSk-E7MHewmhgs-aUC7AevFFJ2H6QQm1JDlJWrack-9fNj6XmOGqBsMF5e_z1PicAfarP4pP3_0HnbL2Qdawm_igLgw-CmZrerRqMkkGsjrDHNM/s320/lamp3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664920863409473442" border="0" /></a><br />Rat was enjoying an August afternoon on the southern shore of Lake Michigan, near the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, with my rat-letts (offspring), who commented on how clear the water was, despite the fact the beach we were lounging on was right next door to heavily-industrialized Gary/Hammond/Chicago.<br /><br />I hated to inform the young rats that in this particular instance, such clear water was probably a bad thing. Lake Michigan is being scrubbed sterile by trillions of quagga mussels, an invasive critter that devours the tiny plankton that the rest of this Great Lake's food system depends on. Elsewhere on the Lake Michigan shore, the clarity caused by the quaggas only encourages another scourge -- cladophora, a stringy variety of algae that creates a great green stinky mass when it washes up on shore.<br /><br />But leave it to Congress to not only ignore how these invasives are destroying the Great Lakes, but try to pass a law that Rat officially dubs the Free Passport for Invasive Creatures Act. The proposed law would exempt ballast water (that's the water ships take in and dump out of their hulls to balance their loads) from pollution regulation, and makes it illegal for states to have tougher standards than federal ones. <span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"> http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/211979/</span><br /><br />This is a really bad idea. In its sponsors' defense of costs to the shipping industry, it totally ignores the billions of dollars of repair and maintenance costs and lost recreational revenues from the invasives that are fundamentally altering the Great Lakes.<br /><br />For a fine, and very sobering, assessment of the weird paradox of how mussels are making the lakes both nutrient-rich and starving them of nutrients, and therefore messing with the entire system, see this new report from the National Wildlife Federation.<span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"> http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/Media-Center/Reports/Archive/2011/Feast-and-Famine-in-the-Great-Lakes.aspx</span><br /><br />The whole thing makes Rat want to loose sea lampreys upon those members of Congress supporting this bill. Also an invader to the Great Lakes via the Atlantic Ocean, lampreys attach themselves (that's the mouth of one in the picture up there) to their victims and eventually suck them dead. Lampreys know only cold-blooded animals, so as far as members of Congress go, that definitely works.<br /><br />(This bill was passed out of House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last week on a voice vote, so it's hard to know how the two Wisconsin members serving on that committee -- Rep. Reid Ribble and Rep. Tom Petri -- voted on the measure. When Rat's moles find out, we'll let you know.)River Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-16886469071126415892011-10-05T11:19:00.011-05:002011-10-07T10:04:57.530-05:00A Nasty Trail of Mining Dirt<div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3GwHLL2M7eaL57O1DDUH4qYOsCMkk7JR2izJ3bVdENZW4uvc7AW0IH8wJHE5Le2vsBP6kUmkkVTgN7VjZHr1eQJKOwTPx0kH_3DmfxZexMUJUdSo-ZM_iWGbxA2dkDtlFa4p6ITZwQGs/s1600/Hibbing+2.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3GwHLL2M7eaL57O1DDUH4qYOsCMkk7JR2izJ3bVdENZW4uvc7AW0IH8wJHE5Le2vsBP6kUmkkVTgN7VjZHr1eQJKOwTPx0kH_3DmfxZexMUJUdSo-ZM_iWGbxA2dkDtlFa4p6ITZwQGs/s320/Hibbing+2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5660044438694736914" border="0" /></a><br /><br clear="ALL">As a rat, I have a deep appreciation for cunning and admire a bit of deviousness. After all, that’s how my kind has survived in this rough, sometimes unfriendly world.<span> </span>But even I was taken aback by the latest high jinks in the hallowed halls of the state capitol, and the doublespeak and outright lies by those who stand to gain.</div><span> </span> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or should I say in deference to my many friends who do indeed live under rocks, blissfully oblivious to state news), there has been much ado about a renewed interest in mining in Wisconsin, and a giant, out of state corporation has made known their intent to create an enormous open pit taconite mine in Ashland County.<span> </span><span> </span>Couched in the tired old cliché that environmental protections kill jobs, there has been much rhetoric about how state laws protecting water resources undermine the potentially vast economic boon that open pit mining could bring to Wisconsin.<span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>In spring, a terrible bill completely undermining environmental protections and clearly written by the mining industry was leaked to the public but was never formally introduced.<span> </span>Just last week, blithely ignoring the well-documented history of boom and bust cycles accompanying mining operations around the world, and without questioning the mining company’s assertion of how many local jobs their operation would actually create, the state senate has created their “Select Committee on Mining Jobs” to look at “streamlining” the state’s mining laws.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>First there was a bit of a kerfuffle over who would be appointed to the select committee.<span> </span>The Democrat legislators recommended to join the committee were rejected by the Republican leadership.<span> </span>Then a day later, the recommendations were accepted after all.<span> </span>But that very same day, the Guv introduced a special session (and we all remember the last one, don’t we?) called “Back to Work Wisconsin.”<span> </span>Buried in the long list of bills touted as helping to create jobs are proposals to revise state laws guiding protection of wetlands and streams.<span> </span>There are no details yet, but you can bet they’ll be chock full of many of the exemptions the mining company hoped to achieve through their bill this spring.<span> </span>Suddenly it all makes sense – who cares who’s on the Senate Select Committee on Mining Jobs?<span> </span>After these special session bills, they won’t have much to talk about anyway!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>And then there’s the mining folks.<span> </span>The Wisconsin Mining Association, a self-proclaimed non-partisan organization reconstituted from the dark days of debate on the Crandon Mine that had been proposed at the headwaters of the Wolf River, hosted a press conference to proclaim their fervent belief that job creation and environmental protection go hand in hand.<span> </span>They issued a list of catchy “principles” including this kicker: “The Wisconsin Mining Association believes that facts matter.”<span> </span>Well, that’s certainly comforting.<span> </span>Unfortunately they don’t seem compelled to actually use them.<span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>They also issued their list of key elements of new mining legislation, prefaced by a totally fabricated history of the current mining law.<span> </span>They flatly state, “Wisconsin’s mining laws were written for sulfide mines.”<span> </span><span> </span>According to the Legislative Reference Bureau, the non-partisan record-keeping arm of the legislature, the <i>fact</i> is that current laws were written for all metallic mining, with a special emphasis on taconite mining!<span> </span>As a result of the Crandon mine debate, the law was amended to add an extra step for proposed sulfide mines, but that step does not apply to taconite mine proposals.<span> </span>There is absolutely no need to change our current laws to ensure the efficient review of a taconite mine proposal.<span> </span>The real issue is that an enormous, deep mine in the Penokee hills could not possibly proceed<span> </span>without utterly devastating the water resources of the region, and the changes demanded by the Wisconsin Mining Association and their cronies in the legislature are to allow just that.</p><div><br /></div><div>posted by the River Rat</div>River Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-22202468487606222312011-09-13T16:40:00.003-05:002011-09-13T16:49:33.714-05:00Cry A River for the Paper Industry?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> 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name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Never did this Rat expect to write a salutation to the Wisconsin paper industry, given how it dumped billions of gallons of toxic waste in Wisconsin’s rivers and constipated them with their dams.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We are still cleaning up after the industry on the Fox River, getting rid of toxic PCBs from the mud and muck of that fabled river. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Last week we learned that New Page, an Ohio company that owns four paper mills in Wisconsin – oh, make that three now, but it had been four up until February, and as many as six a few years ago – filed for bankruptcy.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is staring at over $3 billion in debt. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The latest plant to be shuttered by New Page was their facility in Whiting, near Stevens Point.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>360 jobs gone.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Given this industry was a vo<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1H8q_leg6Yl0rxWIwzR4KqP-UFMVpud2sgp3UEDrzQIcStNFzEXDJJmKhiGtO3xIerf7xp4aFkzSc1pUJoaAVjcgrVcAXDypxPlQcp3muKVTFvXPW6dEHtpPdhrn0lT6_hDCLZ6VrIK0/s1600/vfiles34983.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 149px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1H8q_leg6Yl0rxWIwzR4KqP-UFMVpud2sgp3UEDrzQIcStNFzEXDJJmKhiGtO3xIerf7xp4aFkzSc1pUJoaAVjcgrVcAXDypxPlQcp3muKVTFvXPW6dEHtpPdhrn0lT6_hDCLZ6VrIK0/s320/vfiles34983.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5651964123407905842" border="0" /></a>racious tree-eating, pollution-spewing monster parked on the state’s major rivers, do we even cry a river for them?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Yes.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Despite its history of resource abuse, the paper industry cleaned up its act.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It required a federal law and state enforcement to do it, but they got there.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The Wisconsin River is a recreational gem these days, a possibility unheard of in 1970.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Even the bedraggled and dumped-upon Fox River is being rehabilitated, its image improving yearly as the water quality improves in kind.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But not just on the river but out in the woods too we have decried the paper industry – all those trees cut, all that forestland ravaged.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Even though industrial forests are treated like cornfields, that land once provided wildlife and bird habitat is now being cut up into 40-acre hunting plots and disrupting the continuity of that land that made for such good habitat.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> Many </span>are lamenting the loss of the big forest tracts, for the sake of the birds. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Consolidated Papers was the kingpin of Wisconsin paper.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Its empire was strung up and down the Wisconsin River and far afield into northern Wisconsin, where it raised and cut the pulp to feed its mills.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was a community-minded corporate citizen, helping build facilities and parks in the communities it had plants in and providing family-supporting wages.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>(Most paper plants in the Wisconsin and Fox river valleys were unionized.)</p> <p class="MsoNormal">When Consolidated sold to Stora Enso, a Finnish company, in 2000, you could hear the dominoes getting stacked up, foretelling what was to come.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>By 2007, Stora Enso sold the mills it had bought from Consolidated at Biron, Wisconsin Rapids, Whiting, Niagara, Stevens Point and Kimberly.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The first domino dropped in Niagara (320 jobs), where the rusting hulk of that mill looms over the small town like a metallic alien crashed into the river bluff. <span style="font-style: italic;">(Check out the picture.)</span> <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Kimberly was next (600 jobs), and just this year, the plug was pulled at Whiting (360 jobs). Biron, Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids are still operating, but with dark clouds over their smokestacks.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Wisconsin had the key ingredients to make a paper industry – trees, moving water, and hard-working people.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The trees have grown back, the rivers have largely recovered, but good-paying paper mill jobs are gone.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Some of it is due to cheaper raw material and labor in Asia.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Some of it is due to paper industry greed and shortsightedness. Some of it is due to the very device through which you read this essay – the paperless Internet.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">For many reasons, especially how a healthy paper industry helped many Wisconsin communities and families prosper over the decades, we should lament its demise.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p>River Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08765483514058176859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6738834536138577786.post-85237918522631698122011-08-24T10:08:00.006-05:002011-08-24T10:39:46.345-05:00Fair Thee Well Alicia RaeRat recently swam over to Milwaukee and from the harbor watched as the Alicia Rae, the last working commercial fishing boat in Milwaukee, left Milwaukee for good.
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<br />Lake Michigan has been evicting commercial fishers for many years. The lake’s ecology keeps changing with the continued introduction of invasive species mostly by way of ballast water in large Great Lakes shipping vessels. It’s difficult to blame just one culprit since the story of various species invading Lake Michigan waters and the resulting rise and fall of dominant fish populations is beginning to read like a volume on European history.
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<br />But if Rat were to point a pointy-clawed digit at today’s main offender, I would come up 900 trillion digits too few, for those quagga mussels sure are prolific little buggers. I should say prolific little morsels, but my poor belly hurts just looking at them all.
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<br />Dan Egan wrote a bittersweet <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/127610953.html">piece in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel</a> about Dan Anderson, the captain of the Alicia Rae, and his story of leaving the Lake Michigan fishery behind. Or as Dan put it, “The lake left me. It’s gone.”
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPQXwQbW_z5Tk_4bqF7gNjW7q73uDINNzog-oqKNLsv6qHaTQ53skFwaV1aDK90W586VzGj5Frp51AR5kcZrRA33L7TRLofOJqtH1Dd4-seLUiPECsnaxntzsG-RELmvtPkcq0_L3AXhU/s1600/castlerock_19990727.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 245px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPQXwQbW_z5Tk_4bqF7gNjW7q73uDINNzog-oqKNLsv6qHaTQ53skFwaV1aDK90W586VzGj5Frp51AR5kcZrRA33L7TRLofOJqtH1Dd4-seLUiPECsnaxntzsG-RELmvtPkcq0_L3AXhU/s320/castlerock_19990727.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644442018672613634" border="0" /></a>The rivers that Rat calls home, like Lake Michigan, could use some help <a href="http://www.wisconsinrivers.org/conservation-projects/invasive-species">battling invasive species,</a> and someone could really lend a paw to help battle all that oppressive algae that’s been blooming this summer. (Not to mention my fur; it’s startin’ to stink!) After all, we wouldn’t want to read <a href="http://www.wisconsinrivers.org/bad-h2o/bad-water-is-bad-for-business">stories of businesses</a> people dependent on rivers saying things like, “The river left me. It’s gone.” Would we?
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Photo</span>: Satellite view of <span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:11pt;" ></span>an algae bloom in Castle Rock Lake on the Wisconsin River. 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