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WSNetwork
News
June
16, 2005
News
on issues of common interest to Wisconsin's
sporting, conservation, and environmental
communities
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Articles
from State Media
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Articles
from State Media
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You’re not depressed, kid, you’re inside the house
In a crowded field of doomsayers and trend-mongers, author Richard Louv lives in
a tranquil treehouse all his own.
While other prophets of catastrophe
urge us to go outside and watch the sky falling, Louv just wants us to go
outside.
As he tours from town to town to promote his new book, "Last
Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder," Louv’s
words have rung a golden bell with parents and educators.
His message is
simple: Children desperately need to reconnect with nature, and that’s something
that won’t happen in our blindly technology-humping culture without the
deliberate efforts of parents and educators
Louv, who has written about education and parenting issues for decades, wrote
"Last Child" in response to a strange and alarming trend: Kids learn more in
school about the natural environment than ever, yet they seem increasingly
alienated from hands-on experience in nature. They may tell you all about global
warming or endangered owls and whales, but most have never skinny-dipped in a
stream, built a treehouse or slept under the stars.
A longtime writer and columnist with six books to his credit, Louv is a firm,
soft-spoken advocate for his cause. His book is full of anecdotes and studies on
the salutary effects of "nature’s Ritalin," the restorative powers of open-ended
outdoor play. Nature, Louv maintains, brings kids out of themselves into
something greater and bigger than they are; it fosters much more creativity than
directed play; it builds self-confidence and keener awareness of one’s
surroundings.
Although the last chapters of his book are full of visionary ideas on how to
integrate urban civilization and green space, Louv insists this is a problem
with immediate solutions that fits everyone’s life. You don’t have to take your
kid screaming down the Colorado River on a raft, hike the Appalachian Trail end
to end or drive up to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to map bird migration patterns
— although these are great things to do. If you can turn over a rock and marvel
at a centipede, stroll through a city woodland or stake out the ditch in your
front yard to watch fireflies and frogs, you’re already there. You’re off the
relentless cultural grid, firing neurons on your own sweet schedule. "The
backyard is a universe," Louv said. "If we can’t see the universe there, we’re
not going to see it when we learn how to use warp speed."
Excerpts
from: You’re not depressed, kid, you’re inside the house
- June 15, 2005 City Pulse
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Article
from State Media
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WISPIRG:
Ask Governor Doyle to Protect
Roadless Areas in Wisconsin
For the past four years, we've been writing to you about the Bush
administration's efforts to undermine the Roadless Area Conservation Rule that
protects 58.5 million acres of America's wild forests. On May 5, the Bush
administration repealed the roadless rule in its entirety - and is pushing ahead
to allow timber, oil, and mining interests to tear a spider web of roads through
America's last wild forests.
What now stands between the loggers and America's old growth forests are
state governors. Under the new Bush administration policy, governors can
petition to maintain protections for roadless areas in their states.
Ask Governor Doyle to protect the roadless areas in Wisconsin's national
forests by petitioning to protect them. Then, ask your friends and family to
help by forwarding this e-mail to them.
To take action, click on the following link, or simply paste it into your
browser:
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=966&id4=ES |
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Algae blooms like this one are caused by excess nitrogen
from fertilizer and
manure runoff, killing fish by
reducing the oxygen in the water
From
MSNBC
Articles
from State and National Media
The light green water color in
Southern California’s Salton
Sea
(lower right) is an algae bloom
caused by farm fertilizer runoff.
From
MSNBC
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Study
shows eutrophic lakes may not recover for a millennium
CONTACT: Stephen R. Carpenter (608) 262-8690, srcarpen@wisc.edu
MADISON - Although it has taken just 60 years for humans to put many
freshwater lakes on the eutrophication fast track, a new study shows their
recovery may take a thousand years under the best of circumstances.
Writing in today's (June 13) online edition of the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), University of Wisconsin-Madison limnologist
Stephen R. Carpenter reported results of a study that showed that the buildup of
phosphorus in soils in lake watersheds is likely to be the source of serious
chronic environmental problems for hundreds of years.
"If these results are correct, and I suspect that they are, things could get
considerably worse," says Carpenter, a UW-Madison professor of zoology and one
of the world's leading authorities on freshwater lakes. "The buildup of
phosphorus in watersheds is very threatening. Sooner or later it is going to hit
the lakes and it is going to pose problems."
Eutrophication occurs when nutrient-rich soil washes into lakes and streams.
It stimulates the growth of algae and has transformed many of the world's lakes
from clear freshwater reservoirs to soupy, weed-choked pools. It contributes to
oxygen depletion, which leads to fish kills, and can stimulate the growth of
toxic algae.
According to the study, industrial agriculture, with its reliance on
phosphorus-rich fertilizers, is the primary source of much of the excess
nutrients responsible for fouling lakes. In rich farming areas, like southern
Wisconsin, the routine application of chemical fertilizers and phosphorus-laden
manure, has resulted in the gradual accumulation of phosphorus in the soil,
which, ultimately, has nowhere to go but into the streams, lakes and rivers of
the watershed where it is applied.
"There's a huge amount of phosphorus in the watershed that hasn't washed into
the lake yet," says Carpenter, meaning the problem is likely to persist for
centuries.
The new study models phosphorus loading into Lake Mendota, an urban lake in
Madison, Wis., that still has nearly 80 percent of its watershed in the rich,
dark soils of Wisconsin farm country. It ranks as one of the most studied lakes
in the world, and in recent decades has experienced a steady decline in water
quality due to accelerated runoff and the resulting eutrophication.
But the lake is similar in most respects to lakes anywhere in the world,
Carpenter says, and the results of the new study are generally applicable to
lakes anywhere.
"The global pattern is the same," he says. "We are releasing far more
phosphorus to the soil than would be released by weathering."
Restoring water quality is unlikely unless soil erosion is greatly reduced,
phosphorus inputs are checked, and new technologies are developed for reducing
phosphorus content of over-enriched soils, the report says.
"This type of eutrophication is not reversible unless there are substantial
changes in soil management," Carpenter writes in PNAS.
The amount of phosphorus that runs into the lake in any given year is small,
the Wisconsin scientist notes, but a little bit of the nutrient is all that is
needed to send aquatic ecosystems into overdrive.
Carpenter's model also shows that, unchecked, phosphorus pollution could put
Lake Mendota on a fast track to extreme degradation. "There is a potential shift
to an extremely degraded state that could occur even if we shut off the
phosphorus tomorrow. It would have water quality as bad as the worst lakes in
the world."
Lakes that are that highly eutrophic, Carpenter notes, have a higher
incidence of toxic algae blooms, which would make the lake unfit for swimming or
exposure to domestic animals and pets.
"And the odor cannot be underestimated. Lake Mendota has a certain smell
about it on some summer days now," Carpenter explains, "but we're going to smell
a lot more of that."
Steps that can be taken immediately, Carpenter says, include eliminating the
importation of chemical phosphorus to watersheds and limiting feed for cattle
and other farm animals to feed that is grown in the watershed. At present, a
significant amount of feed for farm animals is imported into the Lake Mendota
watershed.
Last year, the City of Madison implemented a ban on chemical phosphorus for
lawn products, but farmers still apply phosphorus fertilizers, even when soils
have a reservoir of the nutrient.
The biggest help, Carpenter says, would come from reducing soil erosion
rates. However, developing larger buffers around lakes and streams, restoring
wetlands and encouraging the use of new manure storage and handling processes
are also steps that can be taken to reduce phosphorus runoff.
"Anything we can do to reduce the erosion of phosphorus is going to be
beneficial," Carpenter says.
# # #
- Terry Devitt (608) 262-8282, trdevitt@wisc.edu
Press
Release June 13, 2005 from UW Madison
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Articles
from State, Regional, National Media
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Public Citizen Urges U.S. Conference of Mayors
to Oppose Water Privatization
As Annual Conference Takes Place in Chicago, Consumer Group Urges
Public Support of Water to be Priority in Coming Year
As the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) gathers in Chicago for its annual
meeting, Public Citizen today urged the organization to strengthen its
commitment to protecting municipal water systems with public oversight and
accountability, and not to hand control of the systems to private water
companies.
In a letter sent to more
than 40 mayors serving in the conference leadership, Public Citizen urged
support for proposals to establish federal trust funds to finance water and
wastewater infrastructure, such as the safe water trust fund that was recently
proposed to the U.S. House of Representatives. "Enthusiastic support from the
USCM could do much to assure safe and clean water service in homes, businesses,
schools and hospitals nationwide," the letter said.
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Midwest Environmental Advocates: Court Halts Livestock Factory Expansion,
Cites DNR Failure to Evaluate Effects on Air and Water
The
Manitowoc County Circuit Court ruled on Thursday, June 9, that the Wisconsin Department
of Natural Resources (“DNR”) failed to adequately review the potential negative
effects on air and water in southern Manitowoc County that could be caused by
the expansion of Maple Leaf Dairy, one of the largest livestock factories east
of the Mississippi River.
The Court’s ruling was in response
to a lawsuit by Centerville Citizens for Air, River, and Environmental Solutions
(“Centerville CARES”) filed in December of 2004 challenging the DNR’s
environmental review of Maple Leaf Dairy’s expansion plans.
The Court held that the DNR failed
to consider significant information showing that Maple Leaf Dairy’s operation
would harm streams that drain to the fragile shoreland area of Lake
Michigan. The Court also noted that the
DNR failed to consider air quality data indicating that Maple Leaf Dairy would
pollute the air with significant levels of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide.
The Court ordered the DNR to
prepare an air impacts study of Maple Leaf Dairy’s ammonia and hydrogen sulfide
air pollution – the first formal study of its kind in Wisconsin. Read
the Press Release: Midwest Environmental Advocates: Court Halts Livestock Factory Expansion,
Cites DNR Failure to Evaluate Effects on Air and Water - June 10, 2005 WisPolitics
Madison is
#13 on list of Sustainable U.S. Cities
A report published
by SustainLane ranks U.S. cities and identifies
national sustainability trends.
"...we thought the people running the cities would want to know how they were
doing and so would the millions of those living in and around the cities
themselves...Cities across America have a lot going on in terms of sustainable
practices, so we set out to measure, compare, and rank these
cities...SustainLane US City Rankings [is] a peer-reviewed, non-partisan study
that promises to set the standard for measuring how successful American cities
are in implementing sustainable practices...Sustainability concerns are driving
the development of renewable energy for buildings and clean fuels for
vehicles...
From
SustainLane
See
the Rankings
Dirty Air Bill Bad For Health And Economy
The
Jobs Creation Act II, AB 277, should
be named the Dirty Air Bill because
it would allow more air pollution under the guise of creating jobs.
Last year's Act 118 paved the way for major sources of air pollution to get
general operating permits. Now the Dirty Air Bill takes it one step further and
exempts those same major sources of air pollution from obtaining currently
required construction permits. Not only would the bill allow polluters to operate without required permits, it
targets the Department of Natural Resources for more contentious litigation by
industry over air pollution controls.
Read
the complete OpEd by Melissa Scanlan
in The Capital Times
Wisconsin
citizens across the state oppose cutting
Smart Growth
Republicans
on the Joint Finance Committee recently
voted to scrap Smart Growth, the requirement that municipalities in the state come up with
comprehensive plans by 2010.
The
following articles show statewide concern
about preserving Smart Growth:
For
what you can do see Wisconsin Association
of Lakes Action
Alert: Legislative
Panel votes to kill Smart Growth: Deals blow to local control, private property
rights and lake protection
To
view more articles See
WSN's Urban Sprawl and Smart Growth
page
Sierra
Club: Cutting the Recycling Fund Trashes Wisconsin
On
May 24, the budget-writing Legislative
Joint Committee on Finance adopted a
budget amendment covering several recycling
issues for the 2005-2007 State Biennial
Budget. The motion by JFC Co-Chairman
Senator Scott Fitzgerald, Republican
of Juneau, reduces the recycling tipping
fee and recycling surcharge and transfers
$2.9 million from the recycling fund
to wildlife damage in fiscal year 2005-06.
Read
the Sierra Club press release in WisPolitics
(PDF)
Stewardship Fund Forced to Purchase State Lands
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On May 12, the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) passed Motion 502 to require the Department of Natural
Resources to use Knowles-Nelson Stewardship funds to purchase 77,756 acres from
the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands. These purchases would cost the
Stewardship Fund upward of $80 million and would mean that the DNR would be
unable to protect truly vulnerable lands. BCPL lands are currently owned and
managed by the state and are open for public acces.
This motion passed
10-6 with Senators Cowles, Decker, Leibham, and Taylor and Representatives Colon
and Pocan voting against. |
For
more information See
the Gathering Waters Conservancy website
One
Planet, Many People
Atlas of
Our Changing Environment
The U.N. Environmental Program just released an
atlas
that documents the striking rate of environmental
degradation happening across the planet.
Download
the Atlas
From TomPaine
Read
articles about the Atlas:
Eye on Earth: Satellite atlas shows changes
- June 3, 2005 MSNBC
Atlas reveals global devastation
- June 4, 2005 CNN
Changing planet revealed in atlas -
June 4, 2005 BBC
Renewable Energy Wall Map Wins MapWorld 2005 MapInfo Contest
First of Its Kind Map Created by Global Energy MapsThe map was authored by Jason
McMahan and Farid Tabaian. It measures 48"x92" and
displays:
- Over 750 existing renewable energy projects
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Over 200 proposed renewable energy projects
- Transmission infrastructure of lines (indicated by voltage) and
electrical substation locations
- Conventional plants of 100MW or greater
- The industry's first comprehensive, nation-wide composite of the
latest detailed wind resource measurements
- Facility information (name, company, capacity, fuel, map location and
estimated on-line date where appropriate)
- Insets showing geothermal and solar resources, as well as state level
existing and planned renewable capacity
- Reference features of cities, counties, topography and more for a
complete view of the geographic issues surrounding renewable energy
development
Read
the Article at MarketWire
Go
to Global Energy Maps
How Many People Use Your City's Parks?
Counting users may be a challenge, but it can
make all the difference when it comes to getting parks funded
Read
the Article from June 2005 National
Recreation and Park Association
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Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Fair
June 17-19, 2005 - ReNew the Earth Institute
http://www.the-mrea.org/energy_fair.php
The 16th annual Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Fair will
be June
17-19, 2005. The Fair will again be held at the ReNew the Earth Institute,
MREA’s educational facility, in Custer, WI (just 7 miles east of Stevens Point).
Each year thousands of people from around the world celebrate the summer
solstice at MREA's Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Fair. This three-day
festival is the world's largest venue to learn about renewable energy, energy
efficiency, and sustainable living.
The Fair offers:
- over 100 workshops
- working demonstrations of renewable energy and energy efficiency
technologies
- products that help consumers save money, save energy, and protect the
environment,
- special workshops and entertainment for children and families, and
- a friendly festival atmosphere.
See
Energy Fair Information, Registration and
Tickets
New
Email Address for Wisconsin
Stewardship Network
Please
update your email address
for Wisconsin Stewardship
Network to stewardship@wsn.org
Thank
you!
Public input sought on Dane
County's future
Attain Dane
deadline July 1
Dane County residents who want to weigh in with their opinions on how the
county's landscape should evolve have until July 1 to do so as County Executive
Kathleen Falk wraps up public input for the Attain Dane land use plan.
Attain Dane is a master plan for growth throughout the county, allowing
development to occur where most desired while protecting and preserving green
and open spaces.
Read
the article in The Capital
Times
Lake Superior Basin Brook Trout plan available
for viewing
Deadline
for Comments - June 30
A Wisconsin Lake Superior Basin brook trout plan developed jointly between the
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
is now available for public comment.
The plan can be viewed on-line at http://www.fws.gov/midwest/ashland or at
http://dnr.wi.gov/org/gmu/superior/Fish/Fish.html.
Comments can be made in
writing or online until June 30 by contacting either Stephen Schram, Lake
Superior Fishereries Supervisor, 141 S. 3rd St., Bayfield, WI 54814 or Mark
Dryer, Project Leader, 2800 Lake Shore Drive E., Ashland WI 54806.
Read
the article in Bayfield
County Journal
Community fund grant applications accepted
through July 1
Grant applications are now being accepted by the Apostle Islands Area Community
Fund (AIACF) for non-profit projects that benefit the Bayfield-Madeline
Island-Red Cliff region. The deadline for submitting applications is July 1.
Applicants must be public agencies or charitable organizations. Those interested
are encouraged to review the grant guidelines and to discuss their project with
staff. Grant awards will support projects in six areas; the arts, environment,
civic projects, human rights, adult education, and community, youth and family
services. Proposals must be received in the AIACF office no later than 5 p.m. on
the deadline date.
Read
the article in Ashland Daily
Press
State
to accept Clean Sweep grant proposals
Grant
Proposals due in late July
The state
Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection will be opening up a
six-week period this June to receive applications for $710,400 in Wisconsin
Clean Sweep grant funds.
All proposal materials will be made available as downloadable documents from
its Web site.
Proposals will be due in late July. Wisconsin Clean Sweep is the new program
that was approved in late 2004, allowing counties, cities, villages, towns and
other units of government to receive grants for the collection of agricultural
and household hazardous wastes.
Go
to the website for the Wisconsin
Clean Sweep Program
Read
the article in Green Bay
Press Gazette
LoonWatch seeks volunteers for
count on July 16
LoonWatch is currently looking for volunteers to survey loon populations on
July 16 on the
following lakes in Bayfield County: Bullhead, Cisco, Flynn, Island, Porter,
Shunenberg, Sixteen and Totagatic.
For more information see:
http://www.northland.edu/soei/loonwatch.asp
Volunteers can sign-up by visiting the LoonWatch website at
http://www.northland.edu/soei/loon_population.asp
'Whole House Book' Updated and Revised Authors of ‘The Whole House Book’ – respected eco-builder, Cindy Harris, and
architect, Pat Borer – examine all the elements of building, renovating,
extending or improving a home using sustainable techniques and products. Full of
information and advice on everything from the foundations up to the roof
insulation – including site location, materials, water conservation, solar
energy use and, of course, energy efficiency – the book imparts the wisdom
gained from the authors’ vast design and building experience.
Read
the Review in Green Building Press
Reservoirs May Accelerate The Spread Of Invasive Aquatic Species,
Researchers SayJust as disturbance makes a landscape susceptible to invasion by
alien plant species, the construction of reservoirs around the globe could be
contributing to the accelerating spread of exotic aquatic species, according to
a Forum article in the June 2005 issue of BioScience. John A. Havel of Southwest
Missouri State University and Carol Eunmi Lee and M. Jake Vander Zanden of the
University of Wisconsin survey evidence indicating that the physical and
biological properties of reservoirs make them more likely to be invaded by
exotic species than natural lakes. The researchers point to cases in which
reservoirs are believed to have facilitated the rapid spread of invasive
species. Read the article: Reservoirs May Accelerate The Spread Of Invasive Aquatic Species,
Researchers Say - June 16, 2005 ScienceDaily
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Did
you know that, in the 1980s, one of the top two sites
considered for nuclear waste storage was
the Wolf
River Batholith located along the Wolf River in central
and northeast Wisconsin?
Now
that there are numerous problems with using Yucca Mountain,
the Wolf River Batholith
could once more be a target
site for nuclear waste storage.
Many
of the people and groups who opposed the proposed
Crandon mine, are organizing to
keep the Wolf River
Batholith from ever being used to store nuclear waste.
A website for the group (under heavy construction)
has been started at www.notinmybatholith.com.
If
you would like to receive meeting notices, send information,
volunteer
or receive information about this important issue, send
email to
info@notinmybatholith.com
For
more information about the Wolf River Batholith see
http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/wolfbatholith.html
“The only thing
necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing." Edmund
Burke
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