The federal government has downgraded the Gray Wolf from “endangered” to “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. The move reduces the amount of federal protection for Gray Wolves. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush has more:
Transcript
The federal government has downgraded the Gray Wolf from “endangered” to
“threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. The move reduces the amount
of federal protection for Gray Wolves. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Mark Brush has more:
The downlisting of the wolf finalizes an action first proposed by the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service three years ago.
Back in the early 1970’s wolves in the lower 48 states were only found in
extreme Northeast Minnesota. Now, confirmed populations are found in more
than eight states including Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
Ron Refsnider is an endangered species biologist with the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service. He says the status change gives officials a new
way to deal with wolves that are killing livestock or domestic animals.
“Live trapping was the only way that those problem wolves could be handled.
Now that these wolves are being reclassified to threatened status. We’re
relaxing the protections for them, and those problem wolves… those wolves
can be killed by the DNR and by native American tribes on reservations.”
Refsnider says that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will now look at
delisting the gray wolf altogether. Delisting the wolf could lead states to
establish a hunting season for wolves.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Mark Brush.
Duke Wagatha drives down from northern Michigan each year to sell his Christmas trees. While in Ann Arbor, he and his crew live in this 1951 Vagabond trailer.
It’s that time of year again – parking lots across the country are filled with Christmas trees. Just about one out of every three people who celebrate Christmas buys a live tree. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush spent some time with one tree grower in the height of tree selling season:
Transcript
It’s that time of year again – parking lots across the country are filled with Christmas trees. Just about one
out of every three people who celebrate Christmas buys a live tree. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Mark Brush spent some time with one tree grower in the height of tree selling season:
(sound of generator, saws, people chatting)
It’s a crisp afternoon at this Christmas tree lot in Ann Arbor, Michigan. That generator you hear is
powering the electric saws. They trim up the base of the tree so it’ll fit your tree stand. The guys’ hands
are blackened with sap and dirt from handling the hundreds of trees that came off of flat-bed trucks. They
take the bundled trees – open them up, and stick them onto stands. They’ve created a makeshift forest in
the middle of this strip mall parking lot. Customers wander through the forest searching for the perfect
tree.
Duke Wagatha runs the tree lot. He appears each year from north Michigan to sell his trees:
“We get here the weekend before Thanksgiving. Takes us probably about a week, or
five days to get set up, with the idea of opening the day after Thanksgiving. We like to let folks get one
holiday out of the way and then we start on the next.”
“Hello folks, how may I help you?…” (fade tree lot sound under)
He calls his business ‘Flat-Snoots Trees.’ You couldn’t tell from looking at his face now – but he
calls it ‘Flat-Snoots’ to make light of a broken nose he suffered in high school.
Duke seems to be a hard working free-spirit. His coveralls are all tarnished with pine needles and sap.
And when he moves, you hear ringing from the bells on his hat. He moves between the trees in his
parking lot forest telling his customers jokes and filling their heads with visions of Scotch pine, Fraser
firs, and Blue Spruce.
Margaret Jahnke has been buying trees from Duke for more than six years:
“He just makes it really personable – and there was one year it was really kind of warm and he had his
Hawaiian shirt on and his straw hat, and he was out here partyin’ away! And I’m like, ‘Whoa!’ It’s fun
to come, you know, just to run in, you know, to talk to him. And they’re really helpful!”
While they’re in Ann Arbor, Duke and his crew live in a 1950’s vintage trailer. The trailer’s paint is
faded, but Duke spruces it up for the holidays with wreaths and pine bows. And when you step inside, the
old lamps and rustic furniture make it seem as if you’ve stepped back in time.
(sound of trailer door opening)
“Whooo! It feels better in here doesn’t it?”
(sound of trailer door closing)
The trailer also doubles as his office. Customers pay for their trees in here and on occasion they’ll have a
complimentary nip of what Duke calls his “bad schnapps.” And the kids might be offered coupons for
free hot chocolate.
Duke is from Mesick, a small rural town in northern Michigan. Christmas tree farming is big business
in Michigan. The state is second only to Oregon in the number of acres that are in Christmas tree
production.
Duke, however, calls himself a small-time grower. He’s a carpenter by trade, but his work tends to dry up in the
long winter months:
“It’s not enough to make a living for me and my family year-round, uh, but it’s a good extra source of
income and uh, winters are tough up there, so if you make a little bit of extra money – winters are tough
and expensive – uh, living in the country, you know, like anybody, you got propane bills and all that, and
it’s a little colder up there, so to make a little bit of money going into winter is pretty nice.”
A lot of work went into growing the trees that have now arrived on his lot. Each summer workers plod
through the rows and rows of trees swinging razor sharp machetes. They trim each tree to give them that
classic, symmetrical, Christmas tree shape.
After about ten years, the trees are ready for harvest. They’re cut, they’re run through a baling machine,
and they’re loaded onto trucks and shipped down to the lots.
(sound of tree lot with sound of Duke)
Even though there’s a jovial atmosphere on the lot, there’s also a sense of urgency. After all, Duke only
has a few weeks to sell trees that in many cases have taken more than ten years to grow.
And while selling the trees is an important part of Duke’s income – he gets something else out of it. He
really likes people. And he enjoys making connections with them – whether it’s getting them to laugh, or
just simply helping them buy a tree:
“Sometimes you get some grumpy folks coming in, and it’s usually just because they’re overwhelmed
with shopping, it’s cold out, they didn’t wear their long underwear, or whatever, but we can usually get
them turned around, you know, we have a little fun with them. Like I say, if we have to bring them to the
trailer and have a shot of bad schnapps with ’em – hey, that’s just fine too.”
It’s closing time at the tree lot. The workers are headed for a warmer space. Right now, Duke’s trailer is
filled with his relatives and friends.
(sound of door opening)
“Come on in! This is Duke’s family. It’s warm in here, huh?”
(more rowdy banter)
Duke will continue to sell his trees right up until Christmas Eve. Then he’ll drive home to spend a few
days with his family before he comes back to tear the lot down:
“It’s kind of like the circus coming to town. You build up your tree lot, you almost build like, well I
wouldn’t say a village, but a little spot where there was nothing – just an asphault parking lot. And when you leave – there’s nothing
left – we sweep up and go – so it’s almost like a mirage. Were those guys really here?” (laughter)
And so, they spring to their trucks and drive out of sight, knowing they helped make the season
merry night after night.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Mark Brush.
New research is showing that a foreign fish might be aiding the transfer of toxic substances into sportfish populations. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush has more:
Transcript
New research is showing that a foreign fish might be aiding the transfer
of toxic substances into sportfish populations. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Mark Brush has more:
Fish such as bass, trout, and walleye normally eat small native fish.
Now, these large sportfish have learned how to eat a new foreign fish – round
gobies. The gobies can contain toxic pollutants because they feed on
zebra mussels. And because of the way zebra mussels feed they can take up
a lot of pollutants like PCBs.
David Jude is a research scientist at the University of Michigan. He’s
been studying fish living near polluted areas.
“Yes, a lot of sportfish are eating round gobies, we found them in a lot of
predators we looked at in the St. Clair River – perch, brown trout,
walleyes – so the possibility of transferring PCBs into a
lot of the sportfish that people catch is certainly real.”
Jude says he hopes his research will determine ways to control goby
populations where they’ve become a problem.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Mark Brush.
States have been removing old dams from rivers for safety and environmental reasons. But researchers say water managers should be sure to take a close look when considering dam removal as an option because, in some cases, it might be bad for the environment. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush has more:
Transcript
States have been removing old dams from rivers for safety and
environmental reasons. But researchers say water managers should be
sure to take a close look when considering dam removal as an option
because, in some cases, it might be bad for the environment. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush has more:
This year, 45 dams are slated for removal across the country. Half of
those dams are in this region.
Emily Stanley is a river ecologist at the University of Wisconsin.
She’s been studying rivers after a dam has been removed and recently
published her findings in the journal “BioScience.” She
says in farm country, dams can help trap fertilizers that have been
over-applied on nearby fields.
“Small reservoirs can act like wetlands, and can be effective filters
for removing the nitrogen that has come in off of farm fields through
groundwater into the system, and can be actually some valuable points
of improving water quality.”
Stanley says, in many cases, sediments have been collecting behind the
dams for decades. When the dam is removed, the sediments are suddenly
released downstream and can lead to harmful algae blooms. In some
cases, the sediments can contain more dangerous substances, such heavy
metals and PCB’s. Stanley says communities should be sure to weigh the
environmental consequences before removing a dam.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Mark Brush.
Lawmakers have introduced a bill that they hope will reinvigorate the fight against aquatic invasive species. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports:
Transcript
Lawmakers have introduced a bill that they hope will reinvigorate the
fight against aquatic invasive species. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Mark Brush reports:
The bill is an attempt by lawmakers to beef up the National Invasive
Species Act of 1996. Critics say that the old law didn’t go far enough
in protecting the U.S. from importing harmful species.
Allegra Cangelosi is a senior policy analyst with the Northeast-Midwest
Institute. She says that federal and state agencies and research
organizations, must work together to be successful.
“One of the characteristics of these invasive species is that they can
come in your live seafood package or they could come in your bait
bucket, or in your ship – there’s so many different vectors by which
invasive species come, and there’s no one agency that has jurisdiction
over all of them.”
Cangelosi says if the bill is passed into law, it will improve the way
agencies cooperate in tackling the invasive species problem. The bill
also calls for current funding levels to be quadrupled.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Mark Brush.
A commission that monitors the environmental health of the Great Lakes says current trends fall short of protecting the Great Lakes from pollution. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports:
Transcript
A commission that monitors the environmental health of the Great Lakes says current trends fall
short of protecting the Great Lakes from pollution. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark
Brush has more:
Under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, the U.S. and Canada decided to reduce and
clean up pollution in the Great Lakes.
Thirty years have gone by… and now the commission that monitors the progress says that the
countries have yet to make a strong commitment to clean up the lakes.
Dennis Schornack is the U.S. Chair of the International Joint Commission.
“The public cannot always safely swim at Great Lakes beaches, nor safely eat
many of the fish from the Great Lakes.”
Schornack made the statement while presenting the Commission’s latest two-year report on the
lakes. This report echoes much of the criticisms of the Commission’s last report.
Schornack says despite the current focus on national security issues in Congress – it shouldn’t
overlook spending to clean up the Great Lakes. He says it’s a pressing public health issue.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Mark Brush..
The West Nile virus is spreading, but as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports… researchers say that over time… our bodies might become immune to the virus:
Transcript
The West Nile virus is spreading. But as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports, over time our bodies might become immune to the virus:
You may have seen images in the news of the first victims of WNV – dead crows. Or perhaps you’ve seen images of trucks driving through neighborhoods spraying insecticide. The problem is a potentially fatal virus that’s spread by mosquitoes. But officials say the chances of contracting serious illness from the mosquito is extremely low.
Dr. Michael Gochfeld is with the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He says that West Nile virus is here to stay, but that our body’s defenses will likely be our best ally:
“There are parts of Egypt, for example, where 100% of the people have protective antibodies against West Nile, so I think we’re going to see sort of a natural immunity building up in the population, and it may build up pretty quickly.”
Gochfeld says that in the meantime health departments should focus their efforts on educating the public about precautions to take. Things like wearing long sleeves, using insect repellant, and eliminating small pockets of standing water where mosquitoes breed. For the GLRC, I’m Mark Brush.
Biologists say the invasive Asian carp is knocking on the door of the Great Lakes as populations of the imported fish make their way up the Mississippi River system. And while officials are seeking funding to construct and maintain an electric barrier to keep the fish out, the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports that the fish has another way of getting into the lakes:
Transcript
Biologists say the invasive Asian carp is knocking on the door of the Great Lakes as populations of the imported fish make their way up the Mississippi River system. And while officials are seeking funding to construct and maintain an electric barrier to keep the fish out, the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports that the fish has another way of getting into the Lakes:
Two years ago an Asian carp was netted in Lake Erie. And another was found
in a fountain in downtown Toronto. These fish were more than likely released
by humans. And while biologists have not yet found evidence of an
established population of Asian carp… they fear more releases like these
could lead to the spread of this harmful fish.
Dennis Schornack is the U.S. Chair of the International Joint Commission, a
governmental body which monitors the waters between Canada and the U.S. He
says that certain traditions of Asian immigrants may be unknowingly contributing to the problem:
“We are advised that there are certain customs in the Asian community which
involve not only eating the fish, but giving the fish back to the source, so
that it’s sort of, ‘buy two, eat one, return one.'”
Schornack says that the governments of Canada and the U.S. should educate
those who buy Asian carp for food about the threat the fish pose to the
Great Lakes ecosystem. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Mark
Brush.
A recent federal report states that the EPA is not doing what it should to clean up polluted areas around the Great Lakes. And as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports – it’s not the first time the agency has been told about the problems:
Transcript
A recent federal report states that the EPA is not doing what it should to clean-up polluted areas around the Great Lakes, and as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports… it’s not the first time the agency has been told about the problems:
More than ten years ago the General Accounting Office said that the EPA should better coordinate it’s efforts to clean-up pollution hot-spots known as “Areas of Concern,” and three years ago the EPA’s Office of Inspector General also said that better coordination is needed.
So far, of these 26 polluted areas located within the U.S., none have been completely cleaned up. The most recent GAO report says that the slow progress is due increasing budget cuts, and the lack of a clearly defined department within the EPA that’s responsible for the program. Gary Gulezian is the director of the EPA’s Great Lakes National Program Office.
“I think that when the program was originally established people didn’t realize just how complicated, and complex, and expensive the problems would be to address. I think that we realize that now, and we realize it’s going to take new efforts and new coordination to get the job done.”
Gulezian
says that the EPA will lay out its roles
and responsibilities for the project in the coming months.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Mark Brush.
Marian Byrnes has been called the "environmental conscience of the Calumet." She has been a key leader in getting the city of Chicago, and the state of Illinois, to see the value of Calumet's natural areas. Photo by Mark Brush.
The Big Marsh is known as the jewel of the Lake Calumet wetlands. It's the largest in the Calumet Open Space Reserve. The closed Acme Coke Plant is on the horizon. Photo by Mark Brush.
Generations of families grew up with the steel industry, and instead of moving out, families often added on to their houses to make more room. These balloon frame houses can be found throughout the neighborhoods in the Calumet area. Photo by Mark Brush.
In an area in south Chicago you can see the remnants of a steel industry that has had better days – silent smokestacks looming on the horizon, empty parking lots, and for sale signs in front yards. The Calumet region was once a haven for big industry… and because of that it is also home to a list of seemingly endless environmental problems. Many people thought the problems were too great to overcome, but as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports… that attitude is changing:
Transcript
In an area in south Chicago you can see the remnants of a steel industry that has had better days – silent smokestacks looming on the horizon, empty parking lots, and for sale signs in front yards. The Calumet region was once a haven for big industry… and because of that it is also home to a list of seemingly endless environmental problems. Many people thought the problems were too great to overcome, but as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports…that attitude is changing:
If you’ve ever driven by Chicago’s south side, you’ve likely seen the smokestacks and factories that dot this old industrial area.
But when you get off the main highway and drive down the back roads of Calumet, you see something you wouldn’t expect – remnants of unique wetlands and prairies. It’s an area where thousands of migrating birds come each spring. Herons, egrets, and cranes carefully pluck their food from these marshes – marshes that are right next to chemical factories and toxic city dumps.
(Bring up sound of sparrows and outdoors)
The sun is setting in this part of the Calumet – some sparrows nearby are settling down for the night – and Marian Byrnes is showing me around the places she’s come to know from living and working here for more than 20 years.
“This land is mostly slag on the banks of Indian Creek, but it’s not considered hazardous.”
“How would the slag get here?”
“Oh, it was waste from Steel Mills – mostly Republic Steel which was north of here.”
(Fade her under + continue outdoor sound)
Marian Byrnes is a retired public school teacher. And at age 76, she volunteers her time as the executive director of the Southeast Environmental Task Force. She repeatedly meets with businesses, community groups, and city and state advisory boards – patiently delivering her message that the Calumet region is worth protecting.
And over the years Marian, and others like her, have steadily worked against a city that didn’t seem to care about the natural areas in Calumet. For many of them, it began more than twenty years ago, when they got a note from the Chicago Transit Authority in their mailbox. The note outlined the Transit Authority’s plan to build a bus barn on their neighborhood’s prairie:
“It was like having our own little forest preserve right behind our houses. You can walk out there, and when you get out – maybe a block or so – you’re not aware that you’re in the city at all. I mean you can’t even see the houses, so it’s just a wonderful place to be in touch with nature.”
They convinced the transit authority to build the bus-barn elsewhere. And in the years that followed they fought off other proposals such as plans to build a toxic waste incinerator, and plans to re-open old city dumps.
But despite those successes, big environmental problems still persist. And the list of contamination is intimidating – heavy metals, PCBs, and leaking landfills. The problems are so overwhelming that when planners in Chicago were thinking about spreading miles and miles of concrete for a new airport, Calumet was thought of as an ideal location.
Kathy Dickhut works in the planning department for the city of Chicago:
“The area does have a lot of environmental problems. Ten years ago the thinking was it was all dirty, environmentally dirty, and that was sort of across the board, …so one way to deal with that is, you know to cover the whole thing up.”
But local environmental and community groups became united in their opposition to the plan. And instead of an airport, the local groups asked the National Park Service to designate the area as an ecological park.
And slowly but surely, the city began to look at the area in a new light:
“I think people didn’t realize just how much opposition there would be to paving over this area. I mean the airport proposal was quite dramatic, and because it was quite dramatic, there was quite dramatic outcry about it – so once that played out – we had to look at it again in a different way. And what we’ve done is really look at the resources that we do have here, which are substantial, and how we can improve those.”
Today, the city appears to have a completely different attitude about the Calumet area. Chicago lawmakers recently passed a land use plan that calls for the best of both worlds. They want to protect and clean up the natural prairies and wetlands – while at the same time – attract new businesses to build on old industrial sites.
City planners hope to balance what may be seen as competing goals (attracting new industries AND cleaning up the environment) by prioritizing where to build and where to preserve. And when they do build – planners are encouraging green building practices. Practices that complement the surrounding natural areas rather than cover them.
Those involved with the project paint a pretty nice picture of what’s to come.
Lynn Westphal is a researcher for the U.S. Forest Service, and works closely with the city of Chicago on the Calumet project: “Imagine an industrial area with the buildings roofs are green. Where instead of turf around – you have native grasses and because of that you have more birds and butterflies… you’ve got bicycle access, people fishing on their lunch breaks…. And it’s not far from becoming a reality. This is all very doable. So it’s not totally hypothetical.”
And in fact, movement toward that new vision is already underway. The Ford Motor Company is building a new industrial park for its suppliers. And many of the green building practices Westphal describes will be used. And the Corps of Engineers is spending more than 6 million dollars to clean up an area known as Indian Ridge Marsh.
But those involved with the transition of this area say that leadership from the community will be the key to its eventual success.
Meanwhile, the Southeast Environmental Task Force will have a new executive director by this summer…
“…and that’ll be someone who’ll learn to do what I’ve been doing for past 20 years, cause I can’t keep on doing it indefinitely.”
“Do you have any advice for them?”
“Have a lot of patience…”
The same patience Marian Byrnes has used when riding a city bus to meeting after meeting, listening to the community, and working with city officials – all in an effort to create what she believes will be a better future for the people in Calumet.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Mark Brush.
