Author: Bob Kelleher

Governors of the eight Great Lakes states are considering a series ofproposals intended to keep the region’s water in the five Great Lakes. The plan by the Council of Great Lakes Governors would make it a lotharder for private firms or governments to sell water to anyone outsidethe region. But first, the governors need to convince two Canadianprovincial governments and a handful of environmental groups that theproposals are tough enough. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s BobKelleher reports from Duluth, Minnesota:

Transcript

Governors of the eight Great Lakes states are considering a series of proposals
intended to keep the region’s water in the five Great Lakes. The plan by the Council of
Great Lakes Governors would make it a lot harder for private firms or governments to
sell water to anyone outside the region. But first, the governors need to convince two
Canadian provincial governments and a handful of environmental groups that the
proposals are tough enough. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bob Kelleher reports
from Duluth, Minnesota.

Great Lakes residents were alarmed two years ago when a private company announced
plans to sell shiploads of Lake Superior water to customers in Asia. Few would have
missed the water. But if the plan had gone through, it could have established a precedent
for water sales… some of which might be a lot more elaborate than a few shiploads at a
time.

Since then, Canada’s two Great Lakes Provinces, Ontario and Quebec, have banned any
water diversions from one watershed to another . essentially restricting any draw on
water from the Great Lakes to uses within the Great Lakes Basin. United States law is
less stringent . but it does require all eight Great Lakes Governors to sign off on any
bulk exports or diversions from the U-S side of the watershed.

The International Joint Commission – a bi-national body that works on water disputes
between the U-S and Canada – asked both countries to draw up a uniform set of
regulations on water use and diversions. The U-S Governors have responded.

It’s not as easy as it sounds to block water sales. Under the North American Free Trade
Agreement, water that’s been processed . like bottled water . could be considered a
commercial product open to free trade. U-S States are also limited in their ability to stop
water trade under U-S Interstate Commerce regulations. A business could challenge
attempts to stop it from selling legally obtained water.
But there is a method to circumvent free trade and commerce rules, according to Jeff
Edstrom, a Senior Planner with the Council Of Great Lakes Governors –

“Under free trade laws, and under U-S federal law, and U-S Federal court
rulings, you can protect the water as long as it is to protect natural resources.”

According to the Governors, their proposal would protect, conserve, restore and
improve the water and water dependent natural resources of the Great Lakes Basin. And
they say it would make it a lot more difficult to sell large quantities of water to the
highest bidder. But some diversions would be allowed, with limited review, if they’re
less than one million gallons a day and meet other criteria. Edstrom says the exemption
would be used when people outside the lake’s basins need fresh water with no other
feasible alternative.

“For instance, if you’ve got a contaminated water supply in a community. Uh,
that’s why there’s a little bit more latitude; it’s more for public health; it’s not for any
commercial enterprise.”

But the exemption is a problem for environmental groups, which had hoped for even
more stringent restrictions . like a total ban on water sales outside the basin. This plan
gives individual governors latitude on new diversion up to a million gallons. John
Jackson, a board member with an environmental coalition called Great Lakes United,
says that’s too much.

“Well that’s a significant amount of water – that’s every day diverting a million
gallons of water a day out of the basin – you know, 365 days a year. That adds up to a
lot. And if you think that there could be a lot of different applicants that come in just
under the million gallons per day, that’s a major slackening of the rules.”

And while the Governors say they need latitude to meet urgent water needs, Jackson
thinks the Governors have included the exemption so water can still be used to fuel
unbridled growth.

And Jackson says new diversions are not the only problem with the proposal. He says
there’s also too little emphasis on current water uses. He wants restrictions on
agricultural, industrial and home water uses across the great lakes. He says the region
will need to demonstrate conservation if it expects to convince the world that diversions
need to be limited to protect the watershed.

Across the border, the Governor’s efforts have drawn a mixed reaction.
The Canadian Premiers want a moratorium on any exports and diversions until the rules
can be adopted. Brett Kelly is with the office of the Ontario Minister of Natural
Resources

“We in Ontario have a policy of no net loss and we do not allow or permit
diversions across watersheds here in Ontario. So, we are reviewing the annex from that
standard.”

Meanwhile, if some scientists are correct, the need for Great Lakes water controls may
be increasing. Recent warm summers and dry winters, coupled with normal cycles in
annual rainfall, have helped push the lake’s levels downward. Lake Superior’s surface
dropped seven inches over the past year.

The Governor’s proposals are available for public comment until the end of February.
The Governor’s will then work with their Canadian counterparts to draft the final
proposal, called the annex to the Great Lakes Charter.

For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Bob Kelleher.

Century-old logs that have rested on the bottom of lakes and rivers inthe Great Lakes region are finding new life as prized furniture,paneling, cabinets and picture frames. But the hottest demand for thelong sunken wood may be from musicians, as they discover the tone andresonance of water soaked wood. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s BobKelleherreports:

Transcript

Century old logs that have rested on the bottom of lakes and rivers in the Great
Lakes region are finding new life as prized furniture, paneling, cabinets and picture
frames. But the hottest demand for the long sunken wood may be from musicians, as
they discover the tone and resonance of water soaked wood. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Bob Kelleher reports.

Scott Mitchen logs old growth timber, huge red and white pines,
cedar
and maples that are rarely seen anymore, except on the bottoms of
rivers
and lakes. Ten years ago Mitchen was looking for shipwrecks under Lake
Superior but found instead a fortune of sunken logs. Huge logs, some
several feet across … the remnants of the old growth pine and
hardwoods cut 150 years ago. Thousands of the logs waterlogged and sank as they
were floated outside waterfront sawmills. They’ve been preserved since on
the lake bottom, in cold, fresh water.

“This wasn’t meant to go to the bottom and stay there. This was meant to be utilized.”

{Sound of mill}

Mitchen’s discovery has grown into a bustling business, now housed in a
sprawling, and dank, manufacturing building in Ashland, Wisconsin. He
calls the recovered wood Timeless Timber. Its density and tight growth
rings make it popular for fine furniture, paneling and floors. But its
most alluring use might be on stage where it makes spectacular
musical instruments.

“Every instrument maker and musician alive today wishes they could
go back; a hundred to four hundred, five hundred years ago, and use the wood
Stradivari’s used.”

Mitchen says wood grown today is different from wood grown centuries
ago. The ancient forests grew slowly, in the shade of a canopy of needles or
leaves. This slow growth created narrow growth rings. Such rings make
beautiful wood, and might also help create the tone in a wooden musical
instrument. But the real key to the timber Mitchen is harvesting is the
lumber’s long soak in very cold water. The wood is amazingly
preserved, but the wood cells have become hollow.

“When dried you have a zillion hollowed out cell walls that act like
speaker cabinets that resonate the wood. In drums it’s thirty percent
longer; in guitars it’s fifty to seventy percent longer. It various per
instrument, from harps to flutes. Just about everything’s been made that
I know of outside of a piano right now.”

California-based Drum Workshop Inc. has sold Timeless Timber drum sets
to set the beat for bands like N’Sync, Aerosmith and Rush. A Waukesha,
Wisconsin Company expects to turn our two hundred Timeless Timber
guitars.

Eau Claire Wisconsin violin make Scott Hootman says the tight annual
rings and hollow fibers creates a pine with amazing sound qualities.

“You have some, absolutely wonderful sounding wood. You can take
the billets, when you quarter the tops out, and you can hold them and rap on
them, and they ring. It’s just fantastic.”

He’s been building with Timeless Timber since 1997, making violins,
mandolins, cellos, and dulcimers.

{Sound of violin}

Ashland Violinist Debra Powers says the water creates magic in a musical
instrument.

“There’s something about wood that’s been submerged in water, that
enlarges the cells of the wood. And it helps it capture the sound,
better. It’s exactly how Antonio Stradivarius made his violins, and his violins are the best in the world.”

The top of Power’s violin is carved from ancient spruce, and the bottom
and ribs from a wood called curly maple. Powers say the result is a violin
with a very resonate sound.

“It rings beautifully, just .. (pling, pling) … and, I … it’s
not like putting any effort into playing it. It plays itself. (plinks)
It rings for a long time, it just has a beautiful resonance to it.”

It’s been ten years since Scott Mitchen first pulled water soaked logs
from the bottom of Lake Superior. The business has always been a struggle
between bureaucrats and regulations. There’s never enough cash. But
the tide may have turned. Now merged with a publicly traded company called
Enviro-Recovery Inc., Mitchen’s Timeless Timber is beginning to sell.
A major chain store is ready to market products from cutting boards to
floor panels.

“They want you to be able to guarantee a certain amount of board
footage every month, of a certain grade, of a certain species. And we’ve
never had that opportunity until this year.”

Mitchen’s Timeless timber is now harvested in New York, Michigan and two
Canadian Provinces. But, It’s hard to maintain supply when northern
lakes
freeze. So the company has expanded to southern rivers and swamps
and all the way to South America, where they’ve acquired a Brazilian
firm with logging rights from under the Amazon river. Just the trees still
standing behind Amazon dams could provide years of ancient lumber.

“Um, we have a reserve down there that’s estimated at ninety
billion board feet, with the third most common species mahogany.”

(Sound of violin)

But most gratifying may be the musical instrument market where the
wood can be seen, and heard.

For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Bob Kelleher.