Pollution at Valley Forge

Waste from former industrial plants can pollute some of the nation’s
most natural areas, including state and national park land. Brad
Linder reports that even a treasured historic site made famous by George
Washington is at risk:

Transcript

Waste from former industrial plants can pollute some of the nation’s
most natural areas, including state and national park land. Brad
Linder reports that even a treasured historic site made famous by George
Washington is at risk:


General George Washington and his troops braved cold weather and
starvation for six months in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The site’s now
a national historic park. But for much of the 20th century, part of the
site was also home to an asbestos manufacturing plant.


Attorney Andy Hartzell is with the state of Pennsylvania, which recently
reached an agreement with the federal government to split the 11
million dollar cleanup cost. He says just because the site holds
historic significance doesn’t mean it was safe from industrial waste:


“Since the industrial revolution our country’s had an industrialized
society, and standards were different in the 1800s than they were in
the 1900s, than they are today. So, sometimes things like this happen.”


Much of the asbestos has already been buried on site, and removing it
would be more dangerous than leaving it in place. Only the asbestos on
the surface will be moved.


For the Environment Report, I’m Brad Linder.

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Battle Over the Right to Grow Rice

  • Roger LaBine winnows the wild rice. (Photo by Michael Loukinen, Up North Films)

Since European settlers first came to this country they have had serious conflicts with Native Americans. The GLRC’s Sandy Hausman reports on one modern-day dispute between a Native American tribe and communities in the upper Midwest:

Transcript

Since European settlers first came to this country they have had serious conflicts with
Native Americans. The GLRC’s Sandy Hausman reports on one modern-day dispute
between a Native American tribe and communities in the upper Midwest:


(Sound of Ojibwe music)


The Ojibwe tribe first came to the north woods of Michigan and Wisconsin hundreds of
years ago. They say their migration from the east coast was guided by prophets. Those
prophets told them to keep moving until they came to a place where food grows on the
water. Roger Labine is a spiritual leader with the tribe. He says that food was wild rice:


“This was a gift to us. This is something that is very, very sacred to us. This is very
important, just as our language. This is part of who we are.”


For hundreds of years, wild rice was a staple of the tribe’s diet, but starting in the 1930s,
private construction of hydroelectric dams pushed water levels in rice growing areas up.
High water killed most of the plants and took a toll on wildlife. Bob Evans is a biologist
with the U.S. Forest Service. He says fish, bird and insect populations dropped
dramatically:


“Black tern is a declining, threatened species that is known to use wild rice beds,
Trumpeter swans. They’re a big user of rice beds. Um, just a whole lot of plants and
animals. It’s really a whole ecosystem in itself.”


So in 1995, the tribe, the U.S. Forest Service and several other government agencies
demanded a change. A year later, the federal government ordered dam operators to drop
their maximum water levels by 9 inches. The dam owners appealed that decision, but in
2001 a federal court ruled against them.


That fall, the Ojibwe who live on Lac Vieux
Desert harvested nearly 16 acres of wild rice and this summer, the tribe is tending more than 55 acres.
But the resurgence of rice beds comes at a price. Lower lake levels have left docks in this
boating community high and dry, created muddy shorelines and made long-time residents
and summer boaters angry:


“I used to come here and dock all the time. We picnicked here. I had to walk in 50 feet,
because there wasn’t enough water to float a pontoon, and it’s that way all around the
lake.”


Ken Lacount is president of the Lac Vieux Desert homeowners association. He first
came here in the 1940s and doesn’t see why his cultural traditions should take a backseat
to those of the Ojibwe:


“My grandfather built one of the first resorts. I fished in Rice Bay my entire life. That
was his favorite place to take me.”


Lacount is bitter. He and his neighbors feel powerless to change the situation, since a
federal court has ruled for the Ojibwa. Defenders of that decision say water levels are
especially low because of a prolonged drought in region. When that ends, they predict
lake levels will rise, and homeowners on Lac Vieux Desert will be happier.


(Sound of paddling)


Such conflicts are nothing new. Ron Seeley is a reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal. He’s covered Native American issues for more than 20 years. Paddling through the rice beds, he recalls an earlier battle
over fishing rights. In the late 80s, a court ruled the Ojibwe were entitled by treaty to
spear fish each spring. Local fishermen worried the practice would destroy their industry:


“Sometimes thousands of people would show up at the landings on a spring night. Tribal
members from all over the upper Midwest would come to support the spearers and drum
and chant. The anti-Indian forces were arrested for using wrist rockets or real powerful
sling shots to shoot pellets at the tribal members while they were out spearing. It was a
violent time up here.”


As court after court upheld the rights of native spear fishermen, and as commercial
fishermen continue to prosper, hostilities subsided and now, as the Native Americans prepare for
their biggest rice harvest in more than 50 years, the Ojibwe hope that the controversy over water levels
will also die down. Tribal leader Roger Labine says wild rice is a symbol of the Ojibwe’s survival:


“This is an endangered species. It’s something that we’re fighting to save, just like the
eagle, just like the wolf. We were put here to care for Mother Earth and all the gifts that
the creator gave us.”


And having won the first battle to restore rice beds, Labine is hoping to secure even
greater protection for these wetlands by asking the federal government to declare the rice
beds historic.


For the GLRC, I’m Sandy Hausman.

Related Links

Tug-Of-War Over Great Lakes Seawall

  • Some people who escape to Promontory Point from the "concrete jungle" of Chicago are worried about the Point's future. (Photo by James Lin)

Cities along the Great Lakes often depend on sea walls to keep the crashing waves from eroding the shoreline. Some of those walls have been around for close to a century. One city wants to rebuild its protective walls. But the neighborhood near one popular section is not happy about it. They say the huge limestone blocks give the area character. They don’t want concrete to replace any of it. But the structure is deteriorating, and the city and Army Corps of Engineers want to shore it up. The plan for repairing the seawall is igniting an age-old debate between historic preservation and shoreline protection… and it’s got an entire neighborhood ready to fight. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lynette Kalsnes has more:

Transcript

Cities along the Great Lakes often depend on sea walls
to keep the crashing waves from eroding the shoreline. Some of
those walls have been around for close to a century. One city wants
to rebuild its protective walls. But the neighborhood near one popular
section is not happy about it.


They say the huge limestone blocks give
the area character. They don’t want concrete to replace any of it. But
the structure is deteriorating, and the city and Army Corps of Engineers
want to shore it up. The plan for repairing the seawall is igniting an
age-old debate between historic preservation and shoreline protection…
and it’s got an entire neighborhood ready to fight. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Lynette Kalsnes has more:


(Sound of water)


Jack Reed stands on the edge of the huge limestone rocks that make up the seawall, drying himself off. He just swam a mile along the shore of Lake Michigan. He drapes a big flannel sheet over his head that he’s fashioned into a makeshift changing tent, and modestly gets out of his swimsuit.


The 67-year-old has been swimming off this rocky peninsula that juts into Lake Michigan for forty years now. He says the trees and the giant limestone rocks made him appreciate nature and realize how much he needs a break from the city.


“I sort of hate to leave and go back to the grind, ’cause when you’re out here, you can relax and look at the sky and get in the water and watch the birds and the clouds go by. It’s like a vacation trip, just as long as you have time for.”


The place where Reed comes to swim and relax is called Promontory Point. The point is lined with large limestone blocks that stretch along the water like a chunky, irregular staircase.
People come here to swim, fish and bicycle. They have picnics, walk their dogs and throw Frisbees.


The city and Army Corps want to replace a lot of the limestone with concrete. They say the limestone seawall is getting weak. They just overcame an important obstacle by winning approval for their concept from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency which recognizes the limestone wall as a historic part of Chicago. Jack Reed says replacing the limestone with concrete would make the Point seem sterile.


“The thing about concrete is it’s artificial. It’s manmade. We spend most of our lives inside buildings and buses and subway tunnels; that’s all manmade.”


Reed says he comes here to escape what he calls the “concrete jungle” of the city. He says the limestone makes a soft, naturalistic transition between land and water. But the lakeshore isn’t as natural as it looks.


Less than a century ago, this whole area was part of the lake. The point was created by dumping debris into the lake in the 1920s. Workers built the limestone seawalls on top of wood shorings. Now the wood is rotting, and the rocks are shifting. The city and the Army Corps say that’s dangerous for people and for the shoreline.


And the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency says there needs to be balance between safety and historic preservation and making the shoreline accessible to people with disabilities. David Blanchette is with the state agency. He says the wall has to be reconstructed to stabilize the shoreline.


“Our job is to make sure that this historical resource, which was built for a specific purpose quite some time ago, preserves as much hisotric character as possible, but still allows it to function for its intended use.”


The work at Promontory Point is part of a 300-million dollar project to replace miles of old limestone revetments along the city’s lakeshore, but the point has caused a snag in the plan. Community members and preservationists have stalled the work at Promontory Point for years now.


The Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois put the point on its list of ten most endangered historic places in the state, putting it at odds with the Historic Preservation agency.
And Council president David Bahlman says it’s one of the few spots left where the lakeshore hasn’t been hardened with concrete.


“Let’s say it’s an unacceptable compromise that moves closer to ensuring that two-thirds of the point is going to be destroyed.”


Most critics acknowledge something needs to be done to protect the shore from erosion. But they say it’s entirely possible to come up with a plan that preserves limestone on the entire seawall, not just part of it. A community group is now lobbying the U.S. Senate for legislation to prevent funding for construction unless the limestone wall is preserved much as it is. A similar measure has already passed the U.S. House.


For the GLRC, I’m Lynette Kalsnes.

Related Links

Some Success in Non-Native Beetle Fight

  • The Asian Longhorned Beetle rapidly kills hardwood trees and had plagued Chicago for some time, but officials now report that progress is being made in the fight against the beetle population. (Photo courtesy of the Michigan DNR)

The City of Chicago and the U.S. Department of Agriculture
are celebrating a small victory in their battle against an invasive pest. The Asian Longhorned Beetle arrived from China in packing materials and is responsible for destroying thousands of hardwood trees in North America. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Shawn Allee has more:

Transcript

The City of Chicago and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are celebrating a small victory in their battle against an invasive pest. The Asian Longhorned Beetle arrived from China and is responsible for destroying thousands of hardwood trees in North America. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Shawn Allee has more.


Chicago saw its first Asian Longhorned Beetle back in 1998. USDA and Chicago officials quickly destroyed more than fifteen hundred trees to stop the infestation. They also slapped a quarantine on the historic Ravenswood neighborhood, which prevented residents from removing tree cuttings from the area.


Now officials are lifting those restrictions, saying no one’s seen the bug in the area’s stately tree canopy for nearly two years. Joe McCarthy is the City of Chicago’s chief forester. He says a beetle hotline and a diligent press made the difference.


“There’s so much coverage of this thing, that the beetle is on TV, out in the papers, on front pages. And that’s how all the main infestations were found in the Chicago area.”


McCarthy points out that another Chicago neighborhood is still under quarantine.


The USDA is also fighting the Asian Longhorned Beetle in New York City and parts of New Jersey.


For the GLRC, I’m Shawn Allee.

Related Links

Holy Grail of Great Lakes Shipwrecks Found?

  • For a long time, anything any diver salvaged could be claimed as his or her own. Since the Abandoned Shipwreck Act of 1987, anything divers find on public land remains public. But a new discovery may bend some rules. (Photo courtesy of NOAA)

A shipwreck hunter believes he might have found what’s been described as the Holy Grail of Great Lakes wrecks. His find has triggered a new debate over who can lay claim to historic shipwrecks and what should happen to them. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Sally Eisele reports:

Transcript

A shipwreck hunter believes he might have found what’s been described as the Holy Grail of Great Lakes wrecks. His find has triggered a new debate over who can lay claim to historic shipwrecks and what should happen to them. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Sally Eisele reports:


Of the thousands of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, the wreck of the Griffin is probably the most legendary. For a few reasons. She was built by somebody legendary – French explorer Rene-Robert Cavalier Sieur de La Salle, she was the first European ship to sail the Upper Great Lakes… and she was the first to sink. Actually, she sank on her maiden voyage in 1769, not exactly one of La Salle’s bigger success stories. But the mystery she left behind is pretty big – and it has pretty well flummoxed Great Lakes historians for hundreds of years. Shipwreck scholar Steven Herald is the director of the Manistee County Historical Museum.


“The Griffin loaded its first and only freight cargo downbound at Green Bay, and there has never been a reliable report of anyone who has seen the vessel since. It left Green Bay and disappeared totally.”


Did she run aground? Sink to the bottom of Lake Michigan? No one knows, But Steven Libert, a long-time shipwreck hunter, thinks he might have found a clue. What he’s excited about appears to be a long, wooden pole sticking out of the sand in about 80 feet of water in northwestern Lake Michigan. It doesn’t look like much. But Rick Robol, the attorney for Libert’s company Great Lakes Exploration, says tests indicate it could date back to the 17th century. And it could be part of a ship.


“Great Lakes Exploration does not know at this point what is there. And it does not know whether in fact it is the Griffin or not. Certainly if it were the Griffin, it would be a very substantial find.”


Great Lakes Exploration has filed suit in federal court seeking salvage rights to the site. But the site is in Michigan waters and the state has filed a motion to have the case dismissed. State archaeologist John Halsey says whatever there is should belong to the public, not a private company.


“They have the money to go out and look, they have the money to go out and find, but what they don’t have is the permission to bring stuff up. That’s where the rubber meets the road.”


The state argues the Federal Abandoned Shipwreck Act of 1987 gives any state title to historic wrecks in its waters. Before its passage, pretty much anybody in a rubber suit could salvage shipwrecks. And they did – the evidence is rusting out in garages across the country. The federal law sought to protect these historic sites – which, in the cold fresh water of the Great Lakes, are often well-preserved time capsules. But Wisconsin shipwreck researcher, Brendon Baillod, says a number of cases have already shown the law is full of technical loopholes if you have the money and time to challenge it.


“We have a lot of wrecks that are open game legally. It really is up to the judge who gets the case before them.”


If Great Lakes Exploration does clear the legal hurdles, the next question will be academic. What should happen to their findings? Attorney Rick Robol says it all depends on what’s there.


“Really, shipwrecks have to be dealt with on a case by case basis. There are some shipwrecks that may best remain in situ, that is, on site, and there are other that should be recovered. It’s impossible to determine what’s best for a particular wreck without first scientifically studying it.”


At this stage, it’s anybody’s guess as to whether the site contains the remains of a ship or just a pile of very old scrapwood. But preservationists such as historian Steven Herald, argue anything of historical value should really just be left there.


“I’m a great one for leaving it where it is and studying it in as much detail as possible. The easiest way to preserve it is to keep it there.”


One thing is certain, any excavation would likely involve many years and millions of dollars. Oh, and there’s another possibility too, if in fact the Griffin is found. Technically, the vessel still belongs to France, which was in charge around here after all at the time of La Salle’s adventures.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Sally Eisele.

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Park Service to Preserve Nature or History?

  • Farms that had been left to deteriorate are now being restored. (Photo courtesy of National Park Service)

The National Park Service not only protects scenic natural areas, it also preserves historic places. Occasionally those two missions compete. Right now the Park Service is trying to find a balance between managing a beautiful stretch of Great Lakes shoreline and restoring the remnants of a once thriving farm community that illustrates a rarely seen view of early agricultural life in this country. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Sally Eisele reports:

Transcript

The National Park Service not only protects scenic natural areas, it also preserves historic places.
Occasionally those two missions compete. Right now the Park Service is trying to find a balance between
managing a beautiful stretch of Great Lakes shoreline and restoring the remnants of a once thriving farm
community that illustrates a rarely seen view of early agricultural life in this country. The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Sally Eisele reports:


Millions of tourists visit the white sand beaches of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National lakeshore in northern
Michigan. Most of them pass right by Port Oneida. There are no tourist signs for the old farming
community along the scenic lakeshore highway. Really the first thing you notice is the graveyard.


(sound of cemetery gate)


The headstones display the faded names of the German and Bohemian immigrants who settled Port Oneida
in the 19th century. From the cemetery the remains of their farmsteads can be found along the narrow park
roads that weave their way toward Lake Michigan.


“Let’s see the lake over here.” (sound fades under)


On a bluff overlooking the lake, local historian Kathryn Eckert is strolling the grounds of one of the old
family farms. She’s with a group called Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear. It’s working with the Park
Service to save these farms.


“What is important is not just the houses and the buildings but the landscape as well. You see the
spirea, the raspberries… the open fields. Over here to the east the privy…”


The remnants of the farm are everywhere. The old rose bushes have grown wild. The daylilies now peak
from behind tall field grasses. But, the original footprint of the farmstead is clearly there.


“When I was growing up there, everybody had these little farms.”


Martin Basch is the great grandson of one of the first settlers. The original family farm, not far from the
cemetery, is now in ruins.


“When the park service took over the Martin Basch farm there was a barn there, a grainery a
blacksmith shop…and these buildings just collapsed.”


For many years that was what the park service wanted. When the national lakeshore was created in the
1970’s, park managers intended to let Port Oneida return to its original forested state. Park historian Kim
Mann says it took years for preservationists to convince them the rickety old buildings were as valuable as
the land.


“Trying to preserve the beauty the scenery, also the threatened and endangered species–things like
that were really easy. It was really difficult to come in and say this corncrib is significant? This
privy? That has still been a learning curve to help people understand that you don’t just save just
the one representational privy. You want to save the collection because it tells the whole story.”


Now, the 20 farmsteads of Port Oneida are on the National Register of Historic Places. Little by little, the
Park Service is working to restore them.


(sound of hammer, chisel, and saw)


It’s a job that often involves volunteers. On this day, a group of park employees is working with
community members to save an old log cabin down the road from Port Oneida–They’re sawing a huge
beam to help shore up the building.


“This is a sill log or one of the bottom logs made of white oak. Primarily because it stands up to
weather and water better. We don’t want the bottom of the building to rot out again. At least any
time soon.”


Many of the old buildings in the park have been temporarily stabilized. But the long term plan is much less
clear. The Park Service hopes to find private sector partners who can restore the buildings and find ways to
use them.


(sound of field)


One of the first such partners is the Shielding Tree Nature Center, which renovated an old farmstead and
turned the hayfields into a nature preserve. Director Mary Rupert is hoping to sign a 60-year lease
agreement but worries as other partners come in, the character of the area may change.


“Our priority is the land. The buildings are second to that. If every farmstead had a partner it
would be too much.”


At this point though, the balancing act is to find enough partners with the money to renovate the buildings
and preserve the integrity of the land. Without the private sector, park managers say the farmsteads of Port
Oneida are at risk and with each harsh northern winter another piece of history is lost.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Sally Eisele.

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Zebra Mussels Endanger Historic Shipwrecks

For years, biologists have warned that non-native zebra mussels threaten plant and animal species throughout the Great Lakes. Now, underwater archeologists say the mussels are also damaging historic shipwrecks. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Brian Mann visited an underwater museum on Lake Champlain and has our story:

Transcript

For years, biologists have warned that non-native “zebra mussels” threaten
plant and animal species throughout the Great Lakes. Now, underwater
archeologists say the mussels are also damaging historic shipwrecks. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Brian Mann visited an underwater museum on Lake Champlain and has our story:


It’s mid-afternoon and a haze floats over the dark green water, as dive-master Doug
Jones ties his boat to a yellow buoy. New York’s Adirondack mountains rise in the distance, but our destination this morning lies below the waves. Forty feet down on the silty bottom sits the wreck of a ship known as the Burlington Bay Horse Ferry…


“I suggest you do a tour around the wreck. It is possible to duck underneath part
of the decking that’s there. Please don’t, okay. It’s very fragile, especially the spokes to the paddlewheels that are sticking out. So buoyancy control is really important.”


The horse-powered ferry is one of six ships in Lake Champlain’s Underwater
Historic Preserve. Underwater sites like this one are sprinkled throughout
the Great Lakes. From commercial barges to warships, archeologists say
these wrecks hold a vital part of the region’s history.


(Respirator check and dive master chatter)


Perched on the dive platform, I go through a final equipment check. I’m
sheathed from head to toe in a wet suit, insulation against the cold water.


(big splash)


“Now come on over here and hang onto the buoy.”


Here on the lake, each wreck has its own buoy and a network of guide ropes.
Before the ropes were installed, divers sometimes bumped against the ships’
fragile timbers. After a pause to get my bearings, I slip below the
surface.


(Air bubble ambience)


Looking down, I see the buoy chain dwindle away into shadow. As I descend,
the water is cold and thick. Forty feet down, I reach the bottom. A dozen
strokes with my flippers and there it is, a man-made shape forming itself
out of shadows and watery dust.


I glide slowly past the delicate spokes of the paddle wheel. I drift above
the intricate, exposed ribbing of the deck.


“The horse ferry is the only known example of this type of vessel in North
America.”


Chris Sabick is Director of Conservation at the Lake Champlain Maritime
Museum, where they’ve built a half-scale model of the ship and its complex
gears.


(Paddlewheel sound)


Sabick: “It was a vessel type that was fairly widespread during the
19th century. But it’s one of those vessel types that has slipped
through the cracks of history and just kind of faded away.”


The lake’s murky water preserved the horse ferry. The fresh water is cold
and calm. The silt actually protects artifacts from bacteria. In many parts of
the Great Lakes, ships like this one have rested for centuries, completely
intact.


(Shells rattling)


But now that’s changing. A box of tiny, brown and white shells has been
added to the Maritime Museum’s display. It’s a new organism – the zebra mussel.
They arrived in the Great Lakes in the late 1980s, carried in the ballast
tanks of ships. Zebra mussels have wreaked havoc on native fish and plant
species. But they’ve also coated hundreds of historic wrecks:


Sabick: “The enormous weight of hundreds of thousands of these
shells on water-logged wood can obviously cause things to collapse.”


Using wrecks like the Horse Ferry, scientists throughout the Great Lakes are
studying ways that zebra mussels actually change the water’s protective
chemistry:


Sabick: “It seems that the microenvironment that exists deep inside the mussel
layer or colony attracts a type of bacteria that accelerates the
degradation of the iron. And obviously all of these shipwrecks are fastened
with iron fasteners.”


Over time, the wrecks could literally come apart at the seams.


(water bubbles)


Back in the water, I draw close to the horse ferry’s bow. Thick layers of
shells coat the ribbing. In places, not an inch of wood is visible.
Researchers say they won’t know for several years how much damage has been
done. But as the zebra mussels continue to spread, scientists fear that
underwater museums like this one could be lost forever.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Brian Mann on Lake Champlain.

Shipwreck Tours Take Off

In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula there’s a way to see shipwrecks withoutgetting wet. Grand Island Shipwreck Tours has the only glassbottomedboat operation on the U.S. side of the Great Lakes. The Great LakesRadio Consortium’s Michelle Corum reports: