October, 1998
Table of Contents
Public Support Needed for Restoring Fox River
NRDA and SuperfundInternational Speaker at St. Norbert's
Initial Plan Available for Public Comment
Please Write Today!
Lake Michigan StockingNatural Step
Binational Fish Habitat
Cormorant Massacre
Public Support Needed for Restoring
Fox River
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is requesting public comments on
an initial plan for the Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA). The
Service was the first federal agency to start serious clean-up planning
for the Fox River PCB problem, with the start of the NRDA three years ago.
(See related article "Wildlife Values").
The NRDA purpose is to confirm and quantify injuries from PCBs to natural
resources in the Fox River, Green Bay, and Lake Michigan.
The Service has been gathering and studying new data and existing reports,
and now has 15 or 20 file cabinets full of organized documentation of the
problem, to build evidence for potential legal actions (if negotiations
with the 7 paper companies fail). This careful preparation is essential
to winning the case, and to convincing the polluters to negotiate seriously.
The NRDA is different from Superfund, because the Service has no fund
of money to start a cleanup until after a negotiated settlement or conclusion
of an NRDA lawsuit. The NRDA is also focussed primarily on damage to economic
values and health of fish and wildlife, not human health or economic damages
not associated with wildlife losses. (The State could have joined the NRDA
and addressed human health, but Gov. Thompson refused to help and has lobbied
to stop the federal NRDA.)
The NRDA also goes beyond requirement of PCB hotspot cleanup (Superfund’s
focus) by requiring additional restoration.
The EPA’s Superfund authority is more immediate and better funded than
the NRDA, but with a different, complimentary focus. The 2 federal programs
can work well together.
The work already done by the NRDA will help to speed up the Superfund
planning; and Superfund can help strengthen and speed the conclusion of
the NRDA.
Initial Plan Available for Public Comment
The Service has announced their draft “Initial Restoration and Compensation
Determination Plan,” which is an important stage in the NRDA process. Now
they need our comments. Essentially, the plan outlines the type of
restoration and compensation the polluters should provide the public ---
in terms of wildlife habitat restoration and other remedies for recovering
lost uses of the river, bay and Lake Michigan.
The paper companies complain that they’re being punished, but the NRDA
is simply requiring them to make amends.
Please Write Today!
The Fox River polluters are trying to stop the NRDA. Please write and give your support!
Write to:
Frank Horvath
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Region 3 (attn: ES/EC-NRDA)
BHW Federal Building
1 Federal Drive
Fort Snelling, MN 55111-4056
Deadline: Mail by Oct. 21
Call and visit the local Service office if you’d like to see a copy of the plan, at 1015 Challenger Court, Green Bay. Phone: 465-7440.
Up to Top
International Speaker
at St. Norbert's
Hilary French, of the international conservation organization Worldwatch will speak on “Critical Environmental Issues in the Asian-Pacific Region.”
Saturday, October 31 at 11:00 a.m. at Bemis International Center, at St. Norbert College, De Pere.
For more information, call (920) 403-3100.
Due to concerns about a potential collapse of portions of the sport
fishery, Lake Michigan fisheries management agencies held a joint lakewide
meeting in September to evaluate the current fish stocking levels and management
objectives on Lake Michigan.
As members of the Lake Michigan Lake Committee, the four state Departments
of Natural Resources (MI, WI, IL, IN) along with the Chippewa-Ottawa Treaty
Fishery Management Authority are collaborating on critical fisheries management
issues.
In this case, at risk is the stability of the Lake Michigan salmonid
fishery (salmonids include both trout and salmon species) which is composed
of native lake trout and introduced chinook salmon, coho salmon, steelhead,
and brown trout.
According to the committee, the salmonid sport fishery on the lake
has been maintained through a stocking program that has averaged 14.7 million
fish annually over the past two decades. Despite (and sometimes because
of) stocking programs, the ecosystem is still susceptible to imbalance
and crashes if careful attention is not paid to survival rates and predator-prey
dynamics. The agencies are concerned that current stocking levels could
lead to a drastic collapse in the chinook fishery similar to a crash in
the late 80's.
The agencies indicate that the reason for instability is a declining
population of alewife in the lake.
Alewife are a non-native but now naturalized and dominant prey fish.
While they are fed on by all 5 top salmonids, chinook take a vast majority
-- consuming perhaps as much as the other 4 species combined. After
chinook, the second major alewife consumer is lake trout, with the other
3 species' impacts considered relatively minor.
The committee is considering several stocking options for the lake
and are attempting to predict outcomes based on agency modeling. The options
range from leaving the levels where they are, to ceasing stocking altogether.
The most likely may be 1) to cut stocking across all five species to achieve
a prey consumption threshold, and 2) to cut only chinook stocking to achieve
the same threshold. There may be other options as well, and the question
of cost to native species and full-ecosystem restoration by managing for
stability in the alewife/chinook fishery needs to be raised by groups concerned
about biodiversity and the lake's natural heritage.
The Habitat Advisory Board of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission has
prepared a draft Binational Habitat Policy and Action Plan. The protection
and rehabilitation of aquatic habitat in the Great Lakes is crucial to
the health and diversity of fisheries that are valuable to the people of
the region. Too often, however, loss of fish habitat resulting from development,
agriculture, pollution, zebra mussels,and many other activities plague
the fisheries and hinder rehabilitation. The draft policy identifies authority,
implementation strategies, and tactics for gains in aquatic habitat to
improve fisheries.
The GLFC is an international organization established by the 1955 Convention
on Great Lakes Fisheries. Through the commission, the U.S. and Canada
work to improve and perpetuate Great Lakes fishery resources. The Habitat
Advisory Board consists of scientists, academicians, and agencies, and
advises the commission on habitat needs in the Great Lakes.
This summer, at least 850 double-crested cormorants were found dead and another 100 mortally wounded on an island in Lake Ontario.
Amidst the bodies, local officials recovered buckets-full of spent 12-guage shot gun shells. The slaughter is the latest and most severe action in the escalating tension between Great Lakes anglers and cormorants in recent years.
The double-crested cormorant is a waterbird that nests in large colonies.
It is native to the Great Lakes and protected under the Migratory Bird
Treaty Act.
Since the 1970s, their population on the Lakes has increased from threatened
status to many thousands. At the same time, populations of certain fish,
particularly bass and perch, have shown steep declines. Recently, alewife
have also shown instability. Many anglers and charter boat groups have
blamed cormorants for the declines and have been lobbying for population
controls including a hunting season, with some advocating taking the law
into their own hands.
According to the National Audubon Society, recent studies of cormorant
diets have shown that salmon and trout make up less than 1% of their diets,
and that the bulk of their diet is small, shallow-water fish including
alewife, bass, sunfish and perch.
Sport fish are estimated to consume about 13% of these small fish,
compared to 0.5%consumed by cormorants. Studies show that cormorants will
feed heavily on hatchery fish released in shallow, near-shore areas. However,
that problem can be significantly reduced by releasing the fish in deeper
waters.
Cormorants have also been accused of displacing other species for rare
nesting habitats on lake islands. Some agencies use harassment techniques
to keep cormorants from colonizing islands hosting egrets, herons and/or
terns.
A special one-day seminar on The Natural Step (TNS), a new economic mechanism for promoting solutions to environmental and social problems, will be held:
Friday, October 30, 1998
8:30 am - 4:30 pm
8 am. --- Registration
W. Lake Superior Sanitary District
2626 Courtland St., Duluth, MN
For info, call (218) 722-2421
or (612) 331-1099
The Natural Step is a creative new approach based on consensus and systems
thinking. Its purpose is to develop and share a common framework comprised
of easily understood, scientifically-based principles that can serve as
a compass to guide society toward a just and sustainable future ---creating
a healthy, safe and vibrant place for living, learning, work and play.
Come learn how environmental responsibility can improve performance,
save money, create jobs, and build community.
These are some of the primary benefits reported by communities, small
and large businesses, nonprofits, government agencies, academic institutions
and individuals utilizing the Natural Step.
TNS was conceived 9 years ago, and is being implemented in numerous
countries and is widely used by --- more than 150 municipalities, including
both rural towns and urban cities like Stockholm. Three million young people
in schools and communities through computer networks, TV programs, and
Youth Parliaments. More than 300 corporations, including the world's largest
manufacturers of appliances (Electrolux), carpet tile (Interface), and
furniture (IKEA), as well as Sweden's major supermarket chains, biggest
oil company, largest hotel chain and McDonald's. A range of 19 professional
groups, includingbuilders,lawyers,doctors and planners.
This seminar will be led by one of the first U.S. TNS trainers, Terry
Gips, an economist, ecologist, author (Breaking the Pesticide Habit and
Humane Consumer Guide) and President of Sustainability Associates, an environmental
consulting firm. He has served as a White House and Congressional aide,
co-founder of the Sacramento Community Garden Program,Extension Agent,
Cargill economist, President of the Intl. Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture,
Aveda Corporation Director of Ecological Affairs and Chair of the KIAA
Environmental Task Force.
The agenda will include background on TNS,discussions on sustainability
and systems thinking, natural cycles, the scientific principles governing
life on Earth: laws of thermodynamics and conservation of matter.
Based on these scientific principles, discussions will focus on four
requirements or "system conditions for sustainability" which form the core
of TNS, and case studies. The seminar will also cover topics such as Real
Economics, Ecological Footprint and Strategic Investing: The economic costs
and benefits from using or ignoring these guides is explored.
Early registration is due October 20. Some limited scholarships are
available for people on low income.
Duluth is a long way from Northeast Wisconsin, but this seminar is
definitely worth the trip.
Up to Top
Wildlife Values
Americans spent $29.2 billion to observe, feed, and photograph wildlife
in the U.S., according to a recent report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
If wildlife-watching were a Fortune 500 company, in 1996 it would have
ranked 23rd. (If hunting and fishing expenditures were added, wildlife
could be the country’s largest “industry.”)
The total industry output for wildlife watching also has a ripple effect
of $85.4 billion as the dollars multiply beyond the initial purchase of
goods or services.
For many local communities, the economic potential of their wildlife-watching
opportunities still may be unrealized. This report shows that nationally
and locally, investments in wildlife and wild places are investments in
this country’s natural resource legacy and in its economic future.
According to the report, wildlife watching creates more than 1 million
jobs, contributes $24.2 billion in employment income, and generates $323.5
million in state income tax and $3.8 billion in federal income tax. Wildlife
watching also produces $1.04 billion in state sales tax. In addition, spending
by wildlife watchers increased by 21% since 1991, when the figures are
adjusted for inflation.
Three types of expenditures are detailed in the report. Expenditures
for equipment and related items, such as binoculars, cameras, wild bird
food, membership in wildlife organizations, camping equipment, and motor
homes, accounts for 57% of total spending. Trip-related expenditures, such
as for food, lodging, and transportation, constitute 32% of total spending
by wildlife watchers. Other items, such as books, magazines, contributions,
and land-leasing, make up 11% of wildlife watcher’s spending. Wildlife
watchers are identified in the report as people whose principal motivation
for spending or traveling is wildlife watching.
Nearly 63 million people age 16 and older --- 31% of the U.S. population
--- were wildlife watchers in 1996, according to the report. The report
is based on the Service’s “1996 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and
Wildlife Associated Recreation,” which is conducted every 5 years by the
U.S. Census Bureau. The survey, based on more than 34,000 interviews with
anglers, hunters, and wildlife watchers, is the most comprehensive survey
of wildlife-related recreation in the United States.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency
responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish and wildlife
and their habitats. The Service also oversees 93 million acres, including
514 national wildlife refuges, 78 field stations, 65 national fish hatcheries,
50 wildlife coordination areas, and 38 wetland districts with waterfowl
production areas.
The agency enforces U.S. wildlife laws, manages migratory birds, restores
nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat
such as wetlands, administers the Endangered Species Act, and helps other
countries with conservation efforts. It also distributes Federal excise
taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state wildlife agencies, the
cornerstone of U.S. funding for fish and wildlife restoration, boating
access, hunter education, shooting ranges, and related projects across
America.
|
|
|
|
|