Posts for May, 2012
A survey for the second straight year has found no signs of white-nose syndrome in Wisconsin – a deadly bat disease that’s killed nearly 7 million bats in the eastern United States and Canada, state officials said Tuesday.
The finding by the Department of Natural Resources is good news for bats and their advocates. It’s also welcomed by agriculture. Bats are voracious insect eaters and keep forest and crops pests under control.
A March 2011 study led by a U.S. Geological Survey scientist estimated that bats provide a $658 million to $1.5 billion economic benefit for the state’s agricultural industry.
But bat experts say that the threat of the disease remains imminent.
“Certainly the disease is present in the flight distances of our most common bats,” said Jennifer Schehr, a cave and mine specialist with the DNR.
Wisconsin remains vulnerable because it has one of the highest concentrations of hibernating bats in the Midwest. Some 300,000 bats spend their winters in Wisconsin, and then return to their summer territories in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa and Michigan.
To look for evidence of the disease, surveillance crews searched 114 sites. The DNR estimates that the sites represent 95% of the known underground locations.
White-nose syndrome gets its name by the powdery fungus found on bats’ noses. The DNR estimates that it kills 70% to 100% of bats in contaminated caves. The disease has serious consequences for bat populations because bats have low reproductive rates.
A typical bat has one pup per year.
White-nose syndrome was discovered in New York in 2006 and has spread 16 states and four provinces of Canada.
The DNR has regulatory authority to manage bats and establish control options. In June 2011, the DNR added four bats to the state’s list of the state’s threatened species.
But could the DNR have missed the disease?
“There is always a chance,” Schehr said. “We’re dealing with a microscopic fungus.”
But Schehr said that surveillance crews not only found no evidence of the fungus, but also saw no signs of erratic flight patterns and other signs of stress.
A whooping crane hatched in the wild on Monday in Wood County.
This is the 16th whooping crane to have hatched in the eastern United States since 2006.
The announcement by the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership is good news for the endangered cranes. But the birds’ foothold in Wisconsin is tenuous. Only three cranes have fledged and joined the wild population. You can see a photo here.
In the latest case, the chick was born to parents that were born in 2002 and 2004 and first migrated to Florida with the aid of ultralight aircraft.
The pair has laid eggs each spring since 2008, but the eggs have not been fertile.
Whooping crane advocates are optimistic more chicks will hatch this year. There are 14 pairs of adults currently incubating. But in past years, adult whoopers have been driven from their nests by black flies.
There are now 106 whooping cranes in the eastern population.
Nationally, there are about 600 whooping cranes in existence, with about 445 living in the wild. In addition to a population that migrates between Wisconsin and Florida, a second flock winters in Texas and spends summers in northern Canada.
The Environmental Protection Agency says that metro Milwaukee is meeting new federal standards for ozone.
Sheboygan County failed to meet the new 2008 standard. Kenosha County is still being evaluated and will be classified later by the EPA. Sheboygan is affected by its geography and the pollution that moves up the Lake Michigan coastline. Kenosha is the recipient of Chicago emissions.
The new standard for ozone is 75 parts per billion. The pollution is measured over an 8-hour period. The old standard was less strict: 84 parts per billion, measured over eight hours. Under the old standard, 10 counties, including metro Milwaukee, were in violation of federal air safety standards.
Ozone levels have been falling because of cleaner burning vehicles, cleaner burning gasoline and pollution controls on utilities and factories.
Ozone causes respiratory problems and becomes a problem on hot summer days when volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides mix with sunlight and warm temperatures to form ozone.
Outdoor retailer Cabela's announced on Friday that it would build a 100,000-square-foot store in Ashwaubenon near Lambeau Field, where a wetlands issue had snarled development plans over the past year.
The Green Bay Packers had been courting Cabela's, and earlier, rival Bass Pro Shops, to develop a store near the stadium as part of the football team's efforts to strengthen the business district near Lambeau.
The site is on 21 acres at Highway 41 and Lombardi Ave. in the Brown County Professional Football Stadium District.
The story details how Ducks Unlimited will develop wetlands elsewhere for the Packers, which owns the land.
The Department of Natural Resources said Monday that genetic tests from the University of Wisconsin - Madison showed a deer that tested positive for chronic wasting disease in Washburn County came from the area where the deer was shot.
Here's the Journal Sentinel's story.
Kevin Shafer, executive director of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, has received the Lloyd D. Gladfelter Award for government innovation from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Robert M. LaFollette School of Public Affairs.
Shafer was recognized for establishing a flood control and floodplain conservation program, known as Greenseams, and for promoting use of other green infrastructure programs, such as rooftop gardens, rain barrels, and drainage swales planted with native grasses and flowers. Green infrastructure is designed to capture stormwater and prevent pollution.
Between 2001 and 2011, the Greenseams program purchased 2,350 acres of land adjacent to waterways and wetlands to reduce flooding risks in the district's service area.
The annual Gladfelter awards were established with a gift from Lloyd Gladfelter, a former Milwaukee Journal government reporter who retired in 1961.
Shafer received a $5,000 cash prize with the award on May 7 in the Senate Parlor of the State Capitol during Public Service Recognition Week.
Two environmental groups released a report this week on sulfide mining regulation. Wisconsin ranked well - above Michigan, Minnesota and Ontario.
Of course, this is from the environmental groups' perspective. And as we know, mining regulation was a major issue in Wisconsin over the past year, with business groups and Republicans saying that iron-ore laws in Wisconsin needed to more flexible for mining companies. As part of the debate, pro-mining forces said that the state's sulfide mining laws were too strict. A mining bill never passed.
The report compared sulfide regulation across the region, because of the increase in sulfide metal exploration going on. You can read the entire report here.
Wisconsin was the only state to receive two "good" rankings, for requirements for enforcement and reporting activities from the mine site.
Currently, there is no sulfide mining activity taking place in Wisconsin. The proposed Gogebic Taconite mine near Hurley was not a sulfide mine, per se, although opponents said that sulfide in waste rock could cause acid mine drainage and harm water resources in the area. When sulfide in rock becomes exposed to air and water, the runoff becomes toxic.
A spokesman for the cleanup of the Fox River in northeastern Wisconsin said that work on the tainted river for this year began this morning.
Scott Stein of the Lower Fox River Remediation LLC said that crews will remove and clean tainted sediments 16 hours a day, five days a week.
The river in the Green Bay area is the site of the largest cleanup of polychlorinated biphenyls in the United States. The PCBs are the result of paper making in the region.
Crews returned to the water after a federal appeals court in Chicago on Friday denied a request by NCR Corp. for an indefinite stay of a federal judge’s ruling last month. The judge ruled that NCR was responsible for paying for environmental damage to the river.
Beth J. Olson, water program leader in northeastern Wisconsin for the Department of Natural Resources, said the agency was pleased that work was moving forward.
The Department of Natural Resources issued an ozone advisory for Milwaukee, Ozaukee and Racine counties and other counties along the Lake Michigan shoreline.
The advisory for ground-level ozone is due to the warm weather and lack of wind, which is trapping polluted air.
The advisory means that sensitive groups, such as older people and young children and people with respiratory or heart issues, should restrict activities. Healthy people can also be at risk and should moderate strenuous exercise.
The advisory remains in effect until 1 p.m. Sunday.
Here are the counties affected: Brown, Door, Kenosha, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan
The Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters issued its report card on legislators Wednesday for their voting records during the 2011-'12 legislative session.
The pro-environmentalist organization described the session as "dismal" for the state's natural resources.
The league named an honor roll and a dishonor roll, and for the first time, it also named Gov. Scott Walker to the dishonor roll.
“Governor Walker used his extreme anti-conservation agenda to lead others in the state legislature down the rabbit hole," said Anne Sayers, program director for the group. "In just 16 short months, Wisconsin’s once proud conservation traditions have been deeply scarred."
The league said the bright spot in the session was the failure of legislators to make changes to the state's mining laws.
The group's honor roll went to Sens. Robert Jauch (D-Poplar) and Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) and Rep. Janet Bewley (D-Ashland) for their efforts to oppose an open-pit mining bill, and to Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) and Rep. Cory Mason (D-Racine) for their work to restore some provisions to a wetland regulation bill that eased limits for development on or near wetlands.
In addition to Walker, lawmakers named to the dishonor roll were Sen. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) for ending the work of the Senate Mining Committee after he believed the work of the bipartisan panel had been taking too long.
Also named to the list were the two chairmen of the Legislature's environmental committees - Sen. Neal Kedzie (R-Elkhorn) and Rep. Jeff Mursau (R-Crivitz).
There appears to be more Kirtland’s warblers in Wisconsin this year.
The Department of Natural Resources says that birders and state and federal bird experts are seeing more this year, and survey work continuing through June 15 is likely to turn up more.
The high point for bird was 23 singing males in 2010, according to the DNR. That would put the adult population at 46.
The DNR issued an update on the endangered bird on Thursday afternoon.
So far this year, Kirtland’s warblers have been observed in Adams, Marinette and Vilas counties.
“We have a sense that there are more birds than ever before at their main breeding area,” said Kim Grveles, an avian ecologist at the DNR.
The main breeding area is in Adams County.
A fire in the Seney National Wildlife Refuge now covers about 3,200 acres. It’s about 65% contained, according to Mark Vaniman, refuge manager.
Also, a separate fire about 25 miles east and north of Seney in Luce County has prompted a mandatory evacuation. The fire is two miles long and a half mile wide.
The Department of Natural Resources has issued an ozone advisory this afternoon for portions of eastern Wisconsin, including Milwaukee, Ozaukee and Washington counties.
The advisory is orange, meaning that air quality isn’t healthy for people in sensitive groups, but also isn’t currently healthy for people engaged in strenuous exercise.
Sensitive groups are the very young or elderly and people with heart and lung ailments.
The advisory will be in effect until 11 p.m.
Ground-level ozone is created when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds mix with heat and sunlight to form the pollutant. The pollutants come from power plants, manufacturers, vehicle exhaust and other sources.
Here are all of the counties affected:
Brown, Calumet, Dodge, Door, Fond du Lac, Kenosha, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Milwaukee, Outagamie, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Washington, Winnebago.
A Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge granted an environmental group's request on Thursday for the Estabrook Dam to be declared a public nuisance.
Judge Jeffrey A. Conen ordered Milwaukee County, the owner and operator of the dam, to come up with a plan in 30 days to repair or tear down the structure.
"We are very pleased with the outcome today," said Karen M. Schapiro, an attorney and executive director of Milwaukee Riverkeeper.
Schapiro said that if the county and her group can't agree on a remedy, the dam's ultimate fate would likely be decided in a trial.
Milwaukee County officials were not available for comment on Thursday afternoon.
The county has been proceeding with plans for repairs. Officials have set aside $2.1 million for the work.
But there are still major hurdles before the dam could be placed into operation, which would allow for the filling of the 100-acre impoundment that's given the river along Lincoln Park a lake-like quality since 1930s.
But because of the current structural problems, state authorities have ordered that the gates of the dam remain open, keeping water levels down.
Milwaukee Riverkeeper opposes repairs and wants to see the dam torn down and the section of the river near W. Hampton Ave. returned to its free-flowing state.
Although money has been set aside for repairs, funds have not been allocated for cleanup of contaminated sediments above the structure.
The Department of Natural Resources has said that the dam can't be placed into operation - and the pool filled - until the sediments are removed.
Industrial pollutants, including polychlorinated biphenyls, have been accumulating near the dam for decades. The pollutants are believed to have come from industrial sources upstream in the Lincoln Creek watershed.
Kevin Haley of Milwaukee County Parks Department told a County Board committee in December 2011 that the cleanup cost could approach $10 million.
The Department of Natural Resources has set a deadline of Oct. 31 for repair and a cleanup of the river, but DNR officials have acknowledged that the timeline isn't realistic.
The Department of Natural Resources has issued an ozone advisory until 1 a.m. Monday for Milwaukee, Ozaukee and Racine counties in the metro area as weather conditions cause elevated levels of ground-level ozone to remain along the Lake Michigan coast.
The advisory is orange, which means that ozone levels are unhealthy for people in sensitive health groups, but also for healthy people involved in strenuous exercise.
Both groups are advised to cut back on their activities.
Sensitive groups are the elderly and young children and people with heart and lung ailments, such asthma.
The advisory affects the following counties:
Door, Kenosha, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan.
Ground levels ozone is caused when heat and sunlight mix with nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds.
Weather conditions can often keep the pollution trapped within a region.
The pollutants come from factories, power plants and vehicle exhaust. VOCs come from various sources, including gasoline vapor.
The state Justice Department says that Progressive Rail Inc. and one of its units, Wisconsin Northern Railroad, has been ordered to pay $49,000 in forfeitures and other costs for violations of state water and wetlands laws.
The railroad committed the violations while constructing new rail tracks for an expansion of a truck-rail transfer for sand mining operation in Chippewa County in October 2011.
Wisconsin law prohibits discharging pollutants to wetlands without obtaining a permit from the Department of Natural Resources showing the discharges comply with state water quality standards. The company will now have to obtain that permit from the DNR.
Sand mining is booming in western Wisconsin – and it’s controversial. Here's a story by the Journal Sentinel. The sand is used for oil and gas extraction in a process known as hydraulic fracturing or “fracking.”
The Kangaroo Lake nature preserve is expanding to encompass the south end of the historic Camp Cuesta Girl Scout Camp on Maple Road, Door County Land Trust Executive Director Dan Burke said Thursday.
The land trust has acquired 32 acres of the camp named for the 100-foot-high forested dolomite bluff, or cuesta, on the lake's west shore, Burke said.
The Girl Scouts of the Northwestern Great Lakes will continue operating the camp and keep ownership of more than 20 acres with a lodge and other buildings along Maple Road. Scouts will have permanent access to the land purchased by the land trust, according to Terrie Cooper, land program director for the land trust.
Appraised value of the 32-acre property is $231,000. Acquisition costs will be paid with grants from the state Stewardship land conservation fund and private donations.
The nature preserve protects spring-fed Peil Creek, which flows into Kangaroo Lake south of county Highway EE, the adjacent cedar swamp and bluffs.
The public is invited to hike a portion of the preserve from 9 a.m. to Noon Saturday during an open house celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts and the land trust's purchase. Hikers will view the lake from the top of the bluff, or cuesta, before descending to Peil Creek.
Vehicles can be parked along the 7900 block of Maple Road near the intersection of county Highway E. Entrance to Camp Cuesta is at 8206 Maple Road.