Archive for the ‘Wetlands’ Category

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$475 Million for the Great Lakes; How Would You Use It?

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

I get email alerts and newsletters from a lot of different groups. One of them is the Great Lakes Townhall meeting notes. The Great Lakes Townhall website is interactive. You can post a response to an editorial there or write your own. Now and then they run polls at Great Lakes Town Hall and this month’s question is:

“President Obama allotted $475 Million for the Great Lakes. If you were in charge, what would be your top priority?”

The responses are:

  • Clean up toxic hot spots
  • Restore coastal wetlands
  • Restoring tributaries to the Great Lakes
  • Improving sewage treatment in major Great Lakes cities
  • Focus on removing invasive species
  • Other…This is where you can comment about how you would spend the money

I was surprised but a big, big majority of people want better sewage treatment. What do they know that we don’t? Check out the website and vote or comment on what you would do for the Great Lakes.

http://greatlakestownhall.org/3340

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Posted in Conservation, Environmentalism, Great Lakes Pollution, Great Lakes Water, Michigan, Michigan Pollution, Michigan/Great Lakes, Protecting Wetlands, Waterkeeper Alliance, Wildlife | No Comments »

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

Good Morning America’s Sam Champion broadcast from one of our national parks in Virginia this morning because he said: “What better way to celebrate Earth Day than to view what it is we’re trying to protect.” He’s absolutely right.

So this is one heck of a video I found on You Tube that does just that. Its owner frotix says that it is the first part of his national parks of America video and hopes we like it. I like the Native American music. It’s appropriate. Watch the first half:

I couldn’t resist adding another video by owner mhnatt who states that it was his first attempt at making a movie. I think he deserves a big hand. He crossed 10,000 miles in 3 months and 3 countries in his trip out west. It’s poignant and a very good mix of all the different terrain we’re trying to protect by curbing global warming and the impact it will have on these places and critters. Notice there is a clip of a wolf.

Watch the trailer:

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Posted in Animals and Extinction, Animals in Peril, Conservation, Earth, Endangered Species, Environmentalism, Global Warming, Marine Life, Morality, National Parks and Forests, Native Americans, Nature, Plants, Protesting Pollution, Science, Trees, Weather/Climate, Wetlands, Wildflowers, Wildlife, You Tube | No Comments »

Michigan May Relinquish Control of Wetlands to Federal Authority

Monday, April 13th, 2009

Michigan is so economically strapped that the governor is considering giving control of our wetlands to the feds, or Army Corps of Engineers. According to an article on the ENS website, “the Michigan Legislature would need to repeal Part 303, Wetlands Protection, of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act.”  We must be in trouble in Michigan because this surrender represents a savings of only 2 million dollars but poses a myriad of problems affecting our wetlands. This is a shame since the protection of our wetlands here in Michigan is a model nationwide.

The same article explains: “The state’s Wetlands Program regulates placement of fill, dredging, constructing, operating, or maintaining a use or development in a wetland, and draining surface water from a wetland. ” Thousands of permit applications are processed every year in Michigan that authorize these activities under Section 404 with impacts to inland lakes, streams, and wetlands. Michigan agencies work to get those impacts reduced by 50 to 75%, something a very limited Army Corps of Engineers will be hard pressed to do. But the biggest caveat of all is that a state can’t operate a partial 404 program. This means that it cannot issue permits for some water areas and not others so Michigan would also lose its permitting authority over lakes and streams too.

This is not good for our beautiful water and wetland areas. I say this as I watch a swan swim into a marsh just beyond my backyard. Although my wetlands area is connected to a canal, the Huron River, and ultimately Lake Erie via the Pt. Mouille channel, the wetlands most at risk are those that are isolated and disconnected, some 930,856 acres or 17% of Michigan’s wetlands, although all of Michigan’s wetlands are ultimately at risk.

Along with giving up authority over our wetlands, six other components of the Wetlands Program would be lost also:

· Wetland mapping
· Coastal wetland protection, management and restoration
· Development of scientific methods to monitor the condition of wetlands
· Development of methods to control the highly invasive plants known as phragmites on both public and private property
· Participating in local planning projects to identify potential wetland protection and restoration projects
· Education and outreach, including presentations to civic organizations, school groups, lake associations, watershed councils, local governments and other public groups.

This is a frightening proposition, considering the Feds are not up to this at all. The Army Corp of Engineers will be swamped. So our wetlands, lakes, and streams will be compromised for a mere $2 million? We have citizens with money to build huge sports arenas, develop casinos, and refurbish hotels, but no one can come up with $2 million in lieu of relinquishing our authority to protect our own beautiful water wonderland? There has to be someone out there that can help.

 
Read more about this desperate idea: http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2009/2009-04-06-091.asp
 

 

Posted in Conservation, Environmentalism, Great Lakes Water, Michigan, Michigan Clean Water, Michigan Environmental News, Michigan Environmental Policy, Michigan/Great Lakes, Protecting Wetlands | 2 Comments »

A Beaver Along the Detroit River…

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

 

A single beaver lodge was found and photographed along the Detroit River, and suddenly it’s a sign that the river is cleaning up. Detroit River refuge manager for the USFWS said: “Their return signals that a multiyear effort to clean up the river has paid off,” according to an article in the Free Press.

The thing is, a lone beaver was also spotted along a river way in New York, and another in Windsor. Are they clean too? Because Pennsylvania, formerly a cesspool of industry from steel mostly, has a plethora of beavers, some 32,000 in fact.  That amount of beavers didn’t get there overnight. Surely there was plenty of pollution to go around in the 70’s for every state, yet the beavers were in force in Pennsylvania.

And is the fact that the beaver was discovered in an intake canal at Detroit Edison’s Conners Creek power plant an attempt to make the plant look clean too because I think the lone beaver as part of that larger story of ecological recovery in our lakes and rivers is a hoot just like walleye are some sort of gage for clean water. Yeah, I’ve seen that gage before, big tumors on the bigger fish.

Besides Science NetLink website tells us: “Ranchers and watershed managers in the West are employing some of nature’s own engineers for water quality improvement. Beaver-created impoundments (the “lakes” that form upstream of their dams) can be extremely useful in agricultural watersheds. They have been known to retain up to 1,000 times more nitrogen than streams without beaver dams. This has really opened the eyes of some water quality managers to ecosystem services.” So if the beavers are in the immediate area of these watersheds they are evidently NOT adverse to pollution at least not from agricultural sources.

Truth is if we really wanted to see the little critters succeed in re-establishing themselves, we would have reintroduced them long ago like Pennsylvania did way back in 1917 after grotesquely over-trapping them for their fur to extinction in 1912. To assume they haven’t been around Michigan in 75 years because of pollution, and now that one has appeared we’re obviously cleaning up, is a crock.

http://www.freep.com/article/20090216/BUSINESS06/902160355/1019/Business06/Leave+it+to+beaver+to+prove+river+cleaner.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/08/980814070511.htm

http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/lessons.cfm?DocID=275

http://communities.canada.com/windsorstar/blogs/vanderblogger/archive/2008/04/30/wild-beaver-return-to-most-polluted-city-in-north-america.aspx

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Posted in Animals and Extinction, Environmentalism, Great Lakes Pollution, Industry, Michigan Clean Water, Michigan Environmental News, Michigan Pollution, Michigan/Great Lakes, Nature, Protecting Wetlands, Science, Wetlands | No Comments »

75% of U.S. Citizens Want Environmental Improvements from Obama Administration

Friday, January 2nd, 2009

 

 

I caught CNN report a national poll about the top 3 things people wanted president-elect Obama to tackle in the New Year.

 

1.  77% of all people polled want something done about national health care.

 

2.  75% of all people polled want something done about the environment.

 

3.  70% of all people want to end the war in Iraq.

 

I’m a little amazed. I’m not running into many of these people who want something done about the environment. Truth is not much can be done if we allow the Bush administration to continue against the environment the way they have been. If Bush is successful at lifting the obstacles to more drilling, mining, and lumbering and those industries move quickly to begin their projects, how will a new president be able to come in and simply put a halt to it?

 

And Bush is moving toward that goal. According to the Wilderness Society, in the past few weeks the Bush administration has:

  • Announced plans to lease iconic areas in Utah – including Desolation Canyon and greater Nine Mile Canyon – to the oil and gas industry;
  • Released new oilshale plans that could affect up to 2 million acres in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming with this as yet unsafe and unproven technology;
  • Made changes to the Endangered Species Act that would all but eliminate protections for fish, wildlife and forests; and
  • Proposed to allow clearcut logging in ancient forests in Oregon.

Bush plans to remove critical scientific review of the impact of federal permits on endangered and threatened species. This will weaken the Endangered Species Act even further according to Care2.com’s petition site, which also stated that Bush is:

  • Allowing the EPA to ignore unsafe levels of rocket fuel in drinking water that pose a risk to nearly 40 million Americans; and,
  • Permitting more uranium mining near the Grand Canyon.

And Earthjustice reports that the fate of U.S. rivers, lakes and streams — and years of Earthjustice legal efforts — hang in the balance next month when the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether mining wastes can be dumped in an Alaska lake. This is bad because it sets a precedent for the mining industry in general to be able to dump what they don’t want/need into bodies of water like streams and rivers.

Clearly this is like a last minute corporate takeover of America. The heck with national forests, critters, birds, and fish in lieu of big dirty business like oil, mining, lumber. When we look at the anti-environmental moves of this exiting administration vs. numbers like 75% for the environment, it’s pretty evident we as citizens haven’t had much of an impact on Bush/Cheney, and waiting for a new president is too late.

 

Contact your legislators, and/or email the White House that we want change for a clean future, that we love our land, national parks, animals, streams, rivers, and lakes. This should be a given for everyone in America, especially our leadership. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Posted in CNN, Conservation, Earthjustice, Endangered Species, Environment and Jobs, Environmentalism, Federal Government, Global Warming, Global Warming Policy, Marine Life, Politics, Protecting Wetlands, Protesting Pollution, The Wilderness Society, Wildlife | No Comments »

Resurgence of Mining in Michigan’s UP—Again

Monday, December 29th, 2008

 

Anyone from Michigan knows that the UP or Upper Peninsula was once a location for all types of mining. I have a small collection of different types of stones laced with copper and ore from the UP myself. As of late there are only two mining operations left in the UP, but quite possibly not for long.

 

Ever since an owner of a backwoods camp found a sparkling rock while digging for a well in Stephenson, MI six years ago, speculators for companies are exploring more than a dozen areas in the UP for mining precious metals again. The sparkling rock turned out to be zinc discovered from a nearly 2-billion-year-old-rock formation with other precious metals. So much for the faith based idea that the world is simply not that old.

 

On the subject of faith relative to Michigan’s prehistoric history and mining, I’ve read Stephen Collins book, THE “LOST” TEN TRIBES OF ISRAEL…FOUND!  Collins is an epigrapher or reader of ancient writings prior to Greco-Roman history, which is as far back in history that the average U.S. student is taught. But ancient writings tell of many powerful and well traveled civilizations like the Phoenicians who were maritime experts and neighbors to Parthia, ruled by the Hebrews, and one of the greatest civilizations to have existed before Greece or Rome.

 

Collins chronicles history as he knows it from ancient writings and parallel to what is revealed in the bible. All of it coincides beautifully. What really caught my attention was the mention of Michigan in relation to the construction of King Solomon’s temple. King Solomon had smelting plants for metal used in his temple. According to Collins, at the same time the temple was under construction, there is evidence that copper mines in Michigan’s UP were completed depleted of copper, but no evidence of any structures in North America using that amount. It was more than likely mined and shipped to Mount Moriah near Jerusalem for the temple’s construction.

 

Solomon’s temple was believed to have been under construction prior to 1000 BC and after the bronze/iron ages with the help of Phoenician labor. Hmmmm. There was no bronze or copper left in the Mediterranean area after the Bronze Age and into the Iron Age. It had to come from somewhere else and who not to ship it from somewhere else  but the Phoenicians?

 

Interesting, isn’t it, but I digress? Michigan may have been involved with mining since ancient times but mining is not what it used to be. It is much more invasive than times of yore. Between equipment, extraction, and dumping what is not needed anywhere and everywhere, there are fears that mining in the UP will destroy tourism with tourists looking for peaceful places to ski, hunt and fish. 

 

We also know that all that comes out of a mine like sulfuric acid, and benzene gases are not good for the air, earth, or water. And the process itself is horribly messy, tearing up habitat, and disturbing wildlife. With cuts being made within the DEQ and the EPA, there will be few regulators to oversee the process of more than a dozen new mining ventures.

 

And so the question: “Is there enough precious metals and iron still left to make these new ventures worth the bad consequences of tearing up the UP in all of its wild splendor?” After all, we’re not in the practice of constructing gilded temples any longer.

 

Read more about current plans to mine: http://www.wxyz.com/news/local/story/U-P-May-See-New-Mining-Boom/4Xd7R-vxaE-emaCe-s8e1w.cspx

 

For info on Stephen Collin’s book that I think everyone of faith should read simply because it’s fascinating facts that actually support biblical history, a very good read: http://www.giveshare.org/israel/lost10tribes.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Conservation, Environmentalism, Industry, Michigan Environmental News, Michigan Pollution, Michigan/Great Lakes, Mining, Protecting Wetlands, Protesting Pollution, Wildlife | 2 Comments »

Collapse of National Clean Water Act Enforcement Program

Wednesday, December 17th, 2008

That’s right. It pretty much doesn’t exist anymore. A recent investigation by Senator Waxman of the House Oversight Committee “uncovered new internal documents showing that hundreds of Clean Water Act violations have not been pursued with enforcement actions,” according to an ENS article today. This is no small potatoes; over 500 cases of corporate pollution have been totally ignored. The EPA withheld records from the committee and what records were produced were altered so as not identify any corporation or business responsible for the water pollution problems. �

And it’s no surprise that half of the pollution cases that were neglected were oil spills. It also said that certain areas were inundated with unresolved violations like EPA Region 6, to include the states of NM, TX, OK, AK, LA, and Region 8, to include Montana, ND, SD, WY, UT, and CO. Interesting that most of the states are red states isn’t it? Republican support of big oil is coming back to bite them. Dallas reported dozens of oil spill cases that were either on hold or had no follow up for penalties. Denver’s office said they had hundreds of OPA’s (Oil Pollution Act) cases with no further action and a long list of violations no one intends to address. And the Kansas City office said that their “morale plummeted, employees lost hope, and the stress level is overwhelming, at critical levels.”

It was also revealed that the Asst. Secy. for the Army for Civil Works favored corporate lobbyists over scientific determinations of career officials in making Clean Water Act decisions for the Santa Cruz River in Arizona. Another non-surprise. It smacks of the rest of the Bush administration’s anti-environmental�appointments. It’s too bad besides being red states many of these SW states�may not have enough water in the future to sustain the populations of people. To pollute what is there is criminal.

This mess stems from the Supreme Court decision in June of 2006 that ruled for the Rapanos case which states that “federal agencies could assert jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act for many waters only after going through a time-consuming and resource-intensive process of demonstrating a ’significant nexus’ to ‘traditional navigable waters.’�It means�groundwater, small creeks, and streams have a habit of slipping through the cracks for any kind of protection. Michigan’s House and Senate go round and round about Michigan’s groundwater protection. The Great Lakes are protected, but inland it’s another story. A good portion of our groundwater doesn’t fall under jurisdiction for use. So the state’s aren’t protecting it, the feds aren’t protecting it, and this is where the problem lies.

This is a�pretty revealing story about the EPA in the Bush Administration leaving waters unprotected and hiding the mess from the public, while protecting corporate polluters.

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2008/2008-12-16-02.asp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Bush Administration, Clean Water Act, Conservation, EPA, Environmentalism, Federal Government, Industry, Michigan/Great Lakes, Oil Industry, Oil Spills, Pollution, Protecting Wetlands, Science | No Comments »

Toxic Algae Increasing Around U.S.Coastlines

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008

Recently I caught someone’s smart remark after reading that scientists are studying shrimp, putting them on treadmills, that’s right, on treadmills to find how they are coping with toxic algae. It probably doesn’t sound important to most people other than their favorite food may disappear. I answered the remark that the study is important, because first the shrimp, then us.

Then yesterday I watched a Nova presentation on PBS about a marine animal rescue facility in CA that is seeing a surge of Domoic Acid poisoning in the past 3 years after a rise beginning in 1998. In 1998 tests were done to determine the effects of this natural occurring marine neurotoxin. It is found in algae/plankton and was formerly believed to be cyclical. Until this Nova presentation.

Nova showed satellite pictures of the coastline of California. Heavy concentrations of plankton that produces Domoic Acid showed up as a specific color on the map. Satellite images viewed after large storms that carry an overabundance of groundwater and stream/river water to the coastline also showed an increase in the plankton growth immediately afterward. This Nova presentation shows the connection of heavy runoffs of inland water that usually contains high concentrations of agricultural fertilizers and the resulting increase of “natural” plankton growth. It’s not looking so natural. Gee why would there be a steady rise since 1998, coinciding with the very anti-environmental, deregulation happy Bush administration?

The poor sea lions that are suffering seizures on the beach from this stuff were sad to watch. They were pretty much paralyzed, aware of humans but listless. Domoic Acid poisoning has no antidote. Plankton is a natural food source for sea lions and they are literally dying from too much of it. The poisoning was formerly thought to affect short-term memory. Now it’s believed that it is literally eating holes in the brain of the sea lions. Most of the poor animals we viewed will die.

Now the bad part. Humans and their pets can suffer the same poisoning. Rarely, for now anyway, Domoic Acid poisoning has sickened and killed humans in the past. Sardines, and all types of seafood eat plankton. And studies even before the Nova presentation have already ascertained that this over abundance of toxic algae is around the entire coastline of the U.S. Remember first the shrimp, then us.

The Nova presentation about the CA rescue facility is so new it isn’t available yet on this website. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ocean911/.

National Geographic’s previous info on Domoic Acid. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080617-sea-lions.html

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Posted in Animals in Peril, Bush Administration, California, Environmental Legislation, Environmentalism, Farms/Farming, Health, Marine Life, National Geographic Channel, Nova, Ocean Pollution, Pollution, Protecting Wetlands, Protesting Pollution | No Comments »

Ancient Cedar Forests in Oregon Threatened

Monday, November 24th, 2008

When we think of Oregon, we think of lush forests and the shores of the Pacific; forests that have been in tact long enough to call ancient. These ancient forests of cedar and fir trees are along the western side of Oregon. After all the devastating fires we’ve had out west, it’s good to know that this ecosystem still stands. Its trees, wetlands and miles of rivers are a respite for the environment, an oasis compared to the scorched California terrain.

Oregon’s ancient forests are also home to black bear, and deer, as well as endangered species like the spotted owl. But that may change quickly. Bush is planning on handing out last minute offerings to his industry buddies, like two million acres to big lumber who will mow through the middle of Oregon’s ancient forests. The Wilderness Society said: “It would fragment this old growth ecosystem with the desolation of stumps and logging roads.” Two million acres would indeed look like desolation from the air.

Nice real nice. But it’s not a done deal. Conservation groups have backed the president down and now he’s accepting public comments. So let him know that in view of all the fires, and what might be a lack of water out west, to waste 2 million acres of Oregon’s forests is just plain sinful. What I want to know is where is all the lumber going? No one is building right now because of the economy. This really does look like nothing more than a wasteful hand out with no foresight as to how it will affect the environment, animals, their habitat, and all of us in the future.

Take action against this last minute logging: http://action.wilderness.org:80/campaign/ognw/xwnke5kr1ent8k5?.

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Posted in Bush Administration, Conservation, Endangered Species, Federal Government, Global Warming, Logging, Protecting Wetlands, The Wilderness Society, Wildlife | No Comments »

DEQ Won’t Be Checking on Wetlands or Pollution Spills Due to Cuts

Wednesday, September 17th, 2008

 

Does anyone else find it fishy that Michigan’s Senate Republicans fought to keep 25% of surface groundwater such as wetlands out of the Great Lakes Compact, and specifically out of the public’s domain, and now Michigan’s DEQ says it must slash its wetland inspection, and pollution spill response programs? The DEQ says many will be on the honor system when it comes to withdrawing water and dumping pollution. Great. Here we go with self regulation again, that’s not working out well in other sectors of the economy right now. 

 

So no one will be around if you complain that the guy behind you is filling in that nice little creek between both your houses, or that nice piece of land next to you in the boonies up north becomes a dump site of sorts, not to mention siphoning rivers like the Au Sable, and making some wetlands literally dry up.

 

So many cuts have been made to help Michigan’s economy along. Didn’t the senate anticipate little to no regulators being able to keep watch on our wetlands in the very near future?  It’s only been months since that compact was signed and already surface water is threatened, and not just the 25% the senate fought to keep out of the compact. Hmmm.

 

The only good thing is that Gov. Granholm also signed bills to manage the use of surface ground water via a computer system that will determine when and where business can make withdrawals. The problem is this computer system is so new. Just how many places have monitors installed? Probably very few. Where will the money to monitor come from since the DEQ is fresh out of money?

 

And here’s the kicker. Obama wants to contribute $5 million dollars to really, really clean up the Great Lakes. The way things stand now, our service water is out of the loop of protection as part of our Great Lakes. Unless it’s included in the future, there will be no clean Great Lakes. Pollutants from groundwater will make it into the lakes. And unchecked withdrawals of surface water will likely take place to the point some wetlands may disappear.

 

The decision to keep surface water out of public domain caters completely to industry and special interest groups. Now it’s all come back to kick us in the pants when we find we’ve lost our say in our own backyards for 25% of surface water  problems, and nobody will come if you call about the other 75% either.

 

http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-30/1221576618242910.xml&coll=7

 

http://greatlakesgreatmichigan.org/legislation.htm

 

 

 

Posted in Conservation, Great Lakes Water, Michigan Clean Water, Michigan Environmental Policy, Michigan/Great Lakes, Protecting Wetlands, Water Shortage, Wetlands | No Comments »

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