Peter Wolfe Chapter of the North Country Trail Association Announces Trail Adoption Program

Ever thought of having a special, wild place of your own, a place you love to come back to because you made it better, and where you know that others have appreciated your efforts?

Consider adopting a segment of the North Country National Scenic Trail (NCT) in the western U.P.

The Peter Wolfe Chapter of NCTA is initiating a trail adoption program. Volunteers can adopt one or more segments of the NCT, and do everything from an annual walkthrough, and documenting trail conditions and time spent, to removing deadfalls, pruning, running a brush mower, leveling trail on side slopes, and promoting their section of trail. You may request other volunteers to help do by coming in and doing tasks you did not have the time or ability to do. There are trail segments and tasks for individuals of all abilities.

Laura Bulleit bulleit@up.net is our Trail Adoption Coordinator. She will be keeping records of who has adopted each segment of the trail, the results of monitoring / trail work reports, and hours spent. Contact her if you are looking for a segment to adopt. Doug Welker dwelker@up.net / 906-338-2680 has hiked the entire trail in the western U.P. and is VERY familiar with it, so if you need more detailed info on a particular trail segment than Laura can provide, contact him.

The chapter has made it easy to decide whether you want to be an adopter, and which section to adopt. A trail adoption Q +A document is online at http://www.northcountrytrail.org/pwf/trail_adoption_segments/trailadoptionquanda.doc. Maps and trail segment descriptions are online at http://www.northcountrytrail.org/pwf/trail_adoption_segments/linkstosegmentspreadsheets.doc. We are planning trail adoption training for this spring through fall, as well as written monitoring and reporting instructions.

Here is a chance to find yourself a special place to call your own, to really make a difference, and to get some great exercise. You’re more than welcome to invite friends or the chapter to join you for hikes or trail work on your trail segment as well.

Doug Welker

The North Woods Native Plant Society Hosts Summer 2008 Hikes

The North Woods Native Plant Society will be hostinghikes to northwoods ecosystems for folks interested in native plants.  These hikes are free and feature an experienced guide.  Most are suitable for young people over age 12.  For more information, email Sherry Zoars at <thezoars@excite.com> or call 906-358-1110.

May 24 Upson Lake near Hurley, WI - Colleen Matula - family trip with natural history - younger hikers welcome

June 28 Water-loving plants at County Line Lake &; Opal Lake Bog (near Watersmeet, MI) with cookout/potluck afterward - Sue Trull & Doug Welker

July 12 - Rice Creek State Natural Area near Boulder Junction, WI - Rod Sharka & Quita Sheehan

Help Search for Kirtland's Warblers on the Yellow Dog Plains

From the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve:

Please join us for the 2007 Kirtland's Warbler singing male census for Marquette County! The dates will be June 6 thru June 12, as issued by US Fish & Wildlife.

Volunteers are needed! If you would like to participate for any part of the census, a group searching the Yellow Dog Watershed area will meet each morning of the census at 6:30 am, at the corner of County Rd 510 and the AAA rd. A meeting will be held at the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve office at 303 Bensinger (the old bank building and also the home of Huron Mountain Realty) across from the county garage in Big Bay on Tues. June 5th at 6pm for information, maps, and coordinate seach areas.

USFW biologist Christie Deloria-Sheffield has pulled together maps of CFR lands on the AAA showing areas and age of Jackpine plantings to make habitat easier to find. The census for KW singing males in the UP is done differently than down state. We will be working mostly from vehicles, driving through plantings and listening for KW's.

Results of 2006 census brought one bird, and one has been seen this spring already. For more info, Contact Nancy Moran or Cynthia Pryor at Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve office at (906)345-9223.

Eagle Rock as U.P. Pilgrimage Site

In early August, I was in the Baltic state of Lithuania in northern Europe and visited a remarkable place in the countryside called the Hill of Crosses.

As topography, it is an unremarkable, small hill , except for what humans have done there over the centuries, and particularly under Soviet rule from 1944-1989.

During this time, the Lithuanians adopted the hill as a place of spiritual resistance to this foreign occupation; tens of thousands of crosses in great variety - from imposing ten foot carved wooden statues to tiny four inch crosses draped perhaps over the finger of a statue – sprouted on the hill.

Three times the Soviets bulldozed the site and desecrated it with garbage and waste, only to have it reborn in the night despite their efforts. In 1985 they gave up; in 1989 Lithuania broke free from Soviet rule; in 1993 the Pope himself visited and blessed the site as a place of pilgrimage. [Google “Lithuania Hill of Crosses” to see for yourself what it looks like.]

Eagle Rock on the Yellow Dog Plains is now a place under siege. Kennecott Minerals Inc. has identified it as the portal for its planned sulfide mine; if the state permits are issued this spring, as is now proposed, the Rock will be blasted open to build a tunnel through bedrock to the valuable ore deposit one kilometer further West.

The survey markers for the access road were already in place in mid-September, 2006. Yet even then, when my wife and I visited the site, Eagle Rock seemed unaffected by its impending fate. A trail led gently up the back way to the top of the outcropping. A red medicine pouch hung on a low jack pine branch near a stone campfire ring.

Near the rock face overlooking the plains, we planted a beaver-cut alder pole with two carved fish dangling on its top, the inscription SACRED LAND SACRED WATER cut into its bark in white letters.

The issue is joined in this mining battle. Shall this place stay wild as a storied and sacred site, the only granite outcropping for miles around on the plains, or will it become the gateway to a major industrial mine? It is illusory to think that Eagle Rock could survive this violent assault, or that it could be somehow restored in its aftermath. Mining creates sacrificial land, as many square miles of the U.P. elsewhere already testify.

If Eagle Rock and the Coaster Brook Trout do not qualify as special enough not to risk in sacrifice, what lands and homes for people and animals can conceivably be off-limits? Down which path are our public land stewards taking us?

Perhaps Eagle Rock could become a U.P. site of pilgrimage, a place where people go to leave an offering, a prayer, a message, a statement. I could envision hundreds, perhaps thousands of such offerings, each individual in form and expression, and all anonymous. Not a hill of crosses only as in Lithuania (although there may be some crosses), but a mingling of expressions from many spiritual traditions, united in love of the land and in its defense.

Not everyone can participate fully in the legal and political battles, but almost everyone could walk up Eagle Rock and leave a piece of himself or herself there … an old fishing rod, a prayer flag, a staff, a stone cairn, a sculpture, a painting.

Eagle Rock is open and accessible now, although the rumbling of heavy machinery to the north is within earshot. We have some time this winter and spring to demonstrate our sense of belonging to this corner of the U.P. in a powerful and personal way.

Click on "Take Action" for directions to Eagle Rock.

Jon Saari, Board President, UPEC

A Celebration of the Upper Peninsula as Home:

A Traveling Exhibit Sponsored by UPEC

UPEC is proud to announce its sponsorship of "A Celebration of the Upper Peninsula as Home," an art exhibit which will be shown at various locations throughout Wisconsin and the U.P. starting August, 2007.

The exhibit will feature the work of 11 U.P. artists, including UPEC's own Joyce Koskenmaki and Patrick St. Germain.

"There are many wonderful artists living in the Upper Peninsula," Joyce notes. "...These artists choose to live in the relative wilderness for many reasons; chief among them is the love for place."

Besides several works from Joyce and Patrick, the exhibit will feature pieces in various media from John Lundeen of Munising; Ron Lukey, Christine Saari and Vicki Allison Phillips from Marquette; Ingrid Cline of Escanaba; Eric Munch of Calumet; Peg Sandin of Ironwood; Jan Manniko from the Keweenaw; and Rex Marsh of Sault Ste. Marie.

"The Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition," Joyce reminds us, "is concerned about encroaching development, as well as the effects of climate change, forest fragmentation, and (metallic) sulfide mining. This exhibition honors the voices of artists who love the land and feel deeply connected to it, (and who are) offering their work as a celebration and an act of love and concern."

Keep checking back to this website for more information about specific dates and venues as the summer draws nearer.

From Save the Wild U.P.: Have we got a challenge for YOU!

Sometimes it feels like nobody is paying attention to metallic sulfide mining and other threats to Michigan's water and way of life.

It's time for that to change.

We're launching the Save the Wild UP Video Challenge and offering a chance to make a short video that will tell everyone why our water needs to be protected.

Click to read all about it!

savethewildup.org

 

 

PLEASE NOTE: THIS SEMINAR HAS BEEN CANCELED DUE TO THE WEATHER. CHECK BACK HERE LATER FOR THE RESCHEDULED DATE.

The NMU Chapter of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society Announces a Seminar:

The Wolves of Isle Royale

By Dr. Rolf Peterson

Thursday, April 5th, 2007 8:00 p.m. West Science 2904 (Lecture Hall B) Northern Michigan University.

Dr. Peterson is Professor, School of Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences Michigan Technological University, Houghton.

The Public is Welcome to Attend.

BREAKING NEWS ON PROPOSED SULFIDE MINE! SEE BELOW AT **

It's Our Annual Spring Meeting!

UPEC's spring meeting will be held on Friday, March 16, 2007, from 7-9:30 p.m., at the Federated Women's Clubhouse at the corner of Ridge and Front Sts. in Marquette.

We'll be kicking off the event with a combination social hour/book signing featuring three nationally-known environmental authors: Dave Dempsey (Ruin and Recovery: Michigan's Rise as a Conservation Leader; On the Brink: the Great Lakes in the 21st Century; William Milliken: Michigan's Passionate Moderate); Eric Hansen (Hiking Michigan's Upper Peninsula: A Guide to the Greatest Hiking Adventures in the U.P.; and Doug Scott, representative of Campaign for America's Wilderness, (The Enduring Wilderness: Protecting Our natural Heritage through the Wilderness Act).

You're welcome to bring your books from home for the book signing or purchase one of those offered for sale by Snowbound Books during the social hour.

The social hour/book signing will be immediately followed by an hour-long presentation by Doug Scott: "Protecting Michigan's Wild Places: Past, Present, and Future." We'll be wrapping up the evening with a question and discussion period.

This entire event is free and open to the public. Hope to see you there!

**BREAKING NEWS ON PROPOSED SULFIDE MINE! - MARCH 1, 2007**

According to a press release issued today, The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has withdrawn its proposed approval of Kennecott's Eagle Project application to mine nickel on the Yellow Dog Plains!

The organization revoked its original proposal when it discovered two reports on the structural integrity of the mine had not been "properly made part of the public record or given a comprehensive technical review."

This means the public hearings previously scheduled for Marquette on March 6-8 and Lansing on March 12 have been cancelled for now. The meetings will be rescheduled at a later date.

According to a statement from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), DEQ's decision was made to withdraw their proposed approval when NWF, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and the Huron Mountain Club learned about and brought to the DEQ's attention last week a 25-page memo written by a DEQ consultant that was "highly critical of Kennecott's mining application and raised serious concerns over a possible collapse of the mine."

Congratulations to everyone who has been working so hard to spare this indignity to the Yellow Dog Plains. This shows just what we can do if we remain vigilant and vocal on this issue!

Bad Day on the Yellow Dog Plains

On Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2007, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDEQ) issued a proposed approval of Kennecott's Part 632 Mining Permit Application. Public hearings on the approval will be held in Marquette at Northern Michigan University March 6-8, 2007, in the Michigan and Huron Rooms of the University Center. According to Save the Wild U.P., these hearings will address the DEQ Air Use Permit, DEQ draft of the Groundwater Discharge Permit, DEQ's proposed decision to grant the mining permit, and the DNR's drafts on the Surface Lease and Reclamation Plan.

So what can you do at this point to stop the proposed mine?

Contact Gov. Jennifer Granholm to express your disappointment with the proposed decision.

Attend one of the DEQ meetings in Marquette to voice your opinion.

Write down your concerns and send them to the DEQ and the governor's office before April 5, 2007 (the last date to accept written comments).

Go to Save the Wild U.P.'s website http://www.savethewildup.org for more information about these permits

Join Us This Fall As We Visit Old Victoria and Paddle the Victoria Reservoir!

Pack your paddle and come hike historic Old Victoria, a partially restored copper mining community, with us Sunday, Oct. 1, 2006. We'll be hiking up to enjoy the spectacular view from Lookout Mountain before heading out on the lake. The lake is beautiful, the history fascinating, and the fall color should be gorgeous with maples and aspen just reaching their peak.

We'll be meeting 11 a.m. (Eastern Time) at Old Victoria. To get there from US45 in Rockland, go west on Victoria Dam Rd. for 3.5 miles.

We'll begin paddling the reservoir at 1 p.m. from the boat launch site at Victoria Dam, 1.1 miles beyond Old Victoria at the end of Victoria Dam Rd.

The trip is sponsored by the Trap Hills Conservation Alliance and will be led by Al and Nancy Warren. The purpose of the trip - besides the sheer enjoyment - is to highlight the potential lakeshore development on this largely undeveloped lake should the UP Power Company land sale go through.

Bring your own canoe, kayak, or boat (motors optional). PFDs are required. Be sure to also pack a lunch, some sunscreen, hat and wind/rain protection. We'll be stopping to lunch on one of the islands.

Allow 3-4 hours for the trip. Canoes and kayaks will be towed to the far end of the lake and we'll paddle back.

Feel free to come for one or both events. For more information about the Old Victoria tour, contact dwelker@up.net If you need a canoe or have one to spare, please contact Doug at the above address or the Al or Nancy at alwarren@jamadots.com

An Interesting Development on the Yellow Dog Plains

Newspapers around the state this week have been reporting an interesting wrinkle in the metallic sulfide mining issue: the newly discovered presence of an endangered species close to the proposed mine site and its transportation route.

In a joint press release from the Sierra Club, Michigan Environmental Council (MEC) and National Wildlife Federation NWF), Michelle Halley of the NWF noted there had been at least one confirmed sighting of a Kirtland's warbler in the area. Typically found in the jack pine forests of northern lower Michigan, the tiny songbird's presence was enough for the three environmental groups to issue a joint request to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to pause the mining permit process to allow further assessment of of mining's impact on species in that area. The DEQ is scheduled to issue a tentative ruling on Kennecott's mining application later this month. In their letter to the DEQ, the environmental groups noted that the sudden appearance of the bird in that area underscored the inadequacy of the one-year requirement for wildlife data collection. That is why, when the mining rules were being written, they and various other groups had urged the DEQ to require two years of study before issuing a permit.

"The birds weren't there last year (when the study took place) and this year they are," Marvin Roberson of the Sierra Club noted. "Clearly, one year of monitoring is insufficient."

AP environmental writer John Flesher in an article published in the June 10 edition of Houghton's Daily Mining Gazette noted a Kennecott spokeswoman had responded to the news, stating that "the company would consider altering the mine's design and operation if necessary..." to protect the bird. The article went on to describe state and federal officials' measured response. Officials stated it was still too early, Flesher wrote, to know whether the warbler was a permanent resident of the Plains or even if its discovery there would keep the proposed mine from going forward.

In an earlier, unrelated move, the Huron Mountain and Sierra Clubs made a joint request to have the native coaster brook trout population in the same area declared endangered. No ruling has been made as yet on that request.

UPPCO Land Sales May Put Former U.P. Recreation Areas Off-Limits

In early December, 2005, U.P. residents were startled to hear 7,300 acres of recreational lands currently open to public use were being put on the block by their owner, the Upper Peninsula Power Company (UPPCO). According to a website set up by UPPCO to inform the public about the proposed sales, 2,300 of those acres are in Alger County, 2,800 in Ontonagon Co., 500 in Marquette/Delta Counties, and 1,700 acres of land in Baraga Co. The acreage in question abuts the company’s hydroelectric plants at Au Train, Boney Falls, Bond Falls, Cataract, Prickett Dam, and the Victoria Flowage. By the end of December, 2,720 acres had already been sold to a private developer.

A group of people concerned about the sale of this land has been formed. The Upper Peninsula Public Access Coalition (UPPAC) has created an on-line petition drive requesting legislators call for a new environmental impact study of those areas. To sing the petition or learn more about this issue, go to UPPAC’s new website at www.uppac.com. UPEC will continue to stay on top of this issue and report what is going on as we learn more about the sale of these unique public lands.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is looking for groups and individuals to adopt sections of trail and backcountry campsites. Click on "Volunteer" for details.