Aprll 1994
the monthly newsletter for people who live, work or play on the Upper Mississippi River
The Flood of 1965 -
Part 2
Operation Eagle and Wet Coulees By Rob Drieslein
During the early days of April 1965, residents on the banks of the Mississippi d ownriver from Lake Pepin anxiou sly monitored the river's rampage to the north. On April 6, the Minneapolis Weather Bureau predicted a crest of 16 feet at La Crosse, nearly double the current eight-foot stage and four feet above flood stage. The next day, ice jams smashed into the lock and darn at Dresbach, Minn., and Wisconsin Governor Warren Knowles declared the La Crosse area in a state of emergency. The crest became like a living presence that valley dwellers feared yet longed for, because its passing meant the beginning of the fl ood's end. It slowly worked its way downriver to Alma, Wis., where Front Street residents
The crest became like a living presence that valley dwellers feared yet longed for. evacuated their water-filled homes as the river poured over the locking chamber and roller gates at Lock and Darn 4. The Mississippi River caused headaches for Buffalo County Highway Commissioner Bergie Ritscher, who dealt with flooded Highway 35 between Alma and Fountain City, Wis. The heavily-traveled corridor paralleling the river conveys tons of commodities every day, and Ritscher detoured traffic over the ridges to maintain the flow. "It didn't go real well. We had truckers on those little town roads making wrong turns and getting lost," he remembered. "It's hard to visualize now, but that was a very stressful time." (Flood continued on page 2)
Vol. 2, No. 4
$2
Real Woodpeckers Are Wilder Than Cartoons By Pamela Eyden
For years, I thought all woodpeckers had red, pointy topknots and could buzz-saw their way through trees. As a kid, I spent a lot more time watching cartoons than birds. But outrageous as he was, Woody Woodpecker had nothing on his real-life model, the pileated woodpecker. Pileated woodpeckers are as large as housecats with longer, stronger claws and wingspans of up to 30 inches. They have spiked tongues that wrap around their skulls, a nd a great appetite for carpenter ants that burrow into decaying wood. They are fairly rare everywhere, beca use they need a large territory - 100 to 150 acres for each mated pair. They don't migrate, but manage to survive northern winters by holing up in trees. "Pileateds are heavy craftsmen that can literally rip to pieces any wood that's starting to decay," said Fred Lesher, president of the La Crosse Audubon Society. An English professor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Lesher has served as president of both the Minnesota Ornithological Union and the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology. "Downy woodpeckers, which are much smaller birds, stay on the surface and work the bark. They'll even fly into (Pileat ed continued on page 4)