Big River - September 1996

September 1996

The monthly newsletter for people who live, work and play on the Upper Mississippi River

Vol. 4, No. 9 $2.75

The Bird We Love to Hate

Low Water at Coon Rapids

By Pamela Eyden Illustrations by Vera Ming Wong

By Corey Lentsch

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hrough the round porthole of a highpowered birder's scope, the arrowhead, cattails and bulrushes of the Mississippi River backwater looked like an Oriental painting. This late afternoon scene was serene at first glance, but serenity was an illusion: almost every bird

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busy hunting fish, each with / 1 • a different strategy. /: ' / Great blue herons stood / j / motionless among the reeds, and black, daring individualists in a diplomatic distance from white their fishing techniques, but equally egrets who peered at the water with avid. They darted to the surface of the equal intensity. Fish-stalkers, both. water on narrow, tapered wings, and A dozen white pelicans surged foron about every 15th swoop they got ward in a raft. In unison, they dipped lucky - flying away with fish as slentheir long, sacked beaks into the water der as willow leaves. and rocked back, tilting their heads to Nearby, a bald eagle dropped from swallow whatever they caught, fish or a tree limb and circled low over the not. Rhythmic and methodical, they pool, curious to see what the other never broke stride. birds were catching.

He returned to Above them flew terns, common

t first glance you might think you had gone back to the drought of 1988. Docks jut out from well kept lawns into midair above a deserted, rocky shore lined with cattails and wildflowers. If you meander farther downriver in search of the missing water, you'll wind up at a major dam rehabilitation project.

The Coon Rapids Dam, on the mighty Mississippi, was completed in 1914 to generate electricity for a new trolley line and the growing population north of Minneapolis. This is the (Coon Rapids Dam continued on page 4)

What's Inside.

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Current Events River Harleys, Obstructive Bridges ...................... 6 River Calendar & Almanac Hawk Watch, Dragon Boats, Paddlefish, Duck Videos .......... 8

(Cormorants continued on page 2)

September 1996

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(Cormorants continued from page 1) his perch after a single tour and watched as a trio of cormorants came speeding through, close to ~e w~ter, stark and determined as military iets.

They landed near the pelicans and swam about with their beaks slanted toward the sky, as arrogant and elegant as loons.

But loons are loved by human beings, and cormorants are not. Of all the birds in the Upper Mississippi, cormorants are one of the most disliked. For hundreds of years, they've been given derogatory names "shag," "nigger goose, Ulawyer and killed out of malice. Human anglers blame them for eating P.p all the game fish and wiping outJocal populations of walleye, bass and · other prize catches, although human scientists have never found evidence to support this popular belief. ' What accounts for this relentless hostility, scientists can only guess.

Maybe it's because we don't lik~ tO eat them - they're said to have a fishy taste. Maybe it's because they're gawky and strangely pro,rortioped.

Actually, the very features iliat make the cormorant an odd-looking bird also make it very good af what it does. Its powerful legs are set far back on its body, like the legs of scaup and canvasbacks, who also ~h for a living. Their wings are narrow and tapered, good for maneuvering underwater. They have hooked beaks and orange-pink pouches, like pelicans.

They are very good at fishing.

Unlike most other birds, cormorants dive deep. On the south coast of Eng1'

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On the south coast of England, for example, a cormorant was found in a crabtrap hauled up from a depth of more than 100 feet. land, for example, a cormorant was found in a crab-trap hauled up from a depth of more than 100 feet.

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Fish Hunt People in Asia and in old England turned cormorants into fishing slaves.

They tied cords around the birds' necks to prevent them from swallowing, and turned them loose on long lines. After a while, they reeled the birds back in and massaged their necks to retrieve the fish.

Japan and China are both farn9us for their trained fishing corll}orants.

Friar Odoric, a missionary fu4China in the 14th century, desctj;bed how the birds were selectively bred and "" patiently raised, fed ?i\ lels' bl_o od, and taught to fetch fish by whistled command.

"Cormorantry"is still practiced in China and Japan. Ao;:ording to contemporary accounts, a floe]( of Chine~e cormorants is more effective · than a well-trall),ed p~ck of fo)(' hounds. They work as 'a team, locating schools of fish, ambushing them, 1 and returillng to the boat to drop them off.

In Japanfue Imperial Household still subsidizes an ancJent guild of < . :""' ,E ' cormorant fishermen on the Nagara " River.

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a bit of bass; four contained nothing at all.

"The gizzard shad seems to be their favorite, especially in the fall," Kirsch said. "Cormorants tend to stage wherever there are lots of gizzard shad." Kirsch is hoping to get funding for a new study of cor~ morants; she'd like to track therr annual wanderings with radio transmitters.

Cormorant Communities "Most of the cormorants we see in the river valley in the spring and fall spend wJters on the Gulf Coast, ~d summers in the northern Great Plams and the Great Lakes area. Some do nest in the Upger Mississippi, but there aren't many big rookeries here.

The southernmost rookery is in Pool 26 the next is in Pool 13, just above Chnton, Iowa. The next is at Pool 6, in the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge.

Cormorants are colonial birds - they prefer to roost

A Fish is a Fish The royalS must enjoy an eclectic diet"'·'"' · bec~use cormotants eat all kinds qf fish. !,They'll eat anything they come in,contact with game fish or rough fish. They eat ,whatever's co:rrupon and plentiful," 'said Eileen Kirsch, biologist at the U.S.. Fish.and Wildllte Service Envirorunental M~age~ent Technical Center in Onalaska, Wis. "In the Upper Mississippi that means golden ------------....-.-,"'-, shiners, gizzard shad, bass, pike, redhorse suckers, anything. If there's lots of walleye, they eat walleye. If there's lots of carp, they eat carp."

In a recent study on this topic, Kirsch looked at the stomachs of 14 cormorants; 13 contained gizzard shad, and one of these also contained

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together in stick-and-twig nests in dead trees overhanging the water. But if they can't find any overhanging dead trees, they'll build nests in live trees close to the Main Channel. The nitrogen build-up from their whitewash can kill trees and the vegetation below, if enough birds take up residence for years in a row. This has become a source of concern in recent years, as more and more islands erode due to wind and wave action caused by boats, barges and high water in the navigation channels.

"As the ecosystem becomes more fragile, people start looking at the damage cormorants sometimes do," Kirsch said.

There are ten species of cormorants in North America, including the double-crested cormorant that is found in the Midwest. (The name "doublecrested" comes from the two white feather tufts that curve back from the eyes of breeding adults.) All of them depend on fish, and so are

vulnerable to toxins and contaminants that become concentrated in the tissues of prey animals. In the 1950s and 1960s, cormorants fell victim to DDT, dieldrin and other pesticides.

Their eggshells thinned, and the young died before they hatched. The cormorant population took a nose dive, then recovered somewhat after these pesticides were banned.

"Their numbers have really rebounded," said Doug Damberg, biologist at Trempealeau Refuge. "But we're still not up to the numbers we had before, in the 30s and 40s."

Refuge archives show that there once were 2,500 nesting pairs on the Upper Mississippi River Refuge; now there are only 800 pairs. In the 1930s and 1940s as many as 40,000 cormorants migrated through the Mississippi River Valley in the fall. In the past few years, their numbers have averaged 5,000.

"The flood of 1993 created conditions for a good spawn of carp, which has drawn both cor-

morants and pelicans to Trempealeau Refuge," Damberg said.

Damberg has seen evidence of teamwork between the black and white birds, with pelicans feeding on the surface while cormorants dive under them.

Through the bright porthole of the scope, I watched a cormorant dive and counted the seconds until she surfaced: 10 seconds one time, 8 seconds, then 14. The third time, she came up with a big, square-headed fish in her beak She held it overhead and shook it furiously, but the fish keptstruggling.Thenshechanged tactics and dived, surfacing a few seconds later with the fish belly up, but still crosswise and still struggling. The fish was more placid after another shake and another dive. Then she jerked her head back and swallowed it whole with hardly a ripple in her long neck A pelican turned away to resume its own fishing strategy.

Herons stabbed the water. Terns wheeled overhead. 1!l1!

Pamela Eyden is assistant editor of Big River. Her last article for Big River was "Towboat Monikers - What's in a Name?"

Big River Big River (ISSN 1070-8340) is published monthly

by Big River, 70112 East Fourth Street, Suite 203, Winoru:I, MN 55987; (507) 454-5949; fax: (507) 454-2133,; e-mail: bigriver@aol.com; web site: http:/jwww.Iuminet.net/~bign'ver.

Reggie McLeod editor/publisher Pamela Eyden assistant editor Molly McGuire assistant publisher Mary Feathergill bookkeeper Jayne L. Stokke graphic artist Subscriptions are $28 for one year, $50 for two years or $2.75 per single issue. Send subscriptions, single copy orders and change-ofaddress requests to Big River, PO Box 741, Winona, MN 55987.

Second-class postage paid at Winona, MN. POSTMASTER: send change-of-address requests to Big River, PO Box 741, Winoru:I, MN 55987.

Big River, Volume, 4, Number 9, copyrightŠ September 1996. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Printed on recycled paper.

September 1996

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(Coon Rapids Dam continued from page 1)

dam's first renovation since then.

Scheduled for completion by the spring of 1997, it recognizes that the dam now serves another purpose: recreation.

"That is the only purpose at this point," said Karen Kobey, interpretive naturalist for Hennepin Parks, which operates the Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park in partnership with Anoka County Parks. The park spans both sides of the river and both counties.

Kobey explained that it would be cheaper to remove the dam, since it will need repairs again in 30 years, but tremendous public pressure got the renovation project considered and eventually approved.

Every year some 340 homeowners and thousands of visitors use the 600acre pool above the dam for boating and fishing. Nevertheless, a number of these citizens voiced concerns during the planning stages when they realized that the two-year, $6.2-million project would require the pool's water level to be lowered seven feet.

The lower level will significantly limit recreation on the pool for two seasons. The boat launch on the Anoka County side of the dam must be closed because the tainter gates, the guillotine-like structures that control the water's flow, will remain open. This leaves nothing to block a boat from going over the falls. In addition, many homeowners felt the lower level would leave their property susceptible to erosion and vandalism. They accused Hennepin Parks of going back on its promise to keep the pool at its normal height.

Park officials countered by saying that no such promises were made and that residents and recreation enthusiasts received false information from other sources and misread permit applications. Park officials explained that the water level needed to be lowered for worker safety and to keep costs down. Since the dam will be repaired one side at a time, temporary structures, called coffer dams, will divert the flow to the side not under construction. It would be tough to 4

build coffer dams able to withstand the pressure of a full pool. Each of the old tainter gates withstood 58,000 pounds of pressure at the normal pool level.

In a 1995 Brooklyn Park Sun-Post article, Craig Johnson of Stanley Consultants, the firm hired by Hennepin Parks to advise it on the restoration, cited several other reasons for lowering the pool. Because the tainter gates failed in 1993 and only 12 of the 28 gates would be in place at a time during the repairs, the failure of even one gate could spell disaster for workers.

Johnson also said that strengthening the coffer dams and employing a gate monitor would increase the cost of an already expensive endeavor.

The Farther Shore "People who live on the river have to realize that it is out of their control. .. the river does what the river wants to do," Kobey said. The naturalist pointed out some advantages to the lower water,level: the seven-foot drop provides land where homeowners could grow plants between their property and the pool to stop contaminants, such as fertilizers, pesticides and lawn clippings, from reaching the water. It will also provide more room for shorebirds and other wildlife to feed. She also believes the increased beach space is aesthetically pleasing and eliminates erosion caused by

waves crashing onto property.

"I have had no adverse effects," said homeowner Elaine Hecker of the lower pool level. "I think in the long run it's something that should be done. It will help the park."

All of the dam that is visible above the water has been or will be rebuilt.

Two of the more noticeable changes are a 12-foot-wide walkway across the dam and series of seven-foot-tall, hollow rubber tubes that will replace

Before electric motors raised the gates, an operator had to crank each gate 100 revolutions to raise one of the massive gates one inch. the old tainter gates. As the tubes are inflated they will constrict the flow of water through the gates. The rubber tubes will be a major improvement, considering that each of the 28 tainter gates weighed 6 tons and measured 33 feet wide by 7 feet high. Before electric motors raised the gates, an operator had to crank each gate 100 revolutions to raise one of the massive gates one inch.

As of July, the renovation was right on schedule for completion next spring. "I didn't receive one single call from people complaining about

Hennepin County Brooklyn Park, Minn.

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the low water," said Tnn Marr, Hennepin Parks engineer.

Dam History So how does a dam built to generate power end up being restored solely for recreation?

It all started back in the late 1890s.

Back then, the Twin City Rapid Transit Company wanted to build an electric trolley railway from Anoka to Minneapolis, and needed power to run it. Meanwhile, a growing population north of the big city also needed electricity. After some debate, the site near the Coon Creek rapids was chosen for the future dam and generator.

Great Northern Development started work. Armed with horsedrawn wagons, hand tools and coalpowered shovels, 600 men began construction in January 1913. They must have worked pretty fast, because the power house was pumping out electricity by August 1914! However, as promising as the tenure of the plant seemed back then, the Northern Mississippi Power Company turned it off in 1966, when the dam could no longer break even generating electricity. Northern Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Northern States Power (NSP), gained ownership of the dam and powerhouse when NSP sold it the facility. NSP had acquired the dam from Great Northern Development, prior to that exchange.

Then, in 1969, NSP gave the dam and surrounding land to the Hennepin County Regional Park District.

The power company removed all the generating and transmitting equipment, and the Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park officially opened on Sept. 18, 1978. Anoka County bought park land on its side of the river from Hennepin Parks in 1992. Two years later, Anoka County agreed to help pay for repair and maintenance of the dam. However, the Minnesota Legislature and the Metropolitan Council - not the counties - funded the restoration project.

September 1996

Eat Bugs and Howl at the Moon

By Corey Lentsch

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ithnames like "Walk When the Moon is Full" and "Mystique. of the North - Wolf and Loon/' programs at the Coo:o, Rapids Dam. Regional Park have educated and entertained people since.1979.

The summer programs are generally one-day affairs, with a few exceptions lasting as long as five days. A lot of them are geared toward children, but a fair number are also designed for just about anyone to enjoy.

"Both county park systems are working together and complementing each other," said Karen Kobey; interpretive naturalist for Hennepin Parks.

According to Kobey; the Hennepin Visitor Center focuses on the natural history of the river and surrounding land, while the Anoka County Activity Center deals with the human and cultural stories associated with the river. Kobey emphasized that while the dam may be the

Humans and Wildlife Nearly all the planning for the dam, thus far, has centered on its effects on humans. But what about wildlife? According to Kobey, the lower pool level should not harm aquatic species because fluctuations are normal in most rivers. But does the dam itself inhibit the well-being of wildlife?

"At this point there's very little impact on wildlife," she said. In fact, the constant churning caused by the water going over the falls adds dissolved oxygen to the water. This creates a better habitat for fish below the dam and the birds that feed on them, such as herons.

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most prominent featu;re. of the park, its primary resource is the river.

"I think it's important for people to know how they're connected to the Mississippi and how special it is," Kobey said.

"River Critters Tell a Story," OQ. May 12, told participants how insects of the Mississippi can actually inform us about water quality.

Later that month, "You Spineless Creature" allowed kids to explore the world of invertebrates by looking at them under magnifying lenses. In what may certainly have been the most unusual program, "Entomophagy: The Science of Edible Insects," on August 3, participants watched a slide show and teased their taste buds with free samples.

For more information on these or upcoming park programs, contact the West Coon Rapids Dam Visitor Center at (612) 424-8172 or the Coon Rapids Dam Activity Center at (612) 757-4700. m

"From a fishing standpoint, it (the dam) is a huge advantage because the fish concentrate here," Kobey said.

So the only major detriment to wildlife at this point is that the dam blocks fish from swimming freely up and down the river. "You just can't paint it good or bad," Kobey said. "It has both effects."

What does the future hold for the Coon Rapids Dam? Kobey believes it will be here for a long time. "Places in this section of the river where you can boat are at a premium." m Corey Lentsch, a public relations major at St. Mary's University, in Winona, plans to pursue a career in environmental communications.

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Current Events

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By Molly McGuire and Reggie McLeod

Tracking Paddlefish Radio transmitters and a Civil Air Patrol search are revealing the wanderlust of an ancient fish species.

The Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resource Association (MICRA) is conducting a multi-state study to learn more about paddlefish, a large relative of the sturgeon with a paddle-shaped nose. Gary Siegwarth and John Pitlo, of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, recorded one of the first cases of a paddlefish migrating on a tributary of the Mississippi to spawn, according to an article in River Crossing Ouly I August 1996), the MICRA newsletter.

In early June they implanted radio transmitters in a 30-pound female and a 17-pound male at PalisadesKepler State Park, on the Cedar River near Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In mid-June biologists could no longer find the fish, so they asked the Civil Air Patrol in Dubuque to set up an aerial search of the lower Cedar River.

"Just when it seemed the fish had simply disappeared, a radio signal from the female was picked up on the Mississippi, three miles below the mouth of the Cedar River and more than 100 miles below Palisades Park," Siegwarth said. "This iish had migrated all the way back to the Mississippi in only a couple of weeks."

Studies in Wisconsin also tracked paddlefish moving from overwintering sites on the Chippewa River downriver into the Mississippi in spring.

War on Stowaways Zebra mussels are rapidly changing the ecology of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi and costing billions of dollars. Fish species from overseas, such as the stickleback, are quickly spreading through the Great Lakes. In San Francisco Bay a new species

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moves in to stay every few months.

The landing craft of this invasion of new species is the ballast water of ships. Scientists and local governments have finally gotten the attention of Congress in this war on stowaways, but the solution to the problem may be difficult.

Ships pump ballast into large holds in order to balance their cargo and keep the ship riding low enough in the water to be stable. When they load and unload cargo in port, they need to readjust the ballast, so they often pump water and the critters into and out of the harbor. This introduces fish, mussels, bacteria and other living things from one part of the world to another.

The solution most often discussed would require ships to flush out their ballast and replace it on the high seas.

However, some argue that it is impossible to flush out all the water in a ballast tank. In addition, emptying and filling ballast on the high seas can be dangerous.

Other possibilities including filtering ballast water or treating it with chemicals that would kill all the living organisms.

Car Shredder Stalled St. Paul, Minn. - Zoning consideration for a huge car shredder on the banks of the Mississippi may have to wait a year or so.

On August 7, the St. Paul City Council voted unanimously to delay consideration of the shredder until it reviews the adequacy of current zoning laws. The council is concerned that zoning laws have not kept pace with new technologies, according to an article in The Riverview Times (Aug. 15-Sept. 17, 1996).

Alter Trading Corp., of Bettendorf, Iowa, wants to build the shredder to prepare cars for recycling. Neighbors and environmentalists are concerned about noise, traffic and possible pollu-

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tants in dust created by the shredder.

Another huge metal shredder, the Kondirator, has been proposed on the Mississippi in Minneapolis and several other companies may propose other shredders on the river if it or the Alter shredder are approved.

Don't Rattle the Timbers Once hunted for bounty and out of fear, the timber rattlesnake is now protected in Minnesota. The population of this poisonous but timid resident of Mississippi River bluffs has fallen enough to put it on the threatened list, making it illegal to take, import, transport or sell any portion of the rattlesnake. However, habitat loss continues to threaten its survival, as the rattler depends on bluff prairies, popular as new home sites, and lowland forests to thrive.

Obstructive Bridges Sabula, Iowa - When a barge hits a bridge, it's an allision, and too many allisions can mean big-time bridgework. Another span over the Upper Mississippi has been declared obstructive to commercial navigation by the Coast Guard Bridge Branch.

The Sabula, Iowa, swing span now shares this questionable honor with the bridge in Clinton, Iowa, and three others in the former Second Coast Guard District on the Illinois and Mississippi rivers.

Also, bridges in La Crosse, Wis.; Dubuque, Iowa; and Rock Island, ill., are being studied as possible additions to the list. Obstructive bridges will be modified to be less hazardous as soon as federal funding becomes available, according to the Waterways Journal Ouly 22, 1996).

Refuge Money Wisconsin and Minnesota townships and cities bordering Upper Mississippi pools 7 and 8 received over $20,000 recently in revenue sharing September 1996

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payments from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The money comes from the sale of refuge products nationwide, including timber sales, grazing fees, fur harvest, and oil and gas leases, as well as from supplemental federal funds. The Refuge Revenue Sharing Act mandates compensation for the loss of tax revenues on federal refuge lands.

Sept. 3 to comment on a draft Coast Guard rule requiring them to have plans to handle spills of hazardous materials.

Currently, single-hulled tank barges weighing over 5,000 tons must carry emergency equipment that can transfer oil cargo, according to the

Mussels on the Move

Young Guns

Stillwater, Minn. - Thousands of mussels are being relocated from a 8,750-square-meter area in the St. Croix River to make way for a new highway bridge at Stillwater, Minn.

The mussel bed may be home for the Higgins' Eye Pearly Mussel, a federally protected endangered species.

Mussels have been moved from the St. Croix twice before for safety's sake, once in the winter, with disastrous results, and once, successfully, in warmer weather.

A lawsuit was filed to stop the bridge, but no injunctions have been issued and the relocation is progressing, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press (8-4-96).

For the first time young waterfowl hunters on the Mississippi Flyway will have their own special day to hunt before their elders start blasting away. Because this has been a such a good duck breeding year (see Big River, August 1996) the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service endorsed a special hunting day on Sept. 21 for youths 15 and younger accompanied by a nonhunting adult, as well as a liberal 50day season and a five-duck daily bag limit. The regular season is slated to begin at noon on Sept. 28.

The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board has agreed to the Fish and Wildlife recommendations, and the Minnesota DNR is also in favor of the special youth day. The public may comment to the Fish and Wildlife Service until Sept. 3.

River Harleys The Harley-Davidson web page names Wisconsin Highway 35 from Prairie du Chien to Bay City and the Illinois Great River Road as two of the most popular and scenic stretches in the country for motorcyclists. Favorite sites include Old Settlers Park north of Genoa, Wis.; Grandad's Bluff, in La Crosse, Wis.; and the observation deck at Lock and Darn 6, at Trempealeau, Wis.

New Rules for Single-hulled Barges The Coast Guard has issued new rules for single-hulled tank barges carrying oil, chemicals and other hazardous materials. Beginning next February, tank barges must undergo regular hull and vital systems surveys. Towboats must have alternate steering devices and twin rudders by Nov. 27, 1997. Operators have until

September 1996

Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News (8-12-96).

River Resources Monitoring Sustainable Agriculture with Conventional Financial Data, published by the Land Stewardship Project, is a guide to evaluating the sustainability of a farming operation by using certain simple indicators. Written by economist Dick Levi,.ns, the 30-page, $7 book explains the principles of sustainable agriculture. Call (612) 6530618.

Legacy, a new quarterly newsletter on sustainable development, is published through the Minnesota Sustainable Development Initiative. Call Minnesota Planning at 1-800-6573794, or reach the Web site at http: / /www.mnplan.state.mn.us.

now join others around the country and Give Water A Hand. The environmental stewardship program helps young people engage in community service and help improve local water resources. For more information contact county extension agents, (608) 262-3346, or call 1-800-WATER20, or find more on the Web at http:/ / www.uwex.edu/ ere.

Fatal transportation disasters have always grabbed out attention. In 1865, the steamboat Sultana exploded north of Memphis, killing about 1,700 people, mostly Union soldiers returning home. The tragedy is still surrounded by controversy. Now a new book, Disaster on the Mississippi, pulls together previous information and studies, and offers new views on the explosion, $32.95, call 1-800-233-7940.

Can't wait for waterfowl season?

These videos will_put you in the mood, or at least make you a more educated hunter: King of Ducks and The Feast of Weeds, produced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, are available for free rental in the La Crosse, Wis., and Winona, Minn., areas at public libraries, sportsmen's clubs and some video stores. You may recognize some of the ducks, since much of the footage was filmed in Lake Onalaska.

Two other videos, Ducks on the Wing and A Hunter's Ethic, are also available by calling (608) 785-9000 or (608) 783-8405. ~

Visit the Big River ,,~on the Wel} Our World Wide Web site includes

stories ¡from past issues of Big River, an updated River Calendar, River Forums and links to other interesting resources. http:; / www.luminet.net/-bigriver

Youth groups in Wisconsin can

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River Calendir1..

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Special Events & Festivals - September Aug 31-Sept. 1 Mark Twain Days, Alma, Wis. Aug. 31-Sept. 2 Melon Days, Thomson, ill.

1 Candlelight hike, Perrot State Park, Trempealeau, Wis., 7:30 p.m., meet at Black Walnut Trail, (608) 534-6409.

5-8 Kellogg (Minn.) Watermelon Festival.

6-8 Dragon Boat Festival, Dubuque.

7 Minnesota Orchestra at Harriet Island, St. Paul, free. Festivities, 6 p.m.; concert, 7:30 p.m.; fireworks following.

7 Genoa (Wis.) Fall Fest.

7-8 Villa Louis Carriage Classic, Prairie du Chien, Wis. 13-15 Riverfest, Dubuque.

14 Waterfowlers Warm-up, Holmen (Wis.) Rod and Gun Club, 9:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Youth duck and goose calling contest, 1:30 p .m. (608) 785-9000 or (608) 783-8405.

21 West Side Pride Day, Harriet Island, St. Paul, Minn., (612) 293-1708.

21 Living History Day, Clinton, Iowa.

21-22 Laura Ingalls Wilder Days, Pepin, Wis. 21-22 Big River Days, Clarksville, Missouri.

27-29 Prescott (Wis.) Daze.

27-0ct. 3 Oktoberfest, La Crosse, Wis. 28 Waterfowl hunting opens, Minn. (tentative).

28-29 Riverssance, East Davenport, Iowa.

28-29 Volksmarch, O.L. Kipp State Park, Winona, Minn., 1-800-766-6000.

28-29 GermanFest, Guttenberg, Iowa.

28-29 Hawk Watch, Harpers Ferry, Iowa.

28-29 Victorian Fair, Winona, Minn.

28-29 Voyageur Encampment, William O'Brien State Park, Minn.

29 Fun Days, East Dubuque, ill.

5-6 & 12-13 Flea Market, Marquette, Iowa 5-6 & 12-13 Arts and Crafts, McGregor, Iowa 6 Art Along the River, Bellevue, Iowa.

6-12 National Wildlife Refuge Week.

7-8 Johnny Appleseed Days, Lake City, Minn.

10-12 Big River Rendezvous, Quad Cities.

12-13 Taste of Savanna (ill.)

Birding field trips, Hiawatha Valley Audubon Society, Winona, Minn.

7-8 Fillmore and Winona counties, preregister (507) 452-2482.

21 Hawk migration, 11 a.m., meet in Wilkie parking lot, call (507) 452-0599.

Oct. 5-6 Houston and Winona counties, pre-register (507) 452-2482.

Meetings & Hearings - September 4 Hiawatha Valley Audubon Society, Winona, Minn., 7:30 p.m., Lake Park Lodge.

5 Public meeting, Lizzy Pauls Pond drawdown habitat project, 7 p.m., Buffalo City (Wis.) Municipal Bldg.

11 American Waterways Operators, Midwest meeting, St. Louis, (314) 434-2534.

12 Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board, Lone Rock, 5 p.m., (608) 739-3188.

16 Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center's summer excavations, 7 p.m, U.W. Cartwright Center, (608) 785-8454.

Workshops & Conferences - September -

17-20 Mississippi River Parkway Commission, Memphis, (612) 224-9903.

21-22 Clean Water Action Alliance of Minnesota, (612) 623-3666.

22-26 Rivertech '96, International Water Resources Association, Chicago, write IWRA, U of ill., 1101 W. Peabody Dr., Urbana, IL 61801-4273.

25-27 Minnesota GIS/LIS Consortium Annual Conference, Sheraton Park Place Hotel, St. Louis Park.

UMRCC fall technical section meetings, (309) 793-5800.

10-12 Fisheries, Lake Itasca State Park, Minn.

16-18 Wildlife, Havana, ill., (815) 6252968.

18-19 Water quality, Blackhawk State Park, Rock Island, ill.

-October4-5 Rivers Council of Minnesota, Harnline University, St. Paul. Minn., (612) 6900690.

6-7 Energy & Environmental Organizers' Training, Mankato, Minn., sponsored by Sustainable Energy for Economic Development, $70, (202) 332-0900.

8 Strategic planning leadership workshop, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Farmington, Minn., $20, (6l2) 645-6159.

22-24 National nonpoint source pollution conference, Chicago, (217) 782-3362.

November 18-20 Upper Mississippi River Geospatial Workshop, La Crosse, Wis., Frank D'Erchia, (608) 783-7550.ยงi'ij

16-18 Rural non-point source pollution in the Upper Midwest, Mississippi River Environmental Training School, La Crosse, Wis., (612) 972-3908.

-October5 Greening the Great River Park fall planting, St. Paul, 10 a.m. - 1:30 p .m., (612) 224-9885.

Meetings?

Celebrations?

Send us your special calendar events.

Mail to: Big River, PO Box 741, Winona, MN 55987, or e-mail to: bigriver@aol.com.

8

September Almanac

By Kenny Salwey, Pool Sa An ancient blufftop cliff provides an eagle's-eye view of the Great River far below.

Following a chilly; damp night, the morning sunlight lifts the fog and river mists to form beautiful fluffy clouds that drift slowly across a deep azure background. In September one's thoughts hold both the passing of summer and the approach of autumn.

Goldenrod, bergamot and cardinal flowers bloom along the riverbanks. A river birch shows some yellow leaves.Tree swallows are already winging south. Robins sing very little; they're too busy putting on fat.

Blue-winged teal dabble about the backwaters in large flocks, their gizzards packed with duckweed. The cold wet spring produced late-hatched wood ducks and mallards. The southern journey will be difficult, because their flight muscles are not so strong and their fat reserves are a bit lacking. How many will return next spring?

A subtle peace pervades the landscape. The last really warm rays of sun bring an assortment of turtles to bask in their favorite haunts. A few anglers seek out walleyes and smallmouth bass. Beaches and swimming holes are vacant - school has reclaimed the river kids' short-lived freedom until next spring. ;;:;;:

Big River

September 1996