August 1997
The monthly newsletter for people who live, work or play on the Upper Mississippi River
Vol. 5, No. 8 $2.75
From Bombs to Prairie Flowers
Steamboat Inn
Closing the Savanna Depot
A Convergence of Two Rivers, Good Food and a View
By Reggie McLeod
T
he two men point and gesture and future of the depot carry them from one end of the base to the other. at a three-dimensional model of 13 miles of riverfront, like a Outside, the depot hums with the daily routine, but in a few years the couple of giants sizing up their domain. The model is busy with tiny high, barbed wire-topped fences that roads and buildings. Each of 437 surrouqd the igloos will be gone. The thumb-sized bumps represents an bombs will be gone. The warning "igloo" - an earth-covered magazine signs forbidding boaters from the packed with maze of backwabombs and other ters below Lock When the depot closes, explosive muniand Dam 13 will by the year 2001, most of tions. be gone, too. Kids, The model of bike riders, bird its 13,000 acres of prairie, the Savanna Army watchers and forest and backwater will Depot Activity young couples will be transformed from sprawls on a large wander among the table in one comer empty igloos, enmilitary activities to of a meeting room joying 3,700 acres outdoor recreation. of restored prairie. in a building that used to serve as a When the depot chapel. Stained glass windows and air closes, by the year 2001, most of its 13,000 acres of prairie, forest and conditioning take the heat out of the backwater will be transformed from sunlight filtering into the comer military activities to outdoor recrewhere Arlie Dahlman, base transition ation. coordinator, and Steven M. Haring, executive director of the Local RedeThe depot begins on the Illinois velopment Authority, cover miles in a side of the Mississippi just upriver stride. Their explanations of the past (Savanna continued on page 2)
· By David Syring
F
or my three-year old daughter, the best thing about eating at the Steamboat Inn in Prescott, Wisconsin, was watching walleyes leap for early-evening insects just below the dining deck. I'd have to agree that the glow of the sunset, the herons winging south, the tree-lined opposite bank and the rest of the St. Croix River environment give the food a (Steamboat Inn continued on page 4)
What's Inside.
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Current Events Eagle Rescue, River Nominations, Salamander Crossing .......... 5
River Calendar & Almanac Wildlflowers, Butterflies, Dragon Boats, Archaeology Week ...... 8