Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News
The Newsletter of the Great Lakes
Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund
Volume 9, Number 4 • July-August 2001
Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat NewsThe Newsletter of the Great Lakes
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by Craig Minowa, Environmental Association for Great Lakes Education
A state-listed endangered species was discovered and documented at Spirit Mountain in late July thanks to a grant from the Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Network & Fund to the Izaak Walton League McCabe Chapter for a citizen-led plant survey of the area. This site has sparked one of the largest land-use controversies in Northeastern Minnesota. Before this plant survey, developers were only a couple of permits away from beginning the development of a golf course and hotel on this site. Spirit Mountain holds the largest plot of old growth forest of its kind in Minnesota, diverse wetlands, sacred historical Vision Quest sites, and now endangered species. Spirit Mountain is also a gateway to the Saint Louis River estuary, Lake Superior’s largest tributary.
The endangered species, Pale sedge (Carex pallescens), was discovered in several locations on the site of the proposed development, including right in the middle of the proposed golf fairway. This is likely only the third known location of this plant in the state. According to Gary Walton, the botanist who lead the initial plant survey of the site for developer Kent Oliver, this plant wasn’t discovered in the initial plant survey, “because that survey was done so early in the Spring and during one of the driest years of the 90s”. Discoveries like this bring state and federal law even deeper into the Spirit Mountain Golf Course story.
The citizen-led plant survey sparked a surprising amount of local and statewide media interest and brought together nearly 100 concerned citizens, who were trained to identify a handful of rare species botanists felt would likely be thriving in the Spirit Mountain habitat.
Whether or not these discoveries will ultimately save this pristine wilderness has yet to be decided and will likely be a lengthy process.
In an attempt to fulfill prophecies, increase environmental awareness, and bring diverse communities together, a group of spiritual leaders from the Wisconsin Bad River Reservation will soon begin to retrace the original migration of the Anishinabe people. This two-and-a-half-month long walk began on July 21st at the mouth of the St. Lawrence Seaway and will continue along to the seven stopping places that are spoken about in the Anishinabe prophecies.
The sixth of the seven sacred stopping sites is in Duluth, Minnesota on Spirit Mountain. The walkers are expected here in late September, returning to this integral part of the Lake Superior Watershed and ancient site of vision quests and sky burials. It’s a good thing the journey is this year! If Duluth’s Mayor Doty is able to force the golf course development discussed above through, by this time next year it would cost each of these spiritual leaders $80 (the cost to golf) to visit their ancestor’s sacred grounds—amidst putting greens, upper class gents in plaid pants, and randomly placed Pepsi machines. To learn more, go to www.MigrationJourney.cjb.net.
Thirty-year-old errors were discovered at two regional nuclear power plants that could have been deadly for the Midwest. Plants in Monticello, Minnesota and Palo, Iowa discovered packing bolts on ventilation pipes that should have been removed before the pipes were put into place when the plants were built. The brackets that were found on the pipes were originally used to keep the pipes from expanding during shipping. The pipes are designed to expand and direct radioactive steam and hot water away from the reactor in the case of a meltdown. With the brackets still in place three decades later, it’s unlikely the pipes would have been able to expand and contain the radioactive steam. According to David Lochbaum, a nuclear safety engineer and spokesperson for the Union of Concerned Scientists, the failed ventilation pipes could have “increased the amount of radiation released in a nuclear accident 100-fold.”
As the region’s taconite industry has begun to plummet, geologists are increasing efforts to shift mining explorations in northern Minnesota back to “precious metals.” Dick Blackstrom’s Drilling Company has recently been pulling up core samples from the bottom of Birch Lake in the Ely area, and according to Ernie Lehman of the Drilling Company, there may be an underground mine in this lake in a few years. The price of platinum is at an all-time high, and if these core samples are accurate, there may be a wealth of the mineral under the lake. Though this type of mining can be more profitable than most, it also brings increased risks to the area environment. The rock bearing these precious minerals also contains sulfide minerals, which can turn to sulfuric acid when exposed to air.
On July 31st a new state tax law took effect that will make certain energy efficient products free of the state 6.5% sales tax. Minnesota residents will no longer be paying state sales tax on items such as compact fluorescent light bulbs (with the Energy Star label), photovoltaic solar paneling, and energy efficient hot water heaters. Lawmakers based the decision for this new legislation on the fact that Minnesota residents incur much greater costs in the long run for energy inefficient products than will be lost in state revenues from this tax cut.
President Bush has continued on a political mission to send water from the Great Lakes down to the arid Southwest. Duluth’s Mayor Doty recently sent a letter to the President expressing outrage at this proposal. “The citizens of Duluth take great and justifiable pride in their role as protectors of this international treasure,’’ wrote Doty (which is semi-humorous, considering that in early July on TV news Doty referred to these same concerned citizens as CAVE people- Citizens Against Virtually Everything). Even Canada has refused to discuss this plan with Bush, referencing current problematic water level declines. Lake Superior water levels are forecast to drop 3-5 feet over the next few years even without water export, according to an extensive global climate change report released by the National Academy of Sciences.