October 1993
the monthly newsletter for people who live, work or play on the Upper Mississippi River Vol. 1, No. 10
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The Transformation of the Upper Mississippi
Scientists and Birders Join Forces to Track Birds
By Reggie McLeod
By Pamela Eyden
Shipping on the Upper Mississippi River all but ended after the Civil War. Railroad tracks built in the 1850s followed the river bank, and linked river towns with Milwaukee and Chicago. After the war, railroad bridges began spanning the upper river as tracks reached westward, linking the populous East with the growing frontier. A River of Grain - The Evolution of Commercial Navigation on the Upper Mississippi River, by Richard Hoops, chronicles the rise and fall and rise of commercial navigation on the upper river. The events leading up to the massive engineering project that turned the upper river into series of slack-water lakes impounded by 30 dams, as Hoops tells it, is principally a story of railroads, flour milling and Washington deal making.
Birders and scientists tend to look at birds from
Railroads and Mills Railroads bypassed the rapids upriver from St. Louis, upriver from Keokuk and upriver from Rock Island to carry cargo and passengers 12 months a year, whether the river was frozen thick or nearly dried out from drought. During the last part of the last century the only significant cargo on the river was huge rafts of logs floated from the northern woods to riverside saw mills in Winona, La Crosse and other river towns. The Mississippi gave birth to the Minneapolis milling industry when the Minneapolis Mill Company built a dam and canal at St. Anthony Falls in the 1850s. Cargill, Peavey, Pillsbury and the Washburn brothers built mills and grain elevators in the neighborhood until, in the mid-1880s, Minneapolis became the nation's largest flour producer and grain market.
. . . Receipts grew from 10 million bushels in 1880 to more (Grain continued on page 2)
two different points of view, and sometimes disdain each other's perspective. Scientists say, "Birders may be savvy in the field, but they haven't a clue when it comes to population dynamics or sampling techniques." Birders retort, "Scientists are tied to their desks and computers. If you want to know where birds are and what they're doing, call a birder!" Decreasing funds and greater urgency to learn the habits of migratory birds may be bringing the two together at last. Last spring, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service launched a long-term research project to find out when birds migrate through the Upper Mississippi River Valley, and where they stop to rest. The first year's field work depended on the skills of expert birder Carol Schumaker of Winona. Schumaker has been birding for five years. She goes birding before work in the morning (she works as a counselor in a Winona clinic) and she goes out all year round. If these credentials aren't enough, let it be said that she knows her warblers, and can identify sparrows from a glance at their "giz." (That's birder-speak for posture and general gestalt.) Schumaker was paid to go out and watch birds, but she had to do it the way a scientist, not a birder, would. She returned six times to each of 45 sites, located on public land along seven routes stretching from Stoddard, Wis., and Reno, Minn., in the south, to Wabasha and Nelson in the north. She did this seven out of every ten mornings during April What's inside. .. and May, and recorded all Friends of Miss 4 the birds she heard and saw Current Events 5 within a ten-minute period Letter 6 at each site . Population Map 7 River Calendar 8 (Birders contnued on page 3)
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(Grain continued from page 1) than 83 million bushels in 1900. Wheat receipts that were shipped from Minneapolis also grew, rising from shipments of 133,600 bushels in 1880 to more than 10 million bushels in 1900. Elevator capacity grew from about 1 million bushels in 1879 to about 30 million bushels in 1900. Flour production increased from 2 million barrels in 1880 to 15 million barrels in 1900.
October 1993
River of Exports Hoops' book also examines the modem history of shipping on the Upper Mississippi, including studies done in the 1960s that considered a 12-foot channel and keeping the river open year-round. The primary purpose of river navigation, Hoops argues, is now the export of grain.
Total Shipments and Grain Shipments
There was not much need to ship north and south; the millers needed to ship grain to Minneapolis from the west and flour to the cities and ocean harbors in the East. When the millers felt the railroads, which all passed through Chicago, were charging high rates, they arranged to ship out of Duluth and encouraged or built new rail routes through Canada and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. -
Grain Shipments -Total Shipments
Deal Making The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began building wing dams and dredging the river to create a four-and-a-half-foot channel in 1878. However, river shipping still couldn't compete with the rails. The Upper Mississippi River Improvement Association, a coalition of business people from towns along the upper river, claimed credit for getting Congress to authorize a six-foot channel in 1907. The underfunded six-foot channel project was only half done by 1922. By 1925 business people, mostly in the Twin Cities, were pushing for a nine-foot channel. Much of A River of Grain focuses on the political struggle to get Congress to authorize and fund the nine-foot channel. It was an upstream struggle. Major Charles Hall, district engineer at the Rock Island office of the Corps of Engineers, was assigned the task of weighing the cost against the benefits of the project. On August 25, 1928, he reported that the minimum cost of the project would exceed its commercial benefits. The newly formed Izaak Walton League's first big project was to protect the Upper Mississippi River by placing much of it in a wildlife refuge, which they accomplished in June 1924. Few river towns seemed interested in the nine-foot channel. Politicians and citizens in northeast Iowa joined the Izaak Walton League and Major Hall in opposing it. President Herbert Hoover signed the 1930 rivers and harbors act that authorized the nine-foot channel, but his lukewarm support unnerved many supporters. The nation was quickly sliding into the Great Depression, which made the fiscally conservative Hoover even tighter and delayed full funding of the massive project. Twin Cities lobbyists kept pushing. Finally, in the summer of 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt's Public Works Administration allocated $31.5 million to the project. Another $20 million came along in 1934 and then $25 million in 1935. The last of 24 locks and dams was completed at Clarksville, Missouri, in 1940 (Six locks and dams were built before or after this main project.). Total cost for the project was $164 million.
Grain Shipments as Percentage of Total Shipments
The integrity of the Upper Mississippi River has become intimately connected with both the physical aspects of commercial navigation and the economic complexities of international trade. Demand for Midwestern grain has created a matrix in which the health of fishing holes, clam beds and heron rookeries on the upper river is affected by the propwash of towboats and the exchange value of the dollar, by environmental g1,tidelines of Corps of Engineers and corn yields on foreign fanns. In this international matrix, the concerns of environmental activists in river towns such as Lansing and La Crosse are linked to the decisions of officials in the White House and the Kremlin, to the profits of traders in the grain pits of Chicago and London, and to the diets of consumers in Tokyo, Paris and Moscow. A River of Grain is a University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Research Report. The 125-page book was available free to Wisconsin residents from Publications Distribution, Room 245, 30 N. Murray St., Madison, WI 53715; (608) 262-3346. However, the first printing had already been distributed when I inquired in September. The University may print a second edition (with an index, hopefully) if the demand is great enough. Many libraries, especially in river towns, have the book.+ Reggie McLeod is editor of Big River.
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(Birders continued from page 1) "The ten-minute limit is what made it scientific," Schumaker joked. "No birder would go all the way out to those places and then leave after ten minutes." The sites included some bottomland hardwood forest and emergent wetlands, along with mixed habitat and upland. "We wanted to see as many birds as possible and make correlations between birds and habitats," Schumaker said. "We also wanted to choose sites that were pretty accessible, so volunteers can do it again next year."
"No birder would go all the way out to those places and then leave after ten minutes." She counted 6,902 birds of 138 species. Fifty-five species were neotropical migratory birds that winter in South and Central America, and come north to nest. Twenty-two of these are considered "species of management concern" to the Fish and Wildlife Service because they are endangered and/ or their habitat is threatened. "I do most of my birding in this area and I bird all year round, so there were not many surprises for me out there," Schumaker said. She found that the greatest number of birds migrated through from May 1 to 10 - no surprise to birders, to whom Mother's Day is songbird day. She found the greatest number of species from May 20 to 30 - including warblers, great crested flycatchers, vireos and bitterns. There were a few surprises, however - emergent wetlands and bottomland hardwood forests hosted the greatest number of birds. Both are areas where birders rarely go. "I saw more red winged blackbirds than any other species," she said. "And woodpeckers, it turns out, make significant use of the bottomland forests." She was unhappily surprised to see cowbirds on 63 percent of the visits, which is a lot, she said, considering that the survey took place during April and May. Cowbirds contribute to the decline of songbirds because they sneak their own eggs into other birds' nests so other birds will feed and protect their large, hungry young. Sleek and sharp-billed, with brown hoods and glossy, black bodies, they look the part of villains. But tiny house wrens, which many people find endearing, also eat other birds' eggs and take over nesting sites. They occurred at 33 percent of Schumaker' s visits. "I have a birding friend who calls house wrens 'murderous little birds' because of their aggressive and predatory habits," said Schumaker, who adds that she wishes people didn't favor them with backyard nesting boxes. Schumaker accomplished the project with Rose Wiegel, a "volunteer scribe and all around cheerful person at 5 a.m."
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Both women belong to the Hiawatha Valley Audubon Society, which helped fund the research. They knew what they were getting into by volunteering to get up early enough to leave town half an hour before dawn. They didn't anticipate the rain and floods, which kept them in hip boots half the time, and the overcast skies, which made bird identification more difficult. "One time near Whitman Dam I saw at least 75 warblers in the canopy above, but no way could I tell what they were. The sky was gray and they weren't singing," Schumaker recalled. The pay wasn't enough to tempt her to give up her day job, but there were other compensations - getting to know some great places on the river, and experiencing some of those indescribable moments that keep birders going. "One time in early April, 300 tundra swans flew right over my head at dawn. That was, well, pretty cool," she said. Next year, Eric Nelson, biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service and coordinator of the project, intends to continue the study with help from volunteer expert amateur birders. "Everybody knows that birds migrate along the Mississippi River corridor, but we don't know what habitat they use on stopovers. We also need to do long-term monitoring to keep an eye on trends. To do this we need help from expert birders like Carol," Nelson said. "We may do three or four counts per season next year, at fewer sites." Interested birders should call him at the Fish and Wildlife Service office in Winona, (507) 452-4232. Data from the first year's field work was entered and analyzed by computer. Schumaker presented the results at a professional conference in La Crosse this fall. It proved to be a promising blend of scientific structure and birder fieldwork. The future looks good for this kind of teamwork.
(Birders continued on page 8)
Big River (ISSN 1070-8340) is published monthly by Big River, 267 E. Sanborn, Winona, MN 55987, (507) 454-6758. Reggie McLeod editor/publisher Pamela Eyden assistant editor
Subscriptions are $20 for one year, $36 for two years or $2 per single issue. Send subscriptions, single copy orders and change-of-address 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, Winona, MN 55987. Big River, Volume 1, Number 10, copyright <e October 1993. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Printed on recycled paper.
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Friends of the Upper Miss By Jennifer Pettit
Robert Pohl knew he would become friends with the Mississippi River when he moved to Winona, Minn., a year and a half ago. With that spirit the 73-year-old retired banker and outdoor enthusiast began his volunteer work for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and launched the volunteer organization, Friends of the Upper Miss. The Friends, in conjunction with Fish and Wildlife staff, will coordinate volunteer efforts along the 261-mile-long Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge and the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge.
The Friends, in conjunction with Fish and Wildlife staff, will coordinate volunteer efforts along the 261-milelong Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge and the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge. Pohl said the group is focused primarily on education, or "whatever it takes to get people involved with the refuge." Pohl and his wife, Pat, enjoy canoeing the river and photographing wildlife. He has taken on a variety of volunteer projects for the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies. He believes that when more people get out and appreciate the refuge, it will receive better use and support. Already, the group has come up with at least two dozen projects they would like to tackle: including production of a 20-minute video about the refuge that could be shown to various groups by someone qualified to answer questions; development of a canoe trail program, similar to a guided walking tour; and production of an auto tour brochure, to highlight the refuge and the attractions in the surrounding areas. Plenty of outdoor work also needs to be done, too, including wildlife surveys, building maintenance and landscaping. The group will form a unique administrative structure. It's headquarters will be set up in Winona, with five individual chapters working out of the refuge's district offices in Savanna, Ill.; McGregor; Winona; and La Crosse. The Trempealeau Refuge also has a chapter. These chapters will be headed by a volunteer chairperson, who will serve on the
October 1993
Friend's board of directors. "That way the people doing the work are also the ones who can make decisions about what is going on," he said. One advantage to having the five chapters under one organization is that it is simpler than setting up five different groups. "What we are providing is the corporate charter. The individual chapter will organize its volunteers with a chairman and committees," said Pohl. Each district office has different needs but the the things they have in common include the management for the 190,000 acres in the refuge, a small staff and shrinking funds to work with. "If anything is going to get done 'Qesides maintenance it is going to be done with volunteers," Pohl said. "I think that is good." The efforts of the volunteers will not necessarily be the same. "The chapters will do what is unique to their situation," Pohl said. So far, the chapters in Winona and Trempealeau are the furthest along, said Pohl. He has contacted the local schools about getting involved in environmental education programs and about offering internships for college credit. When he first took on the project, Pohl thought it might take up to five years to implement. After just a year-and-ahalf he is upbeat about the progress. "We are under no deadlines," he said. "I don't want to rush into this because if you make a mistake at the beginning you have to live with it." Currently, Friends of the Upper Miss has about 50 active volunteers throughout the refuge area. There is a need for everything from biological research to administrative support. Interested volunteers should contact Robert Pohl at 224 Pleasant Hill Drive, Winona, MN 55987, or contact the nearest district office.+
Jennifer Pettit is a freelance journalist who lives on Latsch Island.
Adopt a Library Many libraries operate on a tight budget these days. Why not help out and give your local public or school library a gift subscription to Big River? Send your name and address and the address of your chosen library along with $20 for a one-year subscription or $36 for a two-year sub to: Big River, PO Box 741, Winona, Minn 55987.
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By Reggie McLeod
After the Flood Towboats, dredges and buoy tenders are bustling about trying to make up for lost time. The flood left behind many shoals in the main channel, some only a few feet deep. The flood also moved or sank about half of the channel buoys. Some people believe the river was opened too soon, worrying that liquid or other hazardous cargo could spill if a grounded barge breaks open. The river couldn't open soon enough for shippers who had barges loaded with spoiling grain and barge crews anxious about feeding their families. An analysis by the Maritime Administration found that $108 million in personal income is lost each month Upper Mississippi ports are closed. Excursion boats won't be able to make up for lost time, because customers kept canceling reservations even after the boats resumed operation. Most riverboat casinos did okay, continuing operations dockside, even during the highest of the high water, according to The Watenvays Journal (8-30-93).
Most riverboat casinos did okay, continuing operations dockside, even during the highest of the high water. Heavy rainfall in the Missouri River watershed will extend the shipping season until December for the first time in six years. Low reservoir levels, caused by an extended drought, had shortened seasons. This year, water levels in one of the reservoirs, Lake Oahe, climbed 20 feet, according to The Waterways Journal (9-13-93). The Izaak Walton League of America (IWLA) accus~s the Army Corps of Engineers of mismanaging the Mississippi. It wants an independent panel to evaluate river management and advise Congress on future planning for the river, according to River Crossings (JulyI August 1993). Paul Hansen, director of the IWLA Midwest Office, asked the Senate Subcommittee on Clean Water, Fisheries and Wildlife to convene a study panel under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences. A $33.6 million Corps study is currently considering whether to expand commercial navigation on the river. Hansen wants some of that money to fund an independent study. "While the floods of 1993 would have been devastating to human development on the historic floodplain under any river management scheme, they have clearly been made worse by the drainage of wetlands, channelization of the river and construction of levees," he told the subcommittee.
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The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (8-30-93) reported that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering a proposal to allow farmers to sell flood prone land to the government, which would allow it to revert to wetlands. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, in its campaign to dispell flood insurance myths, assures home and business owners that flood insurance is available anytime, anywhere, in any community that belongs to the National Flood Insurance Program. For more information on the N.F.I.P. contact the DNR Floodplain Management Staff at (612) 296-4800.+
Cautious Waterfowl and Hunters The Fish and Wildlife Service reminds all hunters that the use or possession of alcoholic beverages while hunting on national refuges is prohibited. Also, entering or remaining on a refuge when under the influence of alcohol to a degree that may endanger oneself or other persons, or unreasonably annoy others (presumably excluding ducks and geese) in the vicinity, is prohibited. It is also against the law to hunt on "O /92" land, cropland in the Department of Agriculture program that pays farmers to leave feed grains in the field for wildlife. Because the poor growing season produced many poor crops, an unusually large amount of land is enrolled in the program this year. The 0/92 fields meet the legal definition of being ''baited." Hunters are responsible for making sure they are not hunting in a baited field. Duck hunting cinema buffs may want to visit the video store or library to borrow the Fish and Wildlife Service videos The King of Ducks, which focuses on canvasback identification, and A Feast of Weeds, which identifies a wide variety of plants that waterfowl eat. Parts of both videos were shot on Lake Onalaska using local performers. Besides breaking into show business the ducks in Lake Onalaska enjoyed a good nesting season this year, with duckling survival high.+
River and Rec Review Extended The public review period for the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area Comprehensive Management Plan and draft Environmental Impact Statement was extended to October 11. The River and Recreation Area encompasses a 72-mile stretch of the river corridor through the Twin Cities (see Big River Feb. 93 and Aug. 93). For more information or a copy of the plan and EIS or to comment, contact Superintendent, Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, 175 Fifth St. E., Suite 418, St. Paul, MN 55101-2901; (612) 290-4160.+
(Current Events continued on page 6)
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October 1993
(Current Events continued from page 5)
Little Muddy There they go again, twisting facts and making false accusations about the proposed Mississippi River Heritage Corridor. The spokesmen for a group identifying itself as Citizens for Responsible Zoning and Landholders Rights, Inc., (CRZLR) display casual disregard for truth, omitting facts that disprove their speculations, bending others to support their charges. Following are but a few of the liberties CRZLR and its networking allies take with the truth: • CRZLR claims that the Mississippi River Heritage Corridor study is a serious threat to our communities, homes and businesses ... that the millions of tourists who will be attracted to the valley by a heritage corridor designation will change the culture, the heritage and scenic beauty forever. What they don't tell you is that there is nothing in the corridor study plan to support those charges. To the contrary, it is not the purpose or the desire of the commission to regulate or enforce regulations with regard to land use controls, nor to recommend condemnation, taking by eminent domain, or any form of mandatory land use controls, land use restraints, timber cutting restrictions or agricultural restrictions. All such issues will be left in the hands of local government except where federal and state agencies already exercise jurisdiction. • CRZLR claims that in the most popular areas (of the corridor), the small cottage-type industries, will be replaced by massive tourist accommodations provided by corporations, with the permission of the National Park Service. The facts are that a heritage corridor designation would not transfer land management or ownership to the National Park Service as they suggest. Cottagetype industries and small tourist-oriented business would stand to benefit from increased tourism that would be attracted to the Mississippi River Valley. • CRZLR seems to imply that because 10 citizen members of the Study Commission also serve as members of the Mississippi River Parkway Commission this creates an evil conspiracy. They fail to tell you that Public Law 101-398, which created the Study Commission, specified that the 10 citizen members appointed by the governors of the 10 Mississippi River states be members of the Parkway Commission. The authors of the act recognized that the Parkway Commission members would bring both knowledge and experience to the study. I suggest that CRZLR spokesmen stop slanderous and malicious attacts on a proposal that all credible analyses show would attract thousands of foreign visitors and U.S. travelers, which would create tens of thousands of well paying jobs, foster economic growth in the region and enhance the competitiveness of tourist attractions throughout the Mississippi River Valley. Stop misleading your network of followers in your attempt to discredit a proposal that is overwhelmingly in the national interest.
Evan Zantow West Salem, Wis. Evan Zantow serves on the Mississippi River Heritage Corridor Study Commission and the Mississippi River Parkway Commission.+
The Minnesota River, which flows into the Mississippi at the Twin Cities, contributes a major share of pollutants to the Upper Mississippi. It carries so much phosphorus that the Metropolitan Waste Control Commission is trying to use it as an excuse not remove phosphorus from Twin Cities sewage before discharging treated wastewater into the Mississippi. "Can This River Be Saved," in the September-October 1993 issue of The Minnesota Volunteer, takes a look at problems facing this 330-mile river and new efforts to clean it up. The big problem with the Minnesota is non-point sources of pollution. Point sources of pollution - usually represented by a discharge pipe emptying into the river-are a lot easier to find and fix. Not much headway has been made fixing non-point sources, whichareusuallyagriculturalchemicals,animalmanure and eroded soil washed into creeks by rainwater. Urban areas contribute non-point pollution, but 92 percent of the Minnesota River's watershed is agricultural land. A major source of urban pollution is the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, which each winter sends thousands of gallons of de-icer into storm sewers that empty directly into the river. Holding ponds being built this fall will improve that situation. Non-point pollution in the Minnesota River must be reduced by 40 percent for the river to meet federal standards. In 1989 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave the state of Minnesota until 1996 to meet those standards.+
Unlock the Fox De Pere, Wisconsin, Mayor Nancy Nusbaum wants the Army Corps of Engineers to restore the river to its natural state as it abandons its century-old lock system on the Fox River, according to a story in the Wisconsin State Journal (8-27-93). "We don't want a series of rotting wooden doors and manmade panels. There are a lot of manmade structures in the river that could be a potential problem," she said . The only locks still operating are at De Pere on the north and Menasha on the south.+
Do you have river information to share? Let Big River help. Send press releases, letters to the editor, news clippings and meeting notices to Big River, PO Box 741, Winona, MN 55987. And remember, the deadline for calendar information is the 15th of the month before the meeting or event.
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October 1993
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Population Changes in the Last Decade Some River Counties Up, Some Down
STEARNS
80-108,161 90-118,791 +9.8%
.r. .....
, :': ~:
.f
WASHINGTON
80-113,571 90-145,896 +28.5%
....+-.;::=
Wisconsin 80-4, 705, 767 90-4,891, 769 +4.0%
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REMPEALEAU
Minnesota 80-4,075,970 90-4,375,099 +7.3%
80-26, 158 90-25,263 -3.4%
VERNON =·=·=-· ••. ··: : : :·........ • . ··.·: •,·. .... . ·.·:·:-. .·:·: .·:·:·:·· :·:·:·:·.·:·. :-··: : . "· : . ·.·: .-:···:·:·:·:···:·:·· :·: . . •'.• '•'-:·:·:::·:·:·:···:~:·: ..·:'.:·:·:-.:,-. •'• :·:·:·:<·:·:·:·:·:·:.:······ •
••• ·.·:-:-:-:-:-.·:·.·:···:···:-:-:-:-:·:···:·:·: : :::·:·.·.·:·:·:...••.·:·· :·:·: :::::.-.:::·.·:·:·
80-25,642 90-25,617 -0.1'Yo
Iowa 80-2,913,808 90-2,776,755 -4.7%
Illinois 80-11,426,518 90-11,430,602 0.0% From the 1980 and 1990 U.S. Census.
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Office Building, 425 State St., Rm. 226, La Crosse. Call (608) 784-3910. Oct. 14 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Oct. 26 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Nov. 9 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. Sept. 27 to Oct. 1 American Association of Port Authorities, annual convention, World Trade & Convention Center, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Call (703) 684-5700.
NOVEMBER 4-7 The Future of America's Rivers, American Rivers, Inc., Stouffer Concourse Hotel, Arlington, Vir. Call Jennifer Paugh, (202) 833-3380.+
OCTOBER 2 Octoberfest Volksmarch, O.L Kipp State Park, Dakota, Minn. 2 Prairie Restoration workday, St. Croix Savanna State Natural Area, Bayport, Minn. Call Ron Stoerzinger, volunteer coordinator, (612) 296-6157. 4 Mississippi River Bank Stabilization Project, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, public meeting, 7 p.m., Winona County Office Building, 202 W. Third St., Conference Rm. A, Winona. Call Don Powell, (612) 220-0402. 7 American Waterays Operators, Midwest Region Meeting, Holiday Inn South County Center, St. Louis. Call Laura Saunders, (314) 822-8733. 12-13 Upper Mississippi River Recreation, Education and ¡ Networking -A Basis for Understanding and Cooperation, Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Nicollet Island Inn, Minneapolis. Call Alan Robbins-Fenger, Minn. DNR, (612) 296-4756. 14 Minnesota-Wisconsin Boundary Area Commission meeting. Call (612) 436-7131 or (715) 386-9444. 15-16 Midwest Riverboat Buffs, fall meeting, Keosaqua, Iowa. Call John R. Miller, (319) 524-6491. 21 Upper Mississippi Waterway Association, annual meeting, Decathlon Club, Bloomington, Minn. Call Robert Hertzberg, (612) 776-3108 or Jan Arbogast, (612) 520-3038 .. 21-22 Minn. Association for Environmental Education Conference, "Building Bridges Through Diversity," University of Minn., St Paul. Call Liz Jones, conference co-chair, (612) 854-5900. 26 Slide Program, Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge history, management and projects. 27-30 Inland Rivers, Ports & Terminals, annual meeting, Benson Hotel, Portland. Call Cynthia Rehagen, (314) 6342028. 27 Interstate Council on Water Policy Meeting: Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration, Inter-Continental Hotel, Miami. Call (612) 223-5828. Federal trapping permits for the Upper Mississippi Wildlife and Fish Refuge are available for $15 at the following dates and times, at the refuge office on the second floor of the Post
(Birders continued from page 3) "I hear that some¡scientists are starting to accommodate birdwatchers' habits in setting up their studies," Schumaker said. "Imagine that!" Researchers have scattered around the world in recent years to call on native people and ask what they know about local flora and fauna. They sit down with Mexican peasants and take notes about los pajaros. They hire Kuna Indians as informant-guides in Panama's rain forest. It makes a lot of sense, this new approach. After all, who knows the habits of birds better than the people who are out there watching all the time? In the Mississippi River Valley, the people who are out there watching all the time are birders.
Flyway Update By October, songbirds are long gone from these parts. Herons are just leaving and swans are coming in from the north. Carol Schumaker says sparrows and hawks are well worth a birder's time this month. She's a sparrow enthusiast. "When the average person thinks of sparrows, they think of house sparrows. But others are native to our area and very subtle in their coloring - there are a million shades of beige and browns, peach, rust, black and white," she said. Lincoln, Harris, white-crested, white-throated, swamp and Le Contes sparrows will be moving through the Upper Mississippi River Valley. Look for them in fields, grasslands and places where there is a lot of underbrush. Sweet clover draws them. To see hawks in migration, go to the tops of bluffs and scan the sky above. "Hawks are high flyers," she said. "Duluth is not the only place to see them in large numbers." Watch for bald eagles, which seem to like flying over steep valleys in the fall, Schumaker noted. "Sometimes they come shooting up over the ridges and down through the valleys. They are great to see."+
Pamela Eyden is assistant editor of Big River.