January 1994
the monthly newsletter for people who live, work or play on the Upper Mississippi River
Metro Plant Will Reduce Phosphorus Discharge By Reggie McLeod
Vol. 2, No. 1
$2
Silver Lining, Cloudy Water By Roger Uicher
For the first time, limits have been set for phosphorus discharges from the Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant. The Metropolitan Waste Control Commission (MWCC), which owns and operates the plant, also agreed to build facilities to reduce phosphorus discharges by 20 to 25 percent. The plant, sometimes called the Pigs Eye Plant, is on the Mississippi River downstream from St. Paul, on Pigs Eye Lake. During the drought summers of 1988 and 1989 residents on the shores of Lake Pepin complained of foul odors and mysterious fish kills. Many suspected that phosphorus discharges from the Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant were to blame.
During the drought summers of 1988 and 1989 residents on the shores of Lake Pepin complained of foul odors and mysterious fish kills. The complaints led to a study that produced a five-inchthick report released early in 1993 (see Big River, May 1993). The report described complex scenarios including other sources of phosphorus, especially from fertilizers and manure washed by rains from agricultural land into the Minnesota River, which flows into the Mississippi at St. Paul. Although the study found that the Metro Plant accounted for about 25 percent of the phosphorus entering
(Phosphorus continued on page 4)
Your average river's got the flow, the fish, the flights of water birds. You don't expect a forest in the floodplain, but the Upper Mississippi seems as much woods as water. Islands, unnamed isthmuses and mini-mountains like Trempealeau grow a number of species, but these days the predominant bottomland hardwood is silver maple. "Acer saccharinum Linnaeus " sounds sweet, but not as sweet as A. "saccharum," the true sugar maple of the uplands. It can be tapped but you'll have to boil more sap for real syrup. Silver's are full of water. A mature specimen 75 feet high with a crown 75 feet wide will suck up a ton of water per day. A big river valley is prime habitat.
A mature specimen 75 feet high with a crown 75 feet wide will suck up a ton of water per day. Somebody said, "Nature abhors a vacuum." Forester Randy Urich says ecological changes in the last century have favored a sub-climax species like silver maple. He surveys the bottomlands from St. Paul to Guttenberg, Iowa, for the Army Corps of Engineers. "Pioneer" species such as willow and cottonwood thrived in the new light and wetlands created by the lock-and-dam system. In the shadows of that overstory, shade-tolerant silver maples slowly
(Silvers continued on page 2)
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(Silvers continued from page 1) spread. Now, 60 years later, huge decrepit cottonwoods host eagle nests surrounded by a sea of successional silver maples. What next? Silvers are shade tolerant only when young. Will a climax forest consist of encroaching box elders, convert to open grassland or simply sustain silvers surviving the abuse of floods and ice? Currently, three-quarters of the trees on the thousands of acres of Upper Mississippi bottoms are silvers. Specialists are studying the importance of the species and management implications. It's special in many ways. Ever see a carp with its head stuck in a wood duck box? It's possible. A silver maple can stand high water and prolonged submersion or silt cover that would drown or smother other hardwoods. Its shallow roots hold tons of soil that might otherwise wash away, and when one is finally wind thrown it's instant habitat. Fishing guide Dean McNally puts in at Pickwick, Minn., and spends a lot of allweather time on the water. He credits shoreline maples for leaning out over some big bass, until they tip over to create perfect crappie conditions. ("Whack that tree hard with an oar, come back in half an hour.") But watch out when they break loose in a good flood! Those old maples'll take out most of your hull and all of your prop.
Ever see a carp with its head stuck in a wood duck box? Kellogg environmentalist and woodworker Wayne Hammer, who canoes the maple backwaters, claims they're "the closest thing we have to Everglade conditions." He particularly enjoys exploring tributary outlets that amount to a maple monoculture with park-like qualities. Is beauty in the eye of the boarder? At his sawmill, Hammer fabricates interior panelling and trim from this light, bland wood . It can complement other underutilized local woods. Jim Beeman, another innovative sawyer, rips silver maple logs looking for character - "worm track" etching the plank with intricate patterns or a hint of "fiddleback" more commonly seen in high-grade sugar maple. From his ridge above Fountain City, he sees miles of bottomland and predicts rising prices and better uses for the timber than pallet wood. How does silver maple stack up as firewood? Your stack of silver maple would have to be a good third higher than traditional fuels - oak, hickory, hard maples - to provide an equal amount of heat. But many an ice-locked boathouse has stayed cozy with a stove full of this most convenient cord wood. A dead, dry old silver may have most value just sitting there. Focus your binoculars in early May. Ornithologist Carol Schumacher, Winona, is excited about recent studies
revealing that of numerous avian habitats along the Upper Miss, the bottomland hardwoods show the second highest use by migrating and resident birds, right after wetlands. Twenty percent of spring birds travel far enough south to be called "neo-tropicals," a population of special concern in this hemisphere. Whitewater State Park naturalist Dave Palmquist agrees and cites especially the prothonotary warbler, one of the many itty bitty twitty warblers in that old maple. It's the one with the yellow-orange head and bluish wings. This bird depends on "secondary cavities" for nesting sites. So some critter's got to get there first, probably a woodpecker. The silver maple's soft wood, tenderized by rot and worms, makes for easy excavation. Soon the forest floor (or perhaps standing water) is littered with chips and another niche is made in the scheme.
The silver maple's soft wood, tenderized by rot and worms, makes for easy excavation. Minnesota Department of Natural Resource's Carrol Henderson's Landscaping for Wildlife lists 31 birds dependent on cavities in old snags - owls to mergansers to wrens to the prothonotary. The holes are also highly important to a dozen mammals from 'coons to a trio of bats: red; hoary; and ~ilver-haired . While the prothonotary warbler may nest in a limb close over water, wood ducklings free fall 30 feet out of the tree's trunk, at the top may sit the dumpster nest of a bald eagle pair or the raucous rookery of multiple herons. Refuge biologist Eric Nelson notices more great blue herons nesting in silver maples, due to shortage of big elms and cottonwoods. But the congregation of nests may be comparatively limited because of the silver's smaller crown. The majority of maples in the bottoms lack the luxury of space to achieve the classic vase shape of a boulevard silver. Many were planted as yard trees 100 years ago for their fast growth and solid shade. Today's home owner looks up with trepidation at huge limbs overhanging the attic and antennae. High winds are happy to shear tons of weak branches or the whole top right off. Rushford forester Mike Malin cruises miles of bluff country timber. He can spot a settler's homestead at a distance by the island of aged silvers showing their seasonal colors, close up he'll find a rectangular depression, limestone still crumbling. What silver maples lack in October, they compensate for in March. "Fall color" is rarely applied to silvers, except for blue language behind the rake. But in late winter, clusters of buds swell red and purple against the wan sky. It's a tree to break cabin fever, even before pussy willows. Soon enough, leaves unfurl ("cut" leaves with three to five deeply in-
January 1994
BIG RlvER
dented lobes) and thousands of seeds take wing on veined "keys" that spiral to earth. We called 'em helicopters in third grade, tossed handfuls high to spin down again in elementary trajectories. One of the seed's wings wedged above your tongue made a good diaphragm whistle that no teacher could notice. Other creatures, mostly rodents, just ate them. But every year little maples bonsaied up along the damp ditch bank bordering the clapboard schoolhouse. They propagate aggressively- by air, by land, by water. What school didn't teach us was how to lie under a big tree for an hour keeping your mouth shut or how much a
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northerns thrash in shallows. There's hardly a dull moment to a naturalist. Salwey's found several "storm trees:" rotted and wrecked behemoths big enough to stand or sit in during a spell of wretched weather. Silver maples are "a significant part of the river ecology." Bob Drieslein, Winona District manager of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, concurs, "Without silver maples in the bottoms, things would be bleak." The species will likely gain increasing respect as its role is better evaluated. Everything from fungus to farm exports, catfish to channel dredging, insects to air quality may relate. So keep an eye on these trees.
''Without silver maples in the bottoms, things would be bleak" Donald Peattie, in his Natural History of Trees, rhapsodizes, "Then the contrast in the hues of the two surfaces is seen to greatest advantage; when composed, the tree seems clothed in dark green foliage. In the next moment the whole of one bough, or one-half side of the whole tree, will suddenly turn silver, as the blades are reversed, and show their undersides. Then, the summer breeze having sighed away, the tree regains its green composure. But when begin those day-long gales that are destined to blow summer quite away, the Silver Maples along every stream are whipped into continuous white caps, threshing and seething and flashing their silver in more torment than delight."ÂŽ
Roger Lacher is a writer and naturalist who lives on the Root River watershed.
silver maple resembled an elephant just stretched out by Midwest winters so it stayed put, big and gray reaching in all directions. How they were prone to grotesque bumps along the trunk, like the Marilyn Monroe Maple below the neighbor's pasture. How if you threw your jacket to the other side the squirrel might circle around for your .22. How sawing up an old yard tree was an invitation to sparks when the Homelite hit some past generation's metal: hammock and swing hooks; heavy duty clothesline; spikes; harness hames; plowshare in a split; horseshoe tucked for luck. Near Buffalo City, Wisconsin, woodsman Kenny Salwey considers silver maple one of his favorite trees. And Ken is famous for ignoring the forty-hour-week-fieldwork gig. You don't stop thinking ti! the last rat's skinned, and that might be midnight. Mink and muskrat frequent shoreline roots and blow downs. Special plants thrive in the silt shade. Swamp bucks work over saplings with drawknife antlers. Spawning
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(Phosphorns continued from page 1) Lake Pepin during an average year, it contributed a major share of the phosphorus during drought years. The new, five-year permit for the plant limits phosphorus discharges to 4.0 milligrams per liter (mg/I). Currently the plant discharges only about 3.0 mg/I. Although there was no limit on phosphorus discharges, much of it is removed by normal processing. The wastewater entering the plant contains about 6.0 mg/I, according to Jeff Syme, of the MWCC communications office. The MWCC must also begin operating a "sidestream recycle process" at the plant by July 1997. The new facility, which will cost about $13 million, should reduce phosphorus concentrations by another 20 to 25 percent, to the range of 2.2 to 2.4 mg/I, Syme said.
Complicated Issues Minnesota limits phosphorus discharges into lakes to 1.0 mg/I. Several agencies and organizations, including the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, pushed for a 1.0 mg/I limit in the Metro Plant permit. However, the Wisconsin DNR, which worked on the study and permit process, is not too disappointed by the permit, according to water quality specialist John Sullivan. "There were a whole host of factors driving this in addition to the phosphorus issue," he said. Perhaps the biggest issue is how the metro area will accommodate future growth. There were nearly 30 treatment plants in the metro area 20 years ago; now there are 10. A Centralization/Decentralization Study is being used to plan for future growth. Among the issues to be decided is
MWCC Administrator Fired Nearly one month after the new permit for the Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant was approved, the Metropolitan Waste Control Commission Board of Commissioners voted to fire the commission's chief administrator, Gordon Voss. A press release from the commission did not give a reason for the firing. An article in the St. Paul Pioneer Press (12-23-94) said Voss was considering suing the commission for firing him without giving a reason. Voss served as chief administrator for the last five years. The commission owns and operates the regional wastewater collection and treatment system in the metro Twin Cities area. Its 10 treatment plants process 300 million gallons of sewage a day, serving more than two million people in the seven-county area .
January 1994
LEITER TO:~ THE·Eo1roR : ..
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Riverfront Development in Sherburne County We have been involved in redevelopment along the riverfront in St . Paul and Minneapolis for some years. We worked on Nicollet Island and at Island Station in St. Paul. We believe riverfront development is most appropriate in urban areas . My family also owns and operated a farm in Sherburne County. I am writing because the Sherburne County Commissioners are in the process of rezoning 60 miles of river frontage into double the development density for which it is now zoned. I and a number of county residents are deeply concerned that the twoand-a-half-acre lots they are proposing to allow along the entire length of the Mississippi would be an ecological disaster. The 1,000 houses that would fit along the largely undeveloped shoreline of the river would turn Sherburne County into the likes of Hennepin and Anoka counties, with dense housing . The urban areas need Mississippi River redevelopment. The Rural Recreational and Scenic Rivers do not need high density development. I hope that you can make your readers aware of what is happening in Sherburne County. Sincerely yours, John J. Kerwin Minneapolis
whether to expand existing waste treatment plants or to build a new big one or to build several smaller ones, he said. A concurrent agreement requires the MWCC to spend $2 million a year on a program to reduce metropolitan nonpoint sources of phosphorus and to spend $400,000 annually for research to determine the long-term effects of point and nonpoint phosphorus loading. Besides working with some farmland on the fringes of the metro area, the nonpoint program will investigate and try to curb nonpoint phosphorus sources in the cities and suburbs. These may include lawn fertilizers, leaves and grass clippings. The issue of nonpoint pollution is likely to provide a major challenge for some time, in both rural and urban settings. However, now that most point sources, such as waste treatment plants and businesses, have dramatically reduced discharges, nonpoint pollution makes up a much bigger share of the total pollution, Syme explained. Sullivan agrees that work is needed on nonpoint sources and realizes that it will take time to see results from that and changes in the operation of the Metro Plant. And, while it is heartening that the plant plans to reduce phosphorus discharges, there is not yet any guarantee that those reductions will continue beyond the five-year permit period, he warned.®
Reggie McLeod is editor of Big River.
BIG R.lvER
January 1994 .
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-· CURRENT EVENTS By Reggie McLeod
Nuke Nearly Flooded Last August, as flood waters climbed to within six inches of the top of a dike surrounding the Cooper Nuclear Power Plant, workers fled for their lives. There was not enough notice to shut the plant down. In the nick of time a dike protecting agricultural land upstream broke, averting a possible disaster at the nuke, according to an article in River Crossing (Nov./ Dec. 1993). The plant is near the Missouri River, about 60 miles south of Omaha. Army Corps of Engineer workers waited at upstream agricultural levees prepared to open them to protect the nuclear plant. Some question why agricultural land was protected for so long while jeopardizing the safety of the nuke.@
DNR Police State? Proposed legislation would give Wisconsin game wardens responsibility for issuing citations on the spot for violations of state environmental laws. Currently they have only the power to warn violators and refer the situation to the Department of Justice, which prosecutes very few of the cases, according to an article in The Milwaukee Journal (12-1-93). Attorney General James Doyle lauded the proposal as a common-sense way to improve enforcement and save money. "If trained environmental wardens can handle minor cases much like police officers issue traffic tickets, we will be able to avoid much of the added expenses associated with lengthy lawsuits." However, a press release from State Representative DuWayne Johnsrud (R-Eastman) warned that the legislation would turn the Department of Natural Resources into "a gestapo-type law enforcement agency." "Whatthis means is that if the DNR comes on to your land, which they don't need permission todo,and sees a sewage runoff or burning problem, they'll just slap you with a fine, without giving you a warning," Johnsrud said. "It looks to me like the DNR is trying to make Wisconsin into a police state . . . "®
Wetland to Cropland to Wetland The levee protecting Mud Bottoms, near Oakville, Iowa, was breached 17 times since 1929. The Army Corps of Engineers paid 80 percent of the cost to repair it 16 times, but Mud Bottoms' crop-growing days may be over, according to an article in the Baraboo News-Republic (11-24-93). Land owners in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin applied to the
Soil Conservation Service during December for a program that is buying easements on flood-damaged land. The Emergency Wetland Reserve program has $15 million to purchase cropland and return it to wetlands. The easements may allow hunting, fishing, logging, haying and grazing. They do not require landowners to open the land to public access. Besides saving the cost of repairing dikes and other flood-control structures, the program should enhance wildlife habitat and reduce future flood damage by providing more storage for flood waters.@
Treading on Thin Ice Ice can be a foot thick here and only an inch thick just over there. Springs, currents, chemistry or even a school of carp can cause the ice to be dangerously thin only a few feet away from thick ice. Some spots on the river never freeze. So be careful out there.
Springs, currents, chemistry or even a school of carp can cause the ice to be dangerously thin only a few feet away from thick ice. Tim Smalley, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources boat and water safety specialist offers some ice safety advice: •Stay off the ice until there are at least four inches of clear, solid ice. • Avoid alcohol. It makes you colder and can cause fatal errors in judgement. • Snowmobiles and ATVs need at least five inches of ice. Automobiles and light trucks need eight to 12 inches. •Talk to local resort or bait shop owners about local, thinice areas. • Wear a life jacket. It will provide extra warmth under your parka. However, don't wear one in a vehicle; it could hamper your escape. • Carry two large nails tied together with a few yards of heavy cord. The nails can be used as picks to pull yourself out of the water. The cord can be tossed to someone who has fallen through the ice. • Avoid driving on ice, especially early and late in the season. Most fatal accident victims are in vehicles or on snowmobiles. •Be prepared to get out of a vehicle quickly. Keep the seat belt unbuckled. Some experts recommend leaving the windows down and doors open.
(Current Eve11ts continued on page 6)
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(Current Events continued from page 5)
Plunging temperatures and snow will probably send the ducks and geese on their way. Trappers are taking many beavers, muskrats and raccoons along the lower Wisconsin River. Many raccoons weigh more than 30 pounds.®
• Don't keep a vehicle parked in the same spot for too long; it weakens the ice. Don't park near a crack in the ice. • Be especially careful driving across the ice at night or while it's snowing . The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service warns that rece nt dredging near Rosebud Island, in Lake Onalaska, has changed the current and ice thickness near the island . The Service also reminds people that ATVs, snowmobiles, cars and trucks are not allowed to travel on Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge lands. They can travel on the ice within the refuge. They are limited to areas where a boat could travel during warm months. Refuge access is only allowed from boat ramps and public launching facilities . ®
Spicy Paint to Repel Zebras Soon many boaters will be warding off zebra mussels with cayenne peppers. The patent and license agreements have been signed for a Pittsburgh company to manufacture Barnacle Ban, a pepper-based paint intended to repel barnacles and zebra mussels, according to The Waterways Joumal (11-22-93).
The patent and license agreements have been signed to manufacture Barnacle Ban, a pepper-based paint intended to repel barnacles and zebra mussels
Barges Running Out of Space A new study warns that barge fleeting space in the Twin Cities will be insufficient by the year 2000 . Twin Cities Area Barge Fleeting, produced by the Minnesota Department ofTransporta tion, Ports and Waterways Section, estimates that waterborne cargo will increase by 2.5 to 3.4 percent through the first 10 years of the next century, according to an article in The River Register (Nov./Dec. 1993) . The current capacity can support up to 503 barges in 29 fleets . Grain, coal, petroleum products and agricultural chemicals are the principal cargos in the area. For a copy of the report, call the Department of Transportation, (612) 296-1609.®
There is a huge market for the product, according to Biocontrol Technology, Inc., which will manufacture it. New York City, for instance, has budgeted $16 million to fight zebra mussel infiltration of intake pipes and other facilities. The Waterways Journal (12-6-93) also reports the formation of the National Zebra Mussel Alliance, a nonprofit association to lobby Congress about the issue. It estimates that the mussels will cost industries, businesses and communities more than $5 billion by the end of the decade. The alliance can be reached at (703) 415-3032 or faxed at (703) 418-6882 .®
Historic Porch Pie Needed A historic restoration of the Itasca State Park Clubhouse cannot be completed until someone can find an old photo of it that was taken before its porch was removed. Check the album. Check the attic. If you find the photo, call park naturalist Elizabeth Murray, (218) 266-3654, extension 110, or information specialist Carmen Diestler, (612) 297-5257.@
January 1994
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Lingering Geese, Fat Raccoons The Canada geese have settled into the Horicon Marsh and other parts of the Upper Midwest for longer than usual. As of late December the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources estimated that more than 450,000 birds were still in the fivecounty area in east central Wisconsin. Warm weather, lack of snow cover, open water and lots of corn stubble have kept the geese from striking southward . Bald eagles and late migrating duck species were still plentiful along open water in the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers in late December.
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BIG RlvER
January 1994
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Outdoor Recreation in Our River States 1991 Wildlife-related Activities of Residents at Least 16 Years Old
Minnesota
Wisconsin
residents who fished -34% male anglers - 67% female anglers - 33% average days spent fishing -14.1 average one-way trip to fish - 40.7 miles average spent per angler - $773
residents who fished - 26% male anglers - 75% female anglers - 25% average days spent fishing -16.9 average one-way trip to fish - 34.0 miles average spent per angler - $686
residents who hunted -14% male hunters - 93% female hunters - 7% average days spent hunting - 11 .0 average one-way trip to hunt - 37.1 miles average spent per hunter - $645
residents who hunted - 17% male hunters - 93% female hunters - 7%" average days spent hunting -16.4 average one-way trip to hunt - 25.3 miles average spent per hunter - $779
residents who did one or more nonconsumptive wildlife-related activity- 59% observed wildlife - 47% photographed wildlife -13% fed wild birds and other wildlife - 50% maintained plantings or areas -12% visited public parks -14%
residents who did one or more nonconsumptive wildlife-related activity- 56% observed wildlife - 41 % photographed wildlife-14% fed wild birds and other wildlife - 48% maintained plantings or areas -13% visited public parks -12%
Iowa
Illinois
residents who fished - 24% male anglers - 66% female anglers - 34% average days spent fishing - 11.8 average one-way trip to fish - 21 .6 miles average spent per angler - $615
residents who fished -17% male anglers- 71% female anglers - 29% average days spent fishing -13.1 average one-way trip to fish -15.2 miles average spent per angler - $756
residents who hunted -11% male hunters - 95% female hunters - 5%" average days spent hunting -14.7 average one-way trip to hunt - 20.8 miles average spent per hunter - $720
residents who hunted - 5% male hunters - 92% female hunters - .. . average days spent hunting -16.0 average one-way trip to hunt -16.6 miles average spent per hunter - $750
residents who did one or more nonconsumptive wildlife-related activity - 49% observed wildlife - 36% photographed wildlife - 10% fed wild birds and other wildlife - 43% maintained plantings or areas - 10% visited public parks - 8%
residents who did one or more nonconsumptive wildlife-related activity - 39% observed wildlife - 28% photographed wildlife - 8% fed wild birds and other wildlife - 35% maintained plantings or areas - 6% visited public parks - 9%
"estimate based on a small sample size ... sample too small to estimate From the 1991 Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation .
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Site 2 p.m. to 6 p.m .; candlelight ski & hike, Nelson Dewey State Park, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m . Call (608) 725-5399.
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
8 Cross Country Ski Waxing Clinic, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m ., Pike Island Interpretive Center, Ft. Snelling State Park, St. Paul. Call Mark Cleveland, park naturalist, (612) 726-9247.
1 Sustaining the Ecological Integrity of large Floodplain Rivers, deadline for abstracts, conference July 12-15 in La Crosse. For abstract information call Jody Millar, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, (309) 793-5800.
8 Candlelight Ski, Black River Falls (Wis.) State Forest, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Call (715) 284-4103.
4 Candlelight Ski, Willow River State Park, Hudson, Wis., 6 p.m. to 9 p .m. Call (715) 386-5931 .
8 Candlelight Ski, Perrot State Park, Trempealeau, Wis., 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Call (608) 534-6409.
9-11 World Coal Conference, Mississippi Valley Coal Exporters Council, Westin Canal Place Hotel, New Orleans. Call MVCEC, (504) 566-1001.
8-9 Eagle Watching Days, along the Wisconsin River at Sauk City and Prairie du Sac, includes bus tours, Native American cultural presentations, bird of prey show, children's activities and a dinner. Call (608) 643-4482 or (608) 266-7012.
26-March 1 First Annual Meeting of the lower Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Camelot Hotel, Little Rock, Ark. Contact Mike Armstrong, Ark. Game & Fish Commission, 2 Natural Resources Dr., Little Rock, AR 72205.
13 lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board meeting, 5 p.m ., Kratochwill Building/Village Hall, Muscoda, Wis. Call 1800-221-3792 or (608) 739-3188. 13-14 Wisconsin State Park camping fee increases and lodging for people with disabilities will be discussed at six public hearings. Call Dave Weizenicker, (608) 266-2185 or Kimberly Eilenfeldt, (608) 264-6035:
MARCH 7-10 International Zebra Mussel Conference, Holiday Inn, Madison, Wis. Registration fee $250 before Dec. 17. Call Clifford Kraft, (414) 465-2795.
13 Natural Resources Bldg, 101 S. Webster St., Rm. 027, Madison, disabilities 10:30 a.m., fees 11 :30 a.m.
15-17 Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, annual meeting, "50 Years with Old Man River: Challenges, Decisions and Actions for the Future," Radisson Hotel, La Crosse. Call (309) 793-5800.
13 Havenswoods, 6141 N. Hopkins, Milwaukee, disabilities 1 p .m ., fees 2 p.m. 13 Eau Claire County Courthouse, 721 Oxford St., Rm. 2550, Eau Claire, disabilities 11 a .m., fees 1 p.m.
February 26 to May 15 Wildlife Art in America, Bell Museum of Natural History, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. An exhibit of more than 100 works by great historical artists, modern masters and the finest of the present generation of wildlife artists. Roger Tory Peterson and Robert Batema n will be guests at the opening. For information call Byron Webster, (612) 624-0225. ®
14 Green Bay City Hall, 100 N . Jefferson, disabilities 11 a.m., fees 1 p .m. 14 Nicolet College & Technical Institute, Northwood Rm. 211, Rhinlander, disabilities 11 a.m., fees 1 p.m . 14 UW Experimental Farm, Large Rm., Spooner, disabilities 11 a.m., fees 1 p.m. 26 Mississippi Headwaters River Watch Project meeting, Grand Rapids, Minn. Students participating in MHRWP monitor and study the river. This meeting will review monitoring results, curriculum and careers. Call Steve Dittman, (218) 547-3300, ext. 248. 28-29 Mississippi River Parkway Commission, Great River Road Association, mid-winter meeting, Springfield Renaissance Hotel, Springfield, Ill. Call (612) 224-9903. 29 Candlelight Ski, Interstate State Park, St. Croix Falls, Wis., 6 p .m. to 9 p .m. (715) 483-3747. 29 Candlelight Ski, Merrick State Park, Fountain City, Wis., 5 p .m. to 9.p.m. (608) 687-4936. 29-30 Bald Eagle Days, Cassville, Wis., viewing sites; bus tour; indoor displays & programs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at elementary school; hayrides through Stonefield Historic
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