March 1995
the monthly newsletter for people who live, work or play on the Upper Mississippi River
The Day the Dugout Emerged from the Mud By Pamela Eyden
If you want to look for artifacts along the river, late spring or early summer are the best times. That's when things long buried come to light again. Freezing and thawing heaves up the earth. Flood waters scour soil away from channels and tree roots. You never know what you might find - tiny arrowheads or something bigger. A few years ago a fellow from Trempealeau, Wis., found something bigger. He went out fishing and was about to tie his boat to an old snag when he noticed that it looked a lot like a dugout canoe. He tugged the hollowed log out of the
He went out fishing and was about to tie his boat to an old snag when he noticed that it looked a lot like a dugout canoe.
(Dugout continued on page 2)
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Exotic Fish are Not the Answer By Lee Kernen
The introduction of the common carp, back in
1879, turned out to be one of the biggest blunders ever made - the damage these fish have done to our clear water lakes and streams across the Midwest is appalling. Obviously, people should have learned from this error and not made the same mistake twice. But, as hard as it is to believe, two more species of Asian carp are now loose in the waters of the United States. The grass carp, or white amur, was brought to Arkansas in 1963 with the hope the species would eat vegetation from weed-choked waters. They did! In fact, in some lakes grass carp ate all the vegetation and even followed lawn mowers around the lakes to eat grass clippings that flew into the water! Grass carp have been spread across the nation by private fish hatcheries that advertise them as the cure-all for
(Exotic Fish continued on page 3)
mud, towed it to shore and called nearby Perrot State Park. Naturalist Steve Carlson spent a couple of months researchNative American dugout canoe expert at the Milwaukee Public Museum. She, too, became fascinated. At 19 feet long, 22 inches wide and 26 inches deep, the cahoe w as longer than the other three dlJ.gouts found in Wisconsin. Dr. Lurie thought it might have been built by Winnebago or Ioway Indians and buried for 100 to 300 years, possibly more. There was an unusual rectangular hole in the
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BIG R!vER
March 1995
(Dugout continued from page 1) bow, which may have been used as a grip or to hold a torch for shining fish at night. The distinctively shaped stern carried the marks of a blunt tool. State laboratories got involved. The Smithsonian Institute lent its expertise. Finally, local writers and photographers picked up the story. "The canoe is large enough to have seated about three or four persons paddling and another one seated up in the back steering. It may have carried as many as five or six people," wrote David Brommerich in the Winona Daily News (2-10-80). Park staff who took it out for a spin found it extremely well balanced, "though the people who rode in it must have had very narrow hips in order to sit or kneel in it comfortably." The story asked readers to send tax-deductible contributions to the Friends of Perrot, to help pay to preserve the dugout. A day or so after this story appeared, a young woodsman named Carl Lacher got a phone call from a cousin, who told him to go get the Daily News, because there was something in it he'd find interesting. "I was living in Bratsburg at the time, so I had to drive to Rushford for a paper," Lacher recalled. "When I saw that story I laughed - I laughed like hell'" From the photograph, Lacher recognized the dugout he'd spent weeks carving two years earlier. He and friends had used it for a season or two in the backwaters near Winona before high waters lifted it off the riverbank and carried it away. Lacher was happy to find out where it had gone. He was also pleased that people admired his work it wasn't bad for a first-time effort inspired by a chance encounter at an auction. "I went to an auction one afternoon and was looking at some tools, when a one-armed man came up and said, 'You know what you can do with that adze? Dugout canoes!' He said he'd worked on the Alaskan pipeline with a guy from
"I went to an auction one
afternoon and was looking at some tools, when a one-armed man came up and said, 'You know what you can do with that adze? Dugout canoes!"' the Philippines, who'd told him cottonwood was particularly good for dugouts. The outside layers of wood are hard as a shell and the inside is soft-just the opposite of willow. So I bought the adze, and thought I'd make a dugout one day." The opportunity arose some months later when a big cottonwood tree blew down in a cornfield on the Lacher family farm. Lacher worked on the homemade dugout a couple of hours a day for a few weeks that summer.
Carl Lacher contemplates the ancient mysteries. First he popped the bark off, then he stood atop the 20foot log and swung the adze to chip wood from the center. Wood chips as big as his hand flew off. They were fragrant and looked like turkey meat - chips from the inside were white, while the outside layers were dark. He used an axe to edge the inside walls and a chain saw to shape the bow and stern. He tried burning wood chips inside to hollow the log faster, but this technique didn't work well. He worked without models, books or advice from master dugout makers. At a trial run in the shallows of Money Creek Lacher decided it was the most roly-poly boat he'd ever paddled. By this time, though, he was getting tired of the whole project. He quickly reshaped the stern a bit and launched the dugout in Frog Slough, near Winona. Whoever wanted to use it needed keen balance and quick reflexes. Lacher might never have fessed up about his work, if not for the plea for public donations to preserve the craft. "That sounded kind of expensive, so, as a Friend of Perrot myself, I had to call and tell them," Lacher said. "Otherwise I might have just kept quiet about it." Park officials were skeptical and asked for proof that it
(Dugout continued on page 3)
BIG RlvER
March 1995
(Exotic Fish continued from page 1) weed-infested lakes. But they can harm lakes, too. The aquatic vegetation in Wisconsin's waters provides valuable hiding places for young fish and important food for waterfowl. For this reason, grass carp are banned in Wisconsin, and we are doing our best to keep them out. More than 50 ponds in Wisconsin have been chemically treated or drained to eradicate illegal populations of grass carp. Fishery biologists captured a grass carp that had escaped and was living in the lower Milwaukee River, and several fish a year are taken in nets on the Mississippi south of La Crosse. Fortunately, we have seen no indications that they are reproducing anywhere in Wisconsin, but grass carp are reproducing farther downstream in the Mississippi River, near Rock Island, Ill. Now another kind of carp has been introduced into the wild, this time in Missouri. The black carp, which lives on
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Common carp (artist Virg Beck, Wis. DNR)
(Dugout continued from page 2)
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was his boat. Lacher showed up with the adze and slides he'd taken at various stages of the process. "I pretty well burst their balloon," Lacher said. "Dugout canoe mystery is unraveled," said the headlines in the· Winona Daily News (2-24-80). "Young man proves ancient skills are still alive," said the La Crosse Tribune (3-2-80). Park officials returned all public contributions and asked Lacher to remove the embarrassing boat, which he did, in spite of the fact that the 300-pound dugout weighed 900 pounds after spending years submerged in the river. He left it with the owners of a riverside restaurant, who planned to make a public display out of it, like the Piltdown Man, but they never got around to it. Eventually Carl's dugout went the way of most cottonwood trees and rotted away on the banks of the river. Lacher made another dugout the following summer, during a demonstration of historic crafts at Perrot State Park. Tne second one was shorter, but just as tippy as the first.· It leaked from a crack in the log and sank right away. It hasn't come up again. Yet.
Pamela Eyden is assistant editor of Big River.
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freshwater mussels or clams, has huge grinding teeth that can crush clams up to an inch in diameter. It was supposedly imported to control zebra mussels, which are expanding all over the northern U.S. No one
The black carp, which lives on freshwater mussels or clams, has huge grinding teeth that can crush clams up to an inch in diameter. knows if these fish will even eat zebra mussels, but it is possible they will eat native clams and do more damage than good. About 30 black carp escaped from a private fish hatchery during a flood in early April into the Osage River in Missouri. Fishery biologists are hoping the carp won't get together to reproduce naturally, but all anyone can do is wait. In the meantime, the Wisconsin DNR will continue its efforts to block the traffic of all of these carp species into our state. It is illegal to stock any fish in Wisconsin without first obtaining a permit. Please don't fall prey to slick advertisements that portray these fish as a simple solution to aquatic weed problems in our lakes, streams and private ponds. These fish are illegal to possess here because they cannot be controlled and invariably cause more harm than good. Let's stick with the fish we have now._
This is one in a continuing series of "Wisconsin Fishing" columns by Lee Kernen, director, DNR Bureau of Fisheries Management.
Bf~River'(ISSNJp7o"-s3~f'ts published month!y;~Y.819 River:,;2 67E. Sanborn; Winona, MN 55987; (507)n4546;75Bi E mail: bigriver@99,#cony; America Onilne: Bifl(itYltG Reggie McLeod
editor!pdblisf"ier
Parnela Eyden
assistant editor
Molly McGuire
circulatioq9pd marketing manager
year,
Subscriptions are $20 for one $36 for two years or $2 per single issue. Send.$ubscriptions, s/pgle copy orders and change-of-address requests to Big River, PO Box 741, Winona, MN 55987. Second~class postage
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send change-of-address requ.e sts to .BiggiVei'/PO Box 741 , Winona, MN 55987. Big Riyer, Volume 3~ Number 3, copy right © March 1995.
POSil4~§J!I#1;
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BIG RlvER
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March 1995
River uaffic Bounces Back
1994 lockages compared with 1993
Lower St. Anthony Falls tows 93-1,165 94-1,409 rec 93-1,392 94-2,786 Monticello * Upper St. Anthony Falls, tows 93-1,942 94-2,031 rec 93-1,455 94-2,874 Lock 1 - - - - - - - - - tows 93-1,057 94-1,216 Minneapolis rec 93-2,662 94-5,706 Minnesota R.
St. CroixR.
ChippewaR.
Lock 2 - - tows 93-932 94-1,108 Hastings rec 93-6,460 94-11,988 Red Wing *
Lock 4 tows 93-979 94-1,137 rec 93-7,115 94-14,576
Lock 5 _ tows 93-975 94-1,148 rec 93-5,315 94-9,914
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Lock 3 1 tows 93-1,102 94-1,296 rec 93-10,397 94-20,211
Lock 6 ""tows 93-1,042 94-1,221 rec 93-6,649 94-11,859 ountiyl'! City
"~zackR.
tows 93-1,088 94-1,255 rec 93-4,953 94-10,000 Lock tows 93-1,118 94-1,307 rec 93-6,685 94-12,381
*La Crosse
--- ---
Lansing*
Iowa
Lock 8 tows 93-1,065 94-1,280 rec 93-4,159 94-9,281
Wisconsin R.
tows 93-1,112 94-1,243 rec 93-2,429 94-6,285 Lock 10_ tows 93-1,340 94-1,464 - - rec 93-2,135 94-5,656 Guttenberg *
High water closed locks for two months or more during the 1993 flood. By the time water levels dropped many recreational boaters had put their boats away. Barges struggled with new shoals in the Main Channel and raced against the ice to make up for lost time. Many of the shoals were still there last spring, but the weather cooperated with barge operators, farmers and boaters to provide the setting for a busy year on the river. In this map the "tows" total includes other commercial boats, such as dredges and passenger boats.
Compiled with information from the St. Paul District and the Rock Island District of the Army Corps of Engineers.
Lock 11 tows 93-1,372 94-1,535 rec 93-3,001 94-6,859
Lock 1 2 ____ _ tows 93-1,299 94-1,448 rec 93-1,910 94-5,330
Illinois Lock 1 3 tows 93-1,377 94-1,519 rec 93-1,780 94-3,982
Lock 1 5 tows 93-2,373 94-2,612 rec 93-2,908 94-7,307
tows 93-2,001 94-2,227 rec 93-4,334 94-10,621
March 1995
BIG
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CURRENT EVENTS By Pamela Eyden and Reggie McLeod
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Looking for Birders
irders are needed this spring to help with the Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas, the most comprehensive survey of breeding birds ever undertaken in the state. The survey will provide valuable information about where birds breed, their preferred habitat and the populations of rare, threatened and endangered species. You don't need to be an expert birder to help. "This is a huge project and will require the efforts of many people who are interested in birds," said project coordinator Bettie Harriman. If you're interested, send her your name, address and telephone number: 5188 Bittersweet Lane, Oshkosh, WI 54901(414)233-1973.
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519 182
Swan Songs
ith wingspans of seven feet and weighing in at 35 pounds, trumpeter swans are the largest waterfowl in the world. Unfortunately, size has not proved much of an advantage. The big birds once nested in wetlands throughout the upper Midwest, but nearly disappeared by the late 1800s, due to market hunting and feather collecting. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources, eager to reestablish a breeding and migratory population of at least 15 pairs of swans, will use a $100,000 memorial gift to pay half the costs for swans, fences, equipment and hunter education materials. Five pairs of swans now nest in Iowa. Wisconsin biologists have released 227 swans since the Wisconsin Trumpeter Swan Recovery Program began in 1987. Last year they identified about 130 free-flying swans, from which 10 pairs nested and produced 25 young. The program aims to have 20 nesting pairs by the year 2000. The program suffered a setback this year when eight of the birds were shot, a
few by hunters who apparently mistook them for geese. (This was a costly error -one was fined $4,763 and lost his hunting privileges for three years.) One of the swans that was killed had been taken as an egg from a nest in the wilds of Alaska, hatched in an incubator in the Milwaukee County Zoo and raised in a protected marsh.
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Changing Channels
ver since it got Army Corps approval to build a grainloading conveyor in the East Channel of the Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien in 1988, Didion, Inc., has had to ask the Corps for permission to use it to load and unload barges. The final Environmental Impact Statement, which will establish permanent guidelines, is not done yet, and Didion is back again this year, asking to accommodate the same number of barges, 135, plus 91 more to make up for slow seasons in 1993 and 1994. The East Channel of the river is home to endangered peregrine falcons, bald eagles and the largest known population of Higgins eye mussels, an endangered
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species throughout all of its range. The site is also within the St. Feriole Island Historic and Archaeological District, on the National List of Historic Places (see Big River, Aug. 1994). Didion has monitored the status of native mussels in the channel ever since 1988, as a condition for using the facilities. Consultants found no change in the population so far, but last fall's report has not yet been released to the public. Last summer the Corps found that the channel had changed substantially, probably due to the 1993 floods.
MNRRA Plan Sent to Babbitt
A
fter extensive public hearings, a plan for managing the proposed Mississippi National River and Recreation Area was sent to Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt for approval. If plans become reality, river lovers will be able to boat, canoe and bicycle 72 miles of river shoreline, from the confluence of the Crow River above the Twin Cities to a point just south of Hastings, Minn. Five interpretive centers will tell visitors about local commerce, history and nature. The plan calls for coordinating local and state efforts to acquire and improve parks, trails and nature centers. It also (Current Events continued on page 6)
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(Current Events continued from page 5)
calls for a partnership among units of government and the private sector to provide as much continuous open space as possible.
One Person, One Life Jacket
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isconsin boaters and canoeists can still take comfy floating seat cushions along, but as of May 1, 1995, each person on board must have access to a wearable life jacket. The new U.S. Coast Guard law applies to boats, canoes and other watercraft under 16 feet in length. A similar law already exists for larger boats. Sailboards, racing shells, rowing sculls, racing kayaks and racing canoes are exempt. The new rule does not require people to wear their life jackets, although the Coast Guard points out that actually having a life jacket on makes a lot of difference when big accidents happen suddenly to small boats.
Cut to the Corps
T
he president of the National Waterways Conference finds both good news and bad news in the proposed 1996 budget for the Army Corps of Engineers. The good news, according to Harry Cook in The Waterways Journal (2-13-95), is that the budget has not been cut much, and there's no proposal to increase the tax on towboat fuel. Cook was not so pleased with policy changes that take the Corps out of the business of providing flood control for a lot of floodplain communities. The proposed budget also cuts funding for Corps dredging of channels leading to some small harbors .
The Search Continues
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March 1995
BIG RrvER
orthern States Power has been looking for a good place to stash waste from its nuclear reactors on Prairie Island . In February it announced five potential sites between Red Wing and Lake
City, Minn., across Highway 61 from Frontenac State Park and the Mississippi River. All of the sites are on agricultural land, about 60 to 70 feet above the river. After NSP narrows the field to two sites, the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board will perform environmental impact studies to determine whether either is suitable for a storage area. Meanwhile, NSP expects to begin storing spent nuclear fuel in metal casks outside its Prairie Island plant this spring. Some have suggested that NSP store the waste on Nicollet Mall near its Minneapolis headquarters.
O
Biomass Power
ne year after Dairyland Power Company closed its coal burning plant in Cassville, Wis., an environmental group won a state grant to study the feasibility of burning biomass to generate energy there. Wisconsin's Environmental Decade said the plant could make energy from burning corn cobs and stalks, and slash timber, as well as cheese whey, animal wastes and the organic portion of municipal solid wastes . Every megawatt of electricity generated by burning biomass releases about one pound of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, compared with 180 pounds of co2 released from burning coal.
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Eagles in Trouble
our sick bald eagles found in January near Sauk City, Wis., have died. DNR biologists were awaiting blood test results, but said the most likely cause was poisoning from eating animal carcasses contaminated by lead shot. Traces of lead were found in one of the birds, according to a veterinarian who tried to save it. Eagles do scavenge for food, although 98 percent of their diet is fish. Meanwhile, a $25,000 reward was offered for information leading to the people responsible for poisoning 15 bald eagles at Fish Lake near Webster, Wis., last April. Biologists in Arkansas ruled out poi-
sons, hunters and a strain of bacteria that causes stomach problems as possible causes of death for 24 bald eagles found recently at DeGray Lake, near Bismarck, Ark. According to a story in The Country Today (1-25-95), this is the largest cluster of bald eagle deaths ever reported. Fifty coots were also found dead at the same lake.
Put a Walleye on Your Wall
S
end $11 .50 to the Friends of the Mississippi River and they'll send you a full color, 18-by-24-inch poster of 13 native fishes in the Upper Mississippi River, including shorthead redhorse, bigmouth buffalo and quillback. The address of The Friends of the Mississippi River is 26 E. Exchange St., Suite 215, St. Paul, MN 55101.
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Engineering Fish
esearchers in Canada used genetic engineering to grow Pacific salmon 11 times larger than normal. One Pacific salmon in the experiment grew 37 times larger than average, according to a story in Scientific American (Feb. 1995). Get out your calculators: That record sturgeon, caught in Minnesota's Kettle River last year (Big River, Nov. 1993), weighed 94 pounds, 4 ounces. With a little genetic engineering, the record
"We're not necessarily trying to produce gigantic salmon here." might now be 11 times bigger - 1,036 pounds, 12 ounces. If the sturgeon grew 37 times larger, Kim Bengston might have had to land a 3,487-pound, 4-ounce lunker. Robert H. Devlin and colleagues in West Vancouver, British Columbia, inserted growth genes from sockeye salmon into Pacific salmon eggs. They also inserted growth genes from mice into Pacific salmon eggs, with no effect. "We're not necessarily trying to produce gigantic salmon here," Devlin ex-
BIG RrvER
March 1995
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plained. "What we'd like to do is increase their size so that aquaculture food production of the fish is more efficient and profitable." Pacific salmon populations plummeted in recent years. Many blame poor water quality, dams and years of heavy commercial harvest.
Twin Cities Trout Stream Endangered
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evelopment is threatening the last wild brown trout stream in the Minnesota River Valley. Eagle Creek, which originates in springs that erupt several feet into the air, is one of only five remaining trout streams in the metro area. Seven have been destroyed by development since 1982, according to a story in Trout (Winter 1995). The City of Savage recently approved construction of 300 homes along the creek, and plans 200 more and an industrial park. The 2,600 acre area, which adjoins the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, includes rare calcareous fens, the rarest wetlands in North America. Many environmental groups oppose the development, including Trout Unlimited, the Sierra Club and the Minnesota Conserviation Federation. A 17member Alternative Dispute Resolution group, which includes developers, representatives of environmental groups and government representatives, is currently working to resolve the dispute.
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Zebra Contest
ow would a zebra mussel-encrusted soccer trophy look on your mantel? It can be yours, if you send the largest zebra mussel shell to Clifford Kraft, editor of Zebra Mussel Update . Kraft collects zebra shells. . mussel&··:..··, Of course, he gets plenty of help "from family members. His folks~send him newspaper clippings of zebra mussel stories, and his wife and three sons carry home pockets full of zebra shells from the Green Bay shoreline. The largest shell in his collection is 42 mm (about 1 11/16
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inches). If you can beat that, mail your carefully packed entry to him at Advisory Services, UW Sea Grant Institute, 1800 University Ave, Madison, WI 557054094. Include the date and location of your discovery, and be sure to mail it before Dec. 31, 1995. Zebra Mussel Update has reported the first incursion of zebra mussels into the St. Croix River. Federal and state agencies worked hard during the last two years to keep zebras out of river, which follows the Minnesota-Wisconsin border above Hastings, Minn. Divers surveyed 17 sites four times last year without spotting a single adult zebra. However, between Sept. 16 and Oct.
21 zebra mussels were found on seven boats on the river, all of which had spent several days during the summer in Lake City, Minn., which is infested with the pests. Researchers in Canada report that two duck species, greater and lesser scaup, appear to have changed their migration patterns in order to feast on zebra mussels in Lake Erie. They used to migrate across Lake Ontario and the upper St. Lawrence River on their way to Chesapeake Bay, but since shifting their migration to the west in the late 1970s, scaup populations on Lake Erie have grown tenfold. Zebras now make up nearly 90 percent of the scaup's diet.
Draining Wetland Protection
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Find a zebra mussel bigger than this and you may win a trophy.
. oyou have river
roperty rights groups in Minnesota and Wisconsin are heading up campaigns to weaken wetland protection. A 17-page bill before the Minnesota Legislature has the backing of the House Speaker and the Senate Majority Leader, both Democrats. Reportedly, dramatic revisions of Wisconsin's wetland protection laws will also be introduced this year. The Minnesota Landowner's Rights Association wants to completely eliminate all wetland protection laws, according to an article in the St. Paul Pioneer Press (2-15-95), "Wetland Protection Laws Under Attack." _
informatio~ to
share?
. If you heatabout events connected to the river, let us know so we can
get the word out. ·····
If you belong to a group working on river issues, there are probably :a;g Rlverreaders in your neighborhood who would like .. to know abbut yourmeetings. . '
1$asesi letters to the editor, news clippings and Big River, PO Box 741, Winona, MN 55987.
to
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BIG
RIVER CALENDAR
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March 1995
23 Understanding the Connection Between Ground Water and the Surface: Miss. Headwaters Board workshop for Local Water Planning Task Forces, Breezy Point Conference Center. Call (218) 547-3300, ext. 263.
March
24-29 North American Wildlife & Natural Resources Conference, Minneapolis Hilton. Call Richard McCabe, (202) 371-1808.
5 Eagle Field Trip, bus trip starts in Winona, $5 adult, $2.50 children. For reservations, call Dave Palmquist, (507) 9323007 or Winona Chamber of Commerce, (507) 452-2272.
29-30 Zebra Mussel Conference for Inland Water Users, Regal Cincinnati Hotel. Call Fred Snyder, (419) 635-4117.
Special Events
15 Statewide Adopt-a-River Action, presentation by Minn. DNR, 7 p.m., Sertoma Club Building, Mankato.
30 to April 1 The Realities of Floods: A Multi-Disciplinary Review of Flood Management Issues, Holiday Inn Downtown/Convention Center, St. Louis. Call (303) 628-5430.
16-19 Saint Cloud Sportshow, Civic Center. 18 Minnesota Canoe Rendezvous & Wilderness Slidefest, sponsored by the Albert Faille Wilderness League, U. of Minn., St. Paul Campus, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., admission. Call Norm, (612) 642-9790. 19 Soar With the Eagles, Eagle Watch/Raptor Center program, St. Felix Auditorium, Wabasha, Minn., noon and 3 p.m., free. Call 800-565-4158. 19 & 26 Box Elder Sap-to-Syrup ongoing demonstrations, Coon Rapids Dam Vistor Center West, Brooklyn Park, Minn., 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. Call (612) 424-8172. 24 to April 2 Northwest Sportshow, Minneapolis Convention Center. 25 Farewell-to-the-Dam Tour, Coon Rapids Dam Visitor Center West, Brooklyn Park, Minn., last chance to tour 1913 dam before demolition. Call (612) 424-8172.
Meetings 9 Lower Wis. State Riverway Board, monthly meeting, 5 p.m., Muscoda, Wis. Call 800-221-3792 or (608) 739-3188. 15-17 Celebrate the River, Upper Miss. River Conservation Committee annual meeting, Midway Hotel, Dubuque, $50, students $20. Call Tom Boland, (319) 872-4976. 16 Minn. Earth Day Network, monthly round table discussion, St. Paul, 8:30 a.m ~10 a.m. Call David Shea, (612) 4761077. 17 Miss. Headwaters Board joint meeting with Miss. River Parkway Commission, Little Falls, Minn. 28 Coulee Region Sierra Club, monthly meeting, presentation by David Gjestson, dir., Lower Wis. State Riverway Board, 7 p.m., Trane Employee's Credit Union, La Crosse.
Workshops, Conferences and Hearings 2 The Takings Question in Local Land Use Decisions, Crow Wing Planning & Zoning Office and Miss. Headwaters Board, Breezy Point (Minn.) Conference Center, admission. Call (218) 828-3964 or (218) 547-3300, ext. 263. 15 Urban Rivers Symposium, National Press Club, Washington, D.C., sponsored by American Rivers, $40. Call Rodes at (202) 547-6900.
Angler Education Instructor Workshops, sponsored by the Wis. DNR, free, credits for teachers. Call Theresa Szabo, (608) 266-2272, or local coordinator. 11 Appleton, Tom Keenan, (414) 731-9400 25 Eau Claire, Tim Chmelik, (715) 833-7500 Fly Tying Workshops, Staring Lake Outdoor Center, Eden Prairie, Minn., 7 p.m. - 9 p.m., $8, register by March 6. Call (612) 949-8479. 13 Basic fly tying 18 Advanced: May flies and dry flies Success with Volunteers, workshops of The Miss. River Environmental Training School for river activists sponsored by The Minn. Project, 8:45 a.m. - 3 p.m., $25, travel and fee assistance available, register by March 6. Call John Lamb or Beth Waterhouse, 800-366-4793 or (612) 645-6159. 22 Prairie Island Community Center, Welch, Minn. 30 Paul Bunyan Nature Learning Center, Brainerd, Minn.