Issuu

October 1995

the monthly newsletter for people who live, work or play on the Upper Mississippi River

Vol. 3, No. 10

$2.50

Death on the River Toll and Tip By Pamela Eyden

By Mike Krapfl

The Mississippi River has a split personality.

This is Dubuque, home of famous canned hams,

It moves mountains of sand with hardly a ripple. It looks

so we had to eat pork for dinner. And this is the Tollbridge Inn, a fancy restaurant overlooking Dubuque's Lock and Dam 11, so we had to sit at a window seat. That means calling early, making a reservation and asking for the best view available. What you get with your window seat is a great combination of food, drink and river. On this particular night, the pork was tender, the salmon was good, the beer and wine flowed easily and the river was busy with pleasure boats, a big barge locking through, a few old fishermen, and lots of people walking, jogging and biking along the riverside below. But more about all that later. Let's get to first things first: How did a restaurant that serves "gazpacho," that salsa-like soup, get built into the side of a Mississippi River bluff? In Dubuque? The answer, it turns out, is right in the restaurant's name. The Tollbridge Inn sits at the end of Rhomberg

slow, but moves fast. Wayward currents, shifting sandbars, changing water levels, winds, weather, hidden obstacles and other unpredictable forces take a lot of people by surprise. The risks have always been part of river life. Heidi Giese grew up in a family that spent all its spare time on or in the river. She remembers sitting in the sand as a toddler, watching her mother water-ski. Her father used to pile kids in the back of his pickup truck and take them all down to fish on the river bank. Heidi is passing on the river tradition by teaching her own children to fish . Unfortunately, her river-loving father drowned on July 23, 1979, a few days after she turned 19. He was out in a boat with three friends, fishing at a favorite place just below the Trempealeau dam. "Three of the men had grown up on the river and were old friends. They knew it was a dangerous place, but they

Their boat capsized in a turbulent rush of water when the roller gates opened. liked fishing there anyway," Heidi said. "There are so many fish there." Their boat capsized in a turbulent rush of water when the roller gates opened. Two climbed out, unhurt. Another was pulled out, injured. Her father went under and disappeared. Search-and-rescue teams dragged the river that night and the next two days, finding nothing. Her uncles joined the search. (Death continued on page 2)

(Toll continued on page 4)

WHAT'S INSIDE ...

Letter from the Editor New Office, New Staff Member

Current Events Shipping News, Spookyworld

River Calendar & Almanac Fall Color Information, Apple Fests

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(Death continued from page 1)

"Mr. Pelowski, at Larry's Landing, knew a lot about the river, and how the temperature of the water and the currents would act. He told my uncle exactly where and when my father's body would surface. But he warned us that a lot of carnivorous fish and turtles live underwater, too." He was right; they found the body three days later near the dam. He was right about the fish and turtles, too. The coroner, an old schoolmate, identified the drowned man, sparing the family from the unpleasant task. Heidi's family never got over that accident, but her feelings for the river still run strong. "Ever since then I've been compelled to be around the river. I can't say I'm not scared of it, but I have to live near this river. I'm just a lot more respectful of it now."

Give the Dams Room Suction above and turbulence below the dams are wellknown dangers, clearly posted. Army Corps of Engineers signs warn people to stay at least 600 feet from the upper side of the dam, and 150 feet from the lower side, but most dams usually have a few boaters pushing the limits to catch their limit. "OÂľe common problem is that boat motors quit and people drift into the dam," said lockman Otis Jacobson at Lock and Dam 6, Trempealeau. "In the spring, when the roller gates are wide open, they get pulled straight through. They're not usually hurt, just scared." Safety lines hang down from the walls of the dam so boaters in trouble can climb out and hang on long enough to be rescued. "But if the river flow is high, people can get sucked right under and through the roller gates. In the summer, the roller gates are open from one foot to six feet from the river

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October 1995

bottom," said Jacobson. The river may be 15 to 20 feet deep on the top side of the dam, and 40 to 50 feet deep below the dam.

Put on Your Life Jacket It's easy to forget how much water moves down the Mississippi and, when you're in it or on it, how fast you're moving, too. Stumps, wing dams and other obstacles can loom up quickly. After a day of canoeing in the backwaters, some friends and I were returning home on the Main Channel, tired and hypnotized by the quiet water. By the time we noticed a red buoy dead ahead of us, we were almost on top of it. It grew large and then huge so fast that, with a little less muscle power, we could have been upside down in the Main Channel in no time. One of us had on a life jacket. The others didn' t, for all the familiar reasons: "It's a calm day. Nothing's going to happen." "It gets in the way of my paddling arm." "Only a dufus wears a blaze orange emergency vest all day." The Coast Guard requires each boat, including canoes, to carry a regulation PFD (personal flotation device) for every person aboard. But no law says you have to wear one. "Everyone who works on the river wears a PFD. It' s a federal requirement," said Craig Sorby, Coast Guard petty officer first class. "But it's hard to get compliance from people who are out on the river having fun on the weekend."

The Sea Wing Disaster Life jackets figured heavily in the investigation of one of the worst maritime disasters in U.S. history. On Sunday, July 13, 1890, ninety-eight people drowned when the Sea Wing, a sternwheel steamship, rolled upside down on Lake Pepin. About 215 people were on the boat, which had a capacity of 250. Returning to Red Wing from a day trip to Lake City, the ship got caught in a storm that the captain mistakenly thought had ended. He steered to the Wisconsin side to avoid the wind, but got mauled by crosswinds and squalls. Women and children took shelter in the main cabin. The ship started rocking wildly, then balanced for a moment at a 45-degree angle before flipping over, trapping more than 100 people inside. Many who escaped the ship drowned anyway. Women were

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dragged down by their voluminous dresses, and no life jacket could hold them up. Cork-stuffed life preservers seemed to work better than those stuffed with tule, also known as bulrushes. When soaked, it was "as bad as so much lead," according to Frederick L. Johnson's book, The Sea Wing Disaster (Goodhue County Historical Society, Red Wing, 1986). The captain, who was co-owner of the Sea Wing, lost his wife and two sons, and after an investigation, his pilot's

On Sunday, July 13, 1890, ninetyeight people drowned when the Sea Wing, a sternwheel steamship, rolled upside down on Lake Pepin. license, too. The official report blamed him for starting out in the face of an approaching storm and for running up the Wisconsin side instead of the Minnesota side, where there were good h arbors every mile or so.

What I heard about was the terrible time they had on the river." Sharon can't say how many family m embers have drowned in the river, but her stories unfold one after another. Two of her grandmother's brothers, both farmers, went through when they were out cutting blocks of ice. A cousin dived off a boat and never came up. In the 1930s, two cars carrying men of the family drove out onto the river ice. The first car made it across. The second went through, drowning a young man who was about to m arry into the family. "If you ask me how the Mississippi River affects my life, I'd have to say by fear of it. Part of it is kind of an Irish thing - whenever something happened, people said, 'That's the Mississippi taking them.' There's a consciousness that there's som ething beyond your own will." In more than 100 years, no one in her fami ly has lived on the water. "I made sure my kids learned to swim, and I learned, too, but I did it out of sheer willpower, not because I enjoyed it. The only time I'm comfortable is when I'm sitting in the shallow water on the bottom."

Pamela Eyden is assistant editor of Big River.

Lake Onalaska Tragedy Quick turns in the weather account for many drowning deaths. Sometimes people don't watch the sky closely. Sometimes weather that is merely uncomfortable on land turns lethal on the water. On November 1, 1991, two duck hunters, brothers in their mid-20s, were reported missing after a sudden storm whipped up three-foot waves and below-zero wind chills on Lake Onalaska. Searchers found their black Labrador retriever the next day, standing on their overturned boat, but they didn't find the m en's bodies. The next March, a commercial fisherman followed a hunch a nd found them in the melting, honeycombed ice near where the capsized boat had been found. Sudden changes in the weather have become more dangerous for small boats over the last few decades. There are fewer islands and backwater sloughs, and less protection from wind and waves since the locks and dams were built. Big open stretches of water like Lake Onalaska, Weaver Bottoms and Lake Pepin can turn nasty in a hurry.

Taken by the River Sharon Ormsby's ancestors were already settled near the river town of Brownsville, Minn., by 1890, when the Sea Wing capsized. If they heard about it, they probably weren't surprised. They'd already learned to be wary of the river. Ormsby, a registered nurse, lives in a valley n ear Winona. Her family emigrated from Ireland in the 1860s. "They crossed the Atlantic in ships, traveled down the Ohio River and up the Mississippi, but it's funny- I n ever heard any stories ab out the passage across the Atlantic.

RIVER

Big River (ISSN 1070-8340) is published monthly by Big River, 70112 East Fourth Street, Suite 203, Winona, MN 55987; (507) 454-5949; E-mail: bigriver@aol.com; America Online: Bigriver. Reggie McLeod

editor/publisher

Pamela Eyden

assistant editor

Molly McGuire

circulation and marketing manager

Seth Urion

layout and design

Subscriptions are $24 for one year, $44 for two years or $2.50 per single issue. Bulk subscription discounts are also available. Send subscriptions, single copy orders and change-ofaddress 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 3, Number 1O, copyrightÂŠ October 1995. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited.

Printed on recycled paper.

October 1995

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(Toll continued from page 1)

A venue, directly below Eagle Point Park, right on top of the stone foundation of what used to be a bridge. The old Eagle Point Bridge, which J.A. Rhomberg and his investors dreamed would carry trolley cars over the Mississippi when it opened in 1902, was a toll bridge for many of its 80 years. It carried traffic from Dubuque to the southwestern tip of Wisconsin. Along the way, the bridge took a sharp turn to the left. That turn, say experienced bridge-crossers, made it a real challenge to execute a trip across the narrow, 1,100-foot span. Travelers can now make a safe and quick trip to and from Wisconsin on the four-lane Dubuque-Wisconsin Bridge, which opened in 1983. When the new bridge went up, the old bridge came down. Everything, that is, but the big stone foundation that climbs the bluff just south of the lock and dam. Sue Balsamo looked at that old foundation and thought it would be a good place for a restaurant. She sold Paul Rasch on the idea, and the two opened the Tollbridge in

poultry, seafood and signature offerings such as "The Lock and Dam No. 11," a combination of prime rib and shrimp scampi, for $16.95. The pork medallions and the salmon caught our eye. Both came with soup, salad, potato and fresh-baked wheat bread. The mushroom-and-wine sauce that covered those tender medallions was good enough to compete with the view for my attention. The New York style cheesecake (We chose the blueberry topping - a good choice.) was also an attention getter. But, even after dark, when the raccoons come to feed on the corn placed outside the bar's window, the center of attention at the Tollbridge Inn is the Mississippi River. Try as they might, Mike, the glass-flipping bartender, and Chuck, the jazz piano player, can't sidetrack your eyes from the river for long. You can find the Tollbridge Inn at 2800 Rhomberg Avenue on the north end of Dubuque. For reservations or information, call (319) 556-5566. ~ Mike Krapfl is a reporter for the Dubuque Telegraph Herald.

And yes, she admits, u1 can never decide which view I like better." Well, the view from the Tollbridge on a recent Monday was about as good as it gets in Dubuque. 1985. They built it with three levels, so everybody gets a view. "Nature is kind of our decorating theme," Rasch told the Dubuque Telegraph Herald just before the restaurant opened. Now the place is owned by Debby and Mike Noel. Mike managed the Tollbridge for a few years before he and Debby opened their own riverside place - Michael's Edgewater Inn in Bellevue, Iowa - a few years back. Last January, they took over the Tollbridge, too. "We have quite an investment in this river," laughed Debby. And yes, she admits, "I can never decide which view I like better." Well, the view from the Tollbridge on a recent Monday was about as good as it gets in Dubuque. To the north, through the haze of a humid summer evening, diners watched a peaceful Mississippi pooled between steep, wooded bluffs. Down below, the lock and dam was busy with river traffic, river admirers and riverside recreationists. To the south was Dubuque with its Riverview Park, its greyhound track and its gambling boat. The local favorite in town is the turkey-and-dressing sandwich. Up at the Tollbridge, the fare is a little fancier than that particular Dubuque special. There's steak, pork,

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR We moved from .an office in my home to a bigger office in the heart of teeming downtown Winona at the beginning of September. Ou r post office box and phone number remain unchanged. Seth Urion joined our staff, bringing an array of computer skills and new ideas. He is currently learning how many hats each of us must wear to keep this operation operating: everything from envelope stuffing to editing to computer troubleshooting. We promised a Big River presence on the world wide web in September, but our first pages are not quite ready yet. They really should be up in October. Check with us via e-mail (bigriver@aol.com) or search with the word "Mississippi. " Enjoy the river.

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 $24 for a one-year subscription or $44 for a two-year sub to: Big River, PO Box 741, Winona, Minn 55987.

October 1995

BrG RlvER

CURRENT EVENTS By Molly McGuire and Reggie McLeod

Billions for Birds

mericans spent at least $5.2 billion in 1991 to watch birds, almost as much as they spent to watch movies ($5.8 billion) and sports events ($5.9), according to the San Jose Mercury News (9-14-95). This figure is not based on birdseed alone; it includes money spent on trips to see migrating birds, such as bald eagles on the Upper Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers, although it does not include hunting-related activities. "Birding is one of America's most popular, if not the most popular, outdoor activity," said Mollie Beattie, USFWS director. For more information, send for Birds Mean Business for America, a brochure summarizing the 1995 study, or The Economic Contributions of Bird and Waterfowl Recreation in the United States during 1991, free from Program Coordinator, North American Waterfowl Management Plan, International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, 444 N. Capitol St. N .W., Ste. 544, Washington D.C. 20001, (202) 624-7890.

Shipping News

vents on the other side of the world are beginning to create pressures on the upper Midwest and the Upper Mississippi River. The economic boom in China is increasing grain prices there, which, in turn, increases grain prices everywhere. This increases the incentives for growing more grain to ship overseas. Meanwhile the U.S. Congress is debating whether to renew the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which sets aside highly erodible farmland . This, in turn, has reduced soil erosion, improved water quality and increased populations of many species of wildlife, including ducks and geese. If more cropland goes into production, grain prices paid to farmers usually drop and grain shippers increase their profit margins.

Railroads and barges are currently hard-pressed to keep up with the grain supply and export demands. With a good harvest likely this year those pressures may well increase, giving new ammunition to those who are pressing for increased shipping on the Upper Mississippi. This situation will probably also weigh heavily in the Navigation Study being done by the Army Corps of Engineers to determine whether to expand the river locks (see "Corps Gets an Earful," Big River, Dec. 1994, and "Corps Ignores Skeptics," June 1995). Meanwhile grain giant ArcherDaniels-Midland (ADM) faces charges of illegally dumping chemical waste into the Illinois River and charges of working with other companies to fix grain prices. For years ADM has played a unique role as one of the biggest contributors to politicians, one of the biggest beneficiaries of government subsidies and one of the biggest shippers on the Mississippi River. In the last month or so it has also become a very big underwriter of Public Radio. Watch for a huge image-polishing campaign. Heavy rains in the Upper Missouri River Basin filled reservoirs and led to increased releases and the addition of 10 days to the Missouri shipping season. The Illinois Waterway was scheduled to reopen in late September after being closed since July 11 for lock repairs, according to an article in The Waterways Journal (9-11-95 and 9-18-95). Corpus Christi, Texas, which has a huge port for loading petroleum onto tankers, is gearing up to take some of the Western coal business away from the river barges. Running unit trains from the coal fields of the Powder River Basin to Corpus Christi is twice as fast as barging it to New Orleans. The coal also absorbs less moisture on the Western route. The only constraint is a lack of coal storage at the Texas port, which it is working to remedy, according to a Journal of Commerce Knight-Ridder /Tribune Business News story (9-21-95) .

Raptors Recover

he 1994 fall bird count in Duluth's Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve revealed record numbers of migrating raptors, with no species counted at below average numbers. More than 15,000 red-tailed hawks and 4,000 bald eagles were spotted, both new highs for the soaring raptors, according to The Minnesota Volunteer (Sept.-Oct. 1995). Bald eagles are now common on the Mississippi and considered a success story of the federal Endangered Species Act. In July they were upgraded to the less dire category of "threatened" throughout the lower 48 states, which means that although the species has greatly improved, it is not considered fully recovered. Their numbers have climbed from about 417 nesting pairs in 1963 to more than 4,400 in 1994, and there are estimated to be 5,000 to 6,000 juvenile bald eagles in the lower 48 states, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Peregrine falcons have been successfully reintroduced to Minnesota, thanks to the efforts of the Raptor Resource Project in setting up special urban nesting sites (see Big River, August 1994). Now the Project would like to encourage the raptors to nest in their historical sites on the rocky cliffs along the Mississippi River, thus developing a truly wild and independent population. European peregrines observed nesting in the wild displayed none of the aggressive, territorial behavior common in "kept" urban peregrines. Moreover, the birds seem to adjust easily to rock ledges when box nests placed in cliffs are removed, a positive indicator that with a little help they could take to the Mississippi Valley cliffs once more.

Publications

or $12.95 you can get a book that tells you where to get things for even less. Free & Cheap Things for Nature Lovers, $9.95 plus $3 shipping, (610) 481-9452. A new guide highlights 76 Wisconsin scenic views marked by road(Current Events continued on page 6)

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(Current Events continued from page 5)

side signs. The Wisconsin Wildlife Viewing Guide costs $10.65 from Bureau of Wildlife Management, Box 7921 , Madison, WI 53707-7921, (608) 266-8204. Anglers fishing Lake Pepin will benefit from the Minnesota DNR' s new guide based on long-term monitoring of the lake by its Fisheries Section. Contact Al Stevens or Tim Schlagenhaft, Minn. DNR, 1801 S. Oak St., Lake City, MN 55041, (612) 345-3365.

Boat Study

ighlights of a 1994 multi-agency cooperative study of recreational boating on the Mississippi in pools 7 and 8 (Trempealeau to Genoa, Wis.) show that most boaters are long-term and frequent users of the river. Most boaters have been using the river for ten years, and many for 20 years or more. Some boaters are modifying their activities as a result of perceived changes on the river that make recreation less enjoyable. They see an increase in boat traffic, a decline in fishing, the filling-in of backwaters, and eroding or littered beaches. They would like to see improvements to public accesses, dredging of backwaters, more beaches and increased river patrols. Relatively few boaters report conflicts with other boats, except for some unsafe or discourteous behavior. They note few direct problems with barge tows; however, boaters are concerned about shoreline erosion caused by towboat propellers and lock usage conflicts. There are correlations between boat size and number of annual visits to the river. Dock owners and marina boaters, who typically operate large pleasure boats averaging 25 feet in length, with 200-horsepow er motors, get out on the river about 40 times a year. Public ramp users in boats 16 feet long, with SO-horsepower motors, visit the river 13 times a year. Boats that enter pools 7 and 8 through the locks were mostly large cruisers with 300-horsepower engines. They hit the river about nine times a year. For more information, call the Army Corps of Engineers, (507) 895-6341, or the Wisconsin DNR, (608) 785-9982.

Spookyworld

October 1995

Feast of Loosestrife

urphy's Landing, a historical site on the Minnesota Riv er in Shakopee, Minn., has been transformed into Spookyworld, a horror theme park, for the month of October. For $14 a head, visitors can expect to spend about two hours at Spookyworld, including 40 minutes of scheduled terror. Spookyworld will feature nightly performances by a mixed bag of horrorrelated celebrities, including Elvira and Tiny Tim singing "Tip Toe Through the Tulips" (Aieeeeee!). Murphy's Landing, a private, nonprofit collection of historic buildings, usually depicts life in the late 19th century Minnesota River Valley. It has been looking for sponsors to help whittle its $72,000 debt and is renting the site to Spookyworld for $25,000 and a share of the take according to the Saint Paul Pioneer Press (9-15-95).

eginning next year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will start releasing exotic beetles and weevils on land it manages in the hopes of controlling purple loosestrife, according to The UMRCC Newsletter (July I August 1995). The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge will be one of three sites to propagate these insects, which were selected for their appetites for the showy but out-of-control wetland plant. (see Big River, June 1993).

Paddlefish On the Air

etween the summer of 1994 and last summer, the zebra mussel population grew 500 to 1,000 percent at one river bottom site in the Upper Mississippi, according to Mike Davis, a Minnesota DNR biologist (Winona Daily News, 8-30-95). Furthermore, in 1994 only about onetenth of the native clams had invaders clinging to their shells, but this summer's dive revealed more than 90 percent of the natives encrusted with zebras. The fate of the native clams is becoming a greater concern, with the zebra invasion only one of several threats. Fingernail clams have declined significantly in the Upper Mississippi, according to researchers who studied the clam in pools 2 through 9 and 19 (The River Register, July I August 1995). They see point-source pollution as the probable cause in pools 2 to 9, and low-flow conditions during the drought in Pool 19. Many species of migratory waterfowl depend on fingernail clams for food .

ishery biologists in La Crosse have implanted 42 paddlefish with radio transmitters to monitor their movements in and among several rivers near the northern limit of their range, including the Black, Chippewa, Wisconsin, and Upper Mississippi. Using global positioning technology scientists can track the location and movement of each fish, according to The UMRCC Newsletter (July I August 1995). Scientists have found several fish migrating 40 to 60 miles downstream in the spring in unimpeded waters, between the Chippewa and Lake Pepin, and within the Wisconsin River, but no movement between navigation pools of the Upper Mississippi. The paddlefish is one of North America's oldest species, first evolving about 350 million years ago. But populations declined, due to conditions that affect their range and the harvesting of roe for a caviar substitute (see Big River, April 1993). The paddlefish is listed as "protected" in Minnesota, and "threatened" in Wisconsin. Scientists have to learn more about its habits and perhaps add it to either the federal threatened or endangered list.

Land Donated to Refuge

a Crosse County donated 10.33 acres of land, acquired through non-payment of taxes, to the Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The land, surrounded on two sides by the refuge, is in the Browns Marsh area and borders the Great River State Trail.

The Zebras are Here

The Name Game

he new Illinois Department of Na tural Resources was created recently from five departments and agencies the Department of Conservation; the Department of Mines and Minerals; most of

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October 1995

the Department of Energy and Natural Resources; the Abandoned Mined Lands Reclamation Council; and the Department of Transportation's division of Water Resources. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency remains a separate agency. Meanwhile, Metropolitan (Twin Cities) Council Wastewater Services, which just last year changed its name from the Metropolitan Waste Control Commission, is now called Metropolitan Council Environmental Services. All three have managed to operate the Twin Cities' sewage treatment system without using the word "sewer" or "sewage" in their name.

Cold Blooded Controversy

urtles, mussels and rattlesnakes may need more protection if they are to survive in the wild in the upper Midwest. High prices for turtle meat and mussel shells have sent many new clammers and turtle trappers to the Mississippi. Native mussels are already facing a grave threat from exotic zebra mussels, which attach themselves to the larger mussel shells. The Wisconsin DNR held a series of meetings in September to determine how serious the decline in the turtle population is and how the situation might be improved. Wisconsin's turtle trapping season runs all year except May 1 through June 15, when most turtles are nesting. There is a continuous season on the Mississippi. "We've been receiving reports from long-time turtle trappers that snapping turtle populations are declining in some areas and that turtles have virtually disappeared from other areas," said Bob Hay, DNR herpetologist. "The motivation for us to look at this issue is really coming from people who have trapped for many years and have become more concerned with existing and future turtle populations in Wisconsin." Many people also capture turtles to be sold as pets. Minnesota and Wisconsin are also considering adding timber rattlesnakes their threatened species list. The snakes, which are most common in counties bordering the Mississippi, used to be hunted

for a bounty, but both states dropped it. Now fewer rattler sightings are being reported, though nobody has undertaken a systematic population study.

Fair Fowl Season

t promises to be a great year for duck and goose hunters, with above average populations of many species, thanks largely to good weather and land setaside programs. Minnesota's hunting season runs from September 30 to November 18, for 50 continuous days. Wisconsin, too, will have a 50-day season, but not consecutive days and the days vary in the northern and southern halves of the state. Both states will have a five-duck daily limit. If you can't wait, just pop some popcorn and pick up a duck video. "The King of Ducks," about canvasbacks, and "The Feast of Weeds," which identifies a range of plants that ducks eat, were both filmed on Lake Onalaska and are available at many libraries and from sporting groups. "Ducks on the Wing," about identifying ducks, and "A Hunter's Ethic," about hunting ethics, are available from the Upper Mississippi Refuge, (608) 783_. 8405, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, (608) 785-9000. It's been against the law to use lead shot for waterfowl on the refuge for years, but it may soon be banned for hunting squirrel and other game birds, except wild turkeys. The Fish and Wildlife Service is currently reviewing the proposed rule. Comments can be sent to Assistant Director, Refuges and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1849 C St. NW, MS 670 ARLSQ, Washington, DC 20240. The Fish and Wildlife Service asks hunters to stay out of its Voluntary Avoidance Area in Lake Onalaska from October 15 to mid-November. The area is marked with white buoys to reserve a place for migrating waterfowl to feed and rest. Use or possession of alcoholic beverages while hunting on a National Wildlife Refuge is against the law. Most of the Upper Mississippi islands, backwaters and floodplain forests below Lake Pepin and above the Quad Cities are part of the Upper Mississippi Refuge.

Hunters should also avoid shooting trumpeter swans, the largest waterfowl species in North America. The endangered birds are making a comeback, thanks to expensive recovery projects in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. Shooting a swan can cost thousands of dollars in fines and court costs, a jail sentence and the loss of hunting privileges.

Life Preservers

wenty-seven duck hunters drowned in the 10 years before Minnesota required at least one personal flotation device (PFD) per person on board a boat. Not one of them was wearing a PDF. "Trying to get into a life vest after entering finger-numbing, ice-cold water would be like putting a seat belt on after a car crash; it's too late," warns Tim Smalley, boating safety specialist for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Jacket-style PDFs also help protect against hypothermia. Overloaded boats lead to many drownings. It's safer to make two trips in a partially loaded boat.

Boathouse Negotiations

he Winona Boathouse Association (WBA) invited city and DNR officials to join them in working out a solution to the impasse over the future of Winona's boathouse community. (See "Living in a Community of Floating Homes," Big River, May 1995). The WBA wants to preserve what is probably the only boathouse community on the Upper Mississippi. The DNR wants to phase it out by limiting repair and replacement of the boathouses. The city has often found itself in the middle of the debate. The WBA proposed an 11-point plan that includes an offer to incorporate as a nonprofit organization, a freeze on new boathouse licenses, using license fees for improvements on Latsch Island, and stricter safety and health requirements for boathouses, according to the Winona Daily News (9-16-95). ~

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RIVER CALENDAR October Special Events & Festivals through 5 Oktoberfest, La Crosse, (608) 784-FEST. 6-8 Great River Quilt Show, Davenport, (319) 285-9786. 7 Silver Mound Archeology Day, Mississippi Valley Archeology Center, KOA Campground between Hixton and Alma Center, Wis., $3, (608)-785-8454. 7 Great River Road Race, Pikes Peak State Park, McGregor, Iowa, (319) 873-2341.

21 Minnesota River Cleanup, National Guard, Montevideo, (612) 269-2105. 29 Trick or Treating on the Wm. M. Black, Mississippi River Museum, Dubuque, (319) 557-9545. Tundra Swan Watch, ongoing mid-Oct. Nov., Rieck's Lake Park, Alma, Wis., (608) 685-4249. Minnesota State Parks Volksmarches, 800766-6000. 7 & 8 William O'Brien, Wild River. 15 Fort Snelling, St. Paul.

7 Chili Cook-off, Dubuque, (319) 583-5000. 7 Rowing Regatta, Quad Cities, (319) 2854370. 7-8 Johnny Appleseed Days, Lake City, Minn., 800-369-4123. 7-8 and 14-15 Flea Market, Marquette, Iowa, (319) 873-3521. 7-8 and 14-15 Arts & Crafts, McGregor, Iowa, (319) 873-2186. 8 Polish Applefest, Winona, (507) 454-3431. 8 Apple Festival, Mississippi Valley Welcoming Center, LeClaire, Iowa, (319) 2893009. 8-14 National Wildlife Refuge Week 10-13 Upper Mississippi River, La Crosse District visitor center tours, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m., exhibits, videos, (608) 7838405. 14 Upper Mississippi River, Winona District, and Trempealeau Refuge, noon - 4 p.m., open house at Trempealeau, tours, videos, presentations, (507) 452-4232. 11-15 Tall Stacks '95, Cincinnati. 12 and Nov. 8 Federal Trapping Permits, Upper Mississippi National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, questions answered 8 a.m. 4 p.m., La Crosse District Office, Onalaska, Wis., (608) 783-8405. 14 Octoberfest, St. Donatus, Iowa, (319) 872-3378. 14 Stories of the Mississippi River, Oliver Kelley Farm, Elk River, Minn., 1 p.m., music by Charlie Maguire, jawharp & spoons workshop, 2:30 p.m., Mississippi National River & Recreation Area, and Friends of the Mississippi River, free, (612) 290-4160. 14 Mississippi River Volksmarch, Wabasha, Minn. 14-15 Fall Festival of Arts, Red Wing, (612) 388-7569. 14-15 Fall Festival, Fulton, Ill., (815) 5892838.

Camp Ripley (Minn.) Archery Deer Hunt 19-20 first season 28-29 second season

Workshops & Conferences 4 1000 Friends of Minnesota, Land Stewardship Project, St. Paul. Keynote speaker is Randall Arendt, author of Rural by Design and Designing Open Space Subdivisions, speech free, (612) 653-0618. 12-14 Midwest Environmental Education Conference, Izaak Walton League, Rochester, Minn., (507) 281-6114, e-mail 0535qhnc@informns.k12.mn.us. 14-15 Fall Workshop, Minnesota Izaak Walton League, Owatonna, (612) 2210215. 15-21 Managing the Mighty Mississippi, Elderhostel course, Winona State University, 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m., (507) 457-5080. 16-18 The Conservation & Management of Freshwater Mussels II, St. Louis, (608) 326-0233.

3 Lower St. Croix Management Commission Technical Committee, 9:30 a.m., Afton, Minn.

Nov. 7-8 Awakening the Watershed: Mississippi Educators Meet the Challenge, workshop to share programs and experiences in teaching others about the river, Mississippi National River & Recreation Area, St. James Hotel, Red Wing, (612) 290-4160 or (612) 696-6273.

12 Minn.-Wis. Boundary Area Commission, Alma, Wis., (612) 436-7131 or (715) 386-9444.

River Info Lines

Meetings

18 Miss. River Coordinating Commission, Minn. Dept. of Revenue Bldg., St. Paul, 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m., taking public statements in reference to the Miss. Nat. River & Recreational Area, (612) 290-4160. 31 Coulee Region Sierra Club, environmental education, 7 p.m., Trane Employee's Credit Union, La Crosse.

Minnesota Leaf Line 800-657-3700. Iowa Leaf Line (515)233-4110. Wisconsin Leaf Line 800-432-8747. Wisconsin hunting violations 800-TTPWDNR. Minnesota hunting violations 800-652-9093. Wisconsin deer hunting 800-282-0367.

ALMANAC Water levels are near normal. Bass and walleye fishing is good near wing dams and lotus beds. The insect-eating birds have almost passed through the area. Pick up a bag of apples, then pick a good bluff top over the river to watch the hawks migrating. Don't let yourself get so distracted by the fall leaves that you miss the fall prairie plants. Careful though, the asters this year are almost intense enough to poke out an eye. Look for fringed gentian and bottle gentian, too. The duck and goose migration is expected to be the biggest in years, and a good food supply in the river should make the journey more comfortable. However, higher bag limits and hunters frustrated by last year's swift migration will make the journey less comfortable.