Wildlife Conservation Conference this week

I've been asked to pass on the following information for anyone who might be interested in attending:

A NOT-TO-BE-MISSED CONFERENCE-July 15-16th

E-Team, before the Fourth's festivities take hold, be sure to check out the
fabulous line-up of scientists, advocates, journalists and policy experts
coming together to examine the science vs. politics "tug of war" affecting
our precious natural resources, in particular, our state's wildlife. 

You'll hear:

.    Former NRB chairman Dave Clausen, DVM, address the growing CWD risk
facing WI's deer herd;
.    WLCV's Kerry Schuman and Wisconsin Democracy Now's Matt Rothschild
present "Follow the Money Trail;"
.    Retired Senator Dale Schultz and Serigraph, Inc. chairman John
Torinus, Sr. discuss current realities of partisan politics shaping wildlife
matters;
.    Dr. Ivonne Cassaigne on "What GPS Tells Us about What Mountain Lions
and Jaguars Eat"
.    A "Calling the Watchdogs" media roundtable;
.    Many other impressive scientific and advocate panel presentations
focused on issues relating to Public Trust resources, public lands and
consensus building.

    DON'T MISS OUT!  Register today:  http://fofww.org/conference.aspx.
(On-line registration takes 10 seconds; Walk-ins Welcome Also) 

THE WOLF AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND COEXISTENCE INITIATIVE
A Collaboration of UW's Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies (science
portion), Midwest Environmental Advocates, and Friends of Wisconsin's Wolves

15 - 16 July, 2015
Ho-Chunk Convention Center
S3214 County Hwy BD
Baraboo, WI 53913
See here for Conference Program:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxYE1qZ26lK_SXFNcUZrZnlLc2s/view?pli=1

Sponsors of this Initiative include:
.    University of Wisconsin, Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies-
(Science program of conference)
.    Midwest Environmental Advocates
.    Friends of the Wisconsin Wolf
.    Ho-Chunk Nation
.    Forest County Potawatomi
.    Sandy Lake Band of Mississippi Chippewa
.    Fond Du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
.    Little River Band of Ottawa Indians
.    Menominee Nation
.    Bois Forte Band of Chippewa
.    Grand Portage Band of the Chippewa
.    Red Lake Band of Chippewa Red Cliff Band of the Lake Superior
Chippewa
.    Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission
.    Bois Forte Band of Chippewa
.    1855 Treaty Authority
.    GLIFWC
.    Endangered Species Coalition 
.    EarthRoots
.    Ottawa Valley chapter of Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society
(CPAWS-OV)
.    Coyote Watch
.    NRDC National Resources Defense Council
.    National Wolfwatcher Coalition
.    Humane Society of the United States
.    Sierra Club
.    Center for Biological Diversity
.    Panthera
.    Wisconsin Puppy Mill Project
.    Project Coyote
.    WI Wolf Front
.    Malcolm R. MacPherson, Ph.D.
.    Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies.
.    Howling for Wolves
.    Keep Michigan Wolves Protected
.    Wisconsin Black Bear Education Center
.    Wildlife Public Trust and Coexistence
.    Jackpine Coalition
.    State Trails Council
.    Friends of WI State Parks
.    TrapFree Wisconsin
.    Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center
.    Operation Wolf
.    Dane County Humane Society
.    4 Lakes Wildlife Center

For more information contact:

Jodi Habush Sinykin
Of Counsel, Midwest Environmental Advocates
PO Box 171000
Milwaukee, WI 53217

414-507-0004

O’Donnell Park power play generates legislative fireworks

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When the story below was first published in my Milwaukee Magazine column it was intended to be what it will still sound like: a plea for reason in an unreasonable time, for transparency in an increasingly secretive government, and for the democratic process in a state that seemed to be veering toward tyranny.

I haven’t changed the story, but in the past 24 hours the story has acquired a new ending. Therefore I’ve added an epilogue. I’m also adding the following quote as a dedication:

“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. The functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents. There is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves; nor can they be safe with them without information. Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe.”  ~ Thomas Jefferson

From where I stood on the plaza at O’Donnell Park, the explosions lighting up the sky over the Milwaukee Art Museum were spectacular. When people learn of the stunningly blatant power play that would undermine the democratic process, I believe that the incensed voters of Wisconsin—and Milwaukee in particular—will light up their legislators’ inboxes and phone lines like roman candles.

But it may not play out that way. If it doesn’t, it will be because the people were deliberately kept in the dark as yet another stealthy, anti-democratic amendment was slipped into the governor’s proposed budget bill.

On Friday, as people flocked to Milwaukee’s lakefront legislators approved, without public knowledge or input, an amendment to the budget bill (pages 23 and 24) that would endow the Milwaukee County executive with near absolute power to—among other things—sell public lands and eliminate checks and balances provided by the County Board. It says:

“Repeal the current law provision stating that the county board may only approve or reject the contract as negotiated by the county executive.”

Relating specifically, and only, to O’Donnell Park, the amendment says:

“Modify the current law provision regarding the duties and powers of the county executive in counties with a population of 750,000 or more to authorize the county board to continue to exercise authority related to the acquisition of property with regard to land that is zoned as a park on or after the effective date of the biennial budget act, other than land zoned as a park in the City of Milwaukee that is located within the area west of Lincoln Memorial Drive, south of East Mason Street, east of North Van Buren Street, and north of East Clybourn Avenue.”

It was a coincidence that I spent that same evening at O’Donnell Park. It was no coincidence that the wording of the amendment, once the characteristically opaque legalistic jargon is deciphered, is clearly tailored to allow the Milwaukee County executive to sell O’Donnell Park. It is tailored also to circumvent the will of the County Board, which voted down the controversial sale last December.

If it succeeds, as is likely without public outcry, it also circumvents the will of the people. The evidence was plain to me as I wandered through the sea of cheerful and convivial revelers that spilled across every level of O’Donnell Park.

When I arrived around 6:00 p.m., the park was already filling up. Families and organizations had staked out prime viewing locations. Picnicking groups were encamped all along the parapet facing the museum and the lake. The entire south section of the park, in front of Betty Brinn Children’s Museum, had been literally fenced off for a private party sponsored by U.S. Bank, the primary sponsor of the night’s fireworks.

Casual inquiries revealed how few among the multitude knew that there had been an attempt to sell the park, let alone how breathtakingly close it came to succeeding (the vote opposing the sale was nine opposed, eight in favor). When it was being debated, one of the arguments made in favor of the proposal to sell the park to Northwestern Mutual was how few people used it.

Gesturing widely, a young Hispanic man named Wilbur Monti, who works at the BloodCenter of Wisconsin, told me to “look at all the families. This is more like a park than a business or a garage,” adding, “We need this park. We need more parks.”

I watched vendor Nancy Finch blow bubbles at the park while working at a cart she’s run for 36 years. O’Donnell is one of her regular stations. I asked how business was going. She replied, “It’ll pick up as soon as it gets dark.”

Sure enough, excitement grew as the light dimmed. Glowing eyeglasses and necklaces were donned, light sabers were wielded, many of which were newly purchased from Finch’s cart. The stream of people entering the park became a flood. By the time the first rockets rose above the spreading wings of the Calatrava and burst into cascading flame, the plaza was completely packed. No one was thinking about the fate of the park.

Should the budget bill pass with the current provision regarding the powers of the county executive intact, even the iconic wings of the Calatrava may not be able to protect O’Donnell Park. Following the December vote not to sell to Northwestern Mutual, the Milwaukee Art Museum has been in negotiations with the County Board.

It certainly seems that County Executive Chris Abele would like the sale of O’Donnell to proceed as previously planned. The provision in the budget appears to be designed to let him have his way. The powers that the provision would grant go far beyond one issue, however.

James Goulee, executive director of The Park People of Milwaukee, is pulling no punches. As he said in a statement on Tuesday:

“This past weekend the people of America celebrated our victory over British tyranny. With Independence came the ability to form a representative government—of the people, by the people and for the people. To ensure we wouldn’t again be exposed to tyrannical rule, our forefathers enshrined a system of government with checks and balances to, in fact, represent all the people…Unfortunately, we are now being exposed to a new tyrannical threat.

“Hidden away in the Wisconsin State budget is scheme that would endow Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele with the ability to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of County assets without review or voting by our elected County Board.

“Public input, as well as checks and balances, are vital at every level of government. The most-distressing concern of The Park People—if this stealth provision is tacked on with the budget—is that we, the people, will lose the right we now have, to oppose the sale of park land and other contractual decisions concerning county governance.”

County Board Chair Marina Dimitrijevic put it succinctly: "Unilateral control — that is way too much power for one person and I don't care who they are."

As the fireworks reached its deafening climax, I reflected on Independence Day and unilateral power. I couldn’t reconcile the two.

Epilogue

A measure of democracy seems to have been salvaged today. As has been reported, “the Senate declined to grant Abele sole authority over the future of O'Donnell Park.” That’s good news and I’m grateful not only for everyone who may have helped light up their legislators but also the many concerned people who worked to get the word out so quickly.

The future of O’Donnell Park is far from certain, however. I offer my photographs of the park and the many people who enjoy it as testimony to its value. To see more of them, go to my flickr album.

Milwaukee’s peregrine falcons get a helping hand

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An edited version of the following story first appeared in my Milwaukee Magazine column online on June 23.

The large falcon bears down on us with intense fury, aiming herself like a missile at our heads. Our squadron of volunteers, wearing hard hats and wielding brooms, fends off her attack. She veers away abruptly, talons menacing. Thwarted but consumed with rage, she immediately pivots to come at us again. We had provoked her in the most distressing way possible, by raiding her nest and stealing her young. She would continue to attack as long as she could.

Hunched and brandishing our brooms, we beat a hasty retreat across the open roof to the safety of the doorway, humbled by her majestic power and fierce determination. Here in this unlikely place, atop a power plant in the middle of Milwaukee’s industrial Menomonee Valley, we are faced with a wild animal as fierce as can be found anywhere.

A sense of déjà vu nearly overwhelms the immediate thrill. Ten years ago I saw another falcon bear down on me with the same righteous fury, here in this same place. For the moment I shake off the memory. No time for reflection as the falcon homes in on us again. This one isn’t going to settle for intimidation.

Greg Septon, the peregrine researcher responsible for our rooftop escapade, holds the animal carrier containing four fledgling falcons that are to be banded. We descend through an ear-splitting mechanical roar in the plant’s enormous main generating chamber. Then, in the relative calm of a conference room, Septon lays the carrier gently on a table that has been prepared for the well-rehearsed banding process. This was not to be a typical banding session, however.

Septon, former researcher at the Milwaukee Public Museum and founder of the Peregrine Falcon Recovery Program, has been banding peregrines every spring for 28 years. During the 2014 nesting season he banded 59 fledglings at 20 different nesting sites in Wisconsin. This year I accompanied him to five sites, all within the City of Milwaukee.

The presence of falcons in places like Milwaukee is significant for several reasons. Historically widespread, peregrines inhabited natural cliffs like those along the Mississippi River and Wisconsin’s rocky Door County peninsula. By the mid-twentieth century, however, due to pesticide poisoning the species was officially endangered and virtually extinct in the eastern half of North America.

For concerned scientists like Septon cities provided ideal conditions for the reintroduction of peregrines. Towering, cliff-like structures of concrete and steel would attract the birds and were accessible, facilitating research and regular monitoring. Moreover, as their numbers rebounded in urban environments peregrines became not only a dramatic success story of wildlife recovery, but also a symbol of a new, more symbiotic relationship between caring humans and wild animal species. Once nearly the cause of their extinction, we can now claim responsibility for the peregrine’s survival.

Banding allows scientists like Septon to manage the regional population by documenting where they go and where they nest. Causes of mortality, life spans and birthrates can be documented. DNA records are archived as part of a database on the recovered population of Midwestern peregrines.

In the conference room at the Menomonee Valley Power Plant that new relationship and commitment to stewardship plays out before a rapt fifth-grade class of schoolchildren from Carollton Elementary in Oak Creek. The participation of the school is just one of the reasons that sets apart the We Energies banding process from the others that I visited. My own history with the Valley is another.

We Energies has partnered with Septon since the falcon program’s inception in 1991. Four years ago the educational component was added in order to complement schools’ existing science curriculums with first-hand experience of wildlife recovery and to instill in the next generation the importance of conservation. Under the guidance of their teacher, Janice Posda, the Carollton fifth-graders had been raising chicks and ducklings in their classroom. Wild falcons are clearly an exciting step up and everyone is riveted to the tableau before them.

Septon, calm and efficient, clamps ID bracelets to each bird’s leg, then draws some blood to record its DNA. As he works he regales the students with falcon facts and personal stories. They learn that peregrines can dive at speeds over 230 mph, making them the fastest creatures on earth; that over 200 falcons have hatched from nests located on 6 Wisconsin power plants; and that the father of these four fledglings, named Hercules, is the offspring of Herbert, who was hatched right here at the Valley Power Plant in 2004.

Was that the year I was here? I recall the event vividly but the exact date is hazy. The symmetry is seductive. Perhaps I was present at Herbert’s banding.

I documented that previous experience in my book Urban Wilderness: Exploring a Metropolitan Watershed. I was enchanted by the vision of wild animals in the urban, industrial landscape. This is how I described the view from the falcon nest, which back then was located on a chimney:

“Black roofs mark the few remaining factories. Vacant parcels are littered with faintly twinkling glass. Tiny trucks pick and prod at a mountain of coal to feed the furnaces beneath my feet. …Across the canal in the city impoundment lot, carelessly arranged carcasses of abandoned automobiles lie atop the contours of a huge mound of gravel. In another direction lies their probable fate: scrap metal awaiting reclamation is being sorted into irregular piles.”

In the decade since I wrote those words much in the industrial valley has changed. There has been a concerted effort to revitalize, to create new jobs and to rehabilitate the ravaged landscape. While the work is ongoing, there are new factories and fewer vacant lots. Underground pipelines have replaced the mountain of coal as We Energies finalizes the power plant’s conversion to cleaner natural gas. Miller Compressing, the recycling operation, is still in business, but much more than metals are being reclaimed in the Menomonee Valley.

The most exhilarating development: wildlife now can inhabit—and we humans enjoy—parks and natural areas where only brownfields existed ten years ago. More restoration is planned. In 2004, when Greg Septon banded fledgling Herbert, he was helping to create the world that these young fifth-graders were born into. The falcons are a sign of hope that we can bequeath them a more sustainable world.

The time for naming has arrived. The students are prepared. For inspiration they had turned to a combination of science and fantasy. The first name they chose was Krypton, after the comic book hero Superman’s fictional home planet. When they learned that Krypton was an element on the periodic table, they continued down the list of noble gases. Argon, Radon and Xenon seemed equally powerful and appropriately gender neutral.

As Septon deftly grabs each fledgling and gently flips it onto the waiting towel he remarks on the size and calls out the sex. “It’s a girl,” he says of the first three. They take the names Argon, Radon and Xenon. The only boy, characteristically smaller, is last. He will be called Krypton. The children lean forward, watching intently.

Like all of them, little Krypton struggles and squawks. But this time there’s a problem. An unusual flinch by the young falcon during the routine blood draw causes a nick in the vein. In an attempt to staunch the bleeding Septon applies styptic powder. His demeanor shifts ever so slightly, more business-like. He asks the class to be patient. “We may be here a while,” he tells us. “My whole concern now is for the bird.” He repeats the phrase, like a mantra.

I ask how often this occurs. “In 28 years, this is the second time,” he says.

For 28 years Septon’s concern has been for the birds. Fortunately, his concern reflects a similar shift in society at large. As he and I traveled around the city to visit the various nest sites I was struck by the universality of the experience. At each place people stopped what they were doing to witness the event, enthralled by the presence of these wild and fragile animals in their midst.

An observation I made ten years ago still rings true:

“Once in their lives these wild creatures must endure this violation because our society has decided to care whether they live or die. The look in their eyes is a clear sign that banding doesn't tame them, but it creates a platform on which we can build a case for mutual survival.”

The passage of time has not changed the basic elements of the banding process. Peregrines are still listed as endangered in Wisconsin and in need of our stewardship. But ten years on I sense a shift in the human drama that surrounds and upholds the actions of the privileged few, those lucky enough to assemble around conference tables at Malteuroup, We Energies and Veolia, around a science lab table at UWM, and around a card table on the top floor of US Bank, the tallest building in the State.

Most people still find it easier to conjure images of raptors lofting above the cliffs of Devil’s Lake or Wyalusing State Parks. But it is increasingly possible—and terribly important in the 21^st century—to look at the monuments of Milwaukee and other urban habitats and visualize the peregrine and other wildlife species that have successfully adapted to an environment that’s been transformed utterly. It is the environment that we have created—for them and for ourselves.

If we want peregrines to remain a part of our urban landscape for future generations, we must continue to provide safe nest sites for them and effectively manage their populations.

 

Eventually the bleeding stops. Septon signals his relief and repeats his mantra. The students, having grown restless during the wait, quickly hush with renewed enchantment. They, too, are visibly relieved. Still squawking, little Krypton rejoins his noble sisters in the crate. Then, as he’s done countless times, Septon returns the fledglings to the rooftop nest and stands back to allow a more subdued but still agitated mother to return and tend to her brood.

Photos from the other banding sites:

The massive Malteurop corporation grain elevators dominate the landscape for miles around its location at the intersection of Lincoln Ave. and Miller Park Way. Security is tight; one of the things that have changed in the 28 years Septon has been banding falcons. What hasn’t changed is the enthusiasm of the personnel who eagerly anticipate his arrival each year.

The process of retrieving the fledglings was uniquely challenging here. Septon, encased in a full-body suit, wearing a regulation hockey helmet in lieu of the usual hard hat and clipped to a safety cable anchored to the building, was entirely on his own to gather the young and fend off the adults. As he approaches the nest box the female falcon soars by.

Once back in the administrative offices it was business as usual. The crowd of employees who gathered to watch spilled out into the hall and peered through conference room windows. Constant chatter amongst the observers accompanied the raucous commotion of the fledglings as they were being handled.

The four fledglings were banded with ID bracelets on their legs, blood was drawn for DNA sampling, and they were named. Then came the highlight of the event: the lineup. Septon placed the still-complaining birds on the floor for a fledgling peregrine photo op.

The Engineering and Mathematical Sciences building at the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee, though not as tall as the Sandburg Hall dorms, is as cliff-like as any on that diverse campus. Here the nest box rests on a narrow ledge outside the top floor, about 140 feet high.

Tom Schuck, emeritus Facilities Manager and Building Chair for Biological Sciences (far right), assisted Septon, as he has for the past 8 years. Joining us were three members of the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center and three graduate students from the UWM Ornithology Lab, including Piotr, a visiting scholar from Poland (center).

The Jones Island Water Treatment Facility is as unlikely a place to find wildlife habitat as any that I have visited. Surrounded by the complex and gargantuan machinery of human wastewater reclamation, a falcon nest box is a clear indication that our species has turned a corner in its relationship with the natural world. Once we laid waste to the world, thoughtlessly dumping noxious effluents into our rivers. Now we consider ourselves its stewards.

Veolia’s President and General Manager, Scott Royer (far right), assists Greg Septon with banding as excited employees look on. Community Relations Manager, Joyce Harms (far left) was especially enthusiastic. “It’s amazing!” She said. “This is one of the coolest things about my job.”

The crowd of onlookers, more intimate here, was no less enthralled. Building Engineer Al Labinski assisted Septon. He’d invited his daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter to witness the banding. They also got to name the three fledglings. Three-year-old Josie, thrilled to give the name Sophia to the only female of the bunch, had to be comforted herself when Sophia squawked loudly during the banding.

Unlike the other locations, here the small cadre of curious human onlookers was joined by a rather tormented avian one. The whole time we were in full view of Adah, the mother falcon, who flew ceaselessly back and forth outside the enormous bank building windows.

At nearly 600 feet, the highest falcon nest by far is situated on a narrow parapet outside the seldom-used observation deck of the U. S. Bank building. As we walk around it, Septon points to the locations of all four of the other nest boxes in Milwaukee. “On a clearer day you can see the power plant in Port Washington, too,” he said.

To see more images of the five banding sites, go to my flickr album.