Peregrine falcon banding in the Menomonee Valley

I wrote the following story approximately ten years ago when I was working on my first book, Urban Wilderness: Exploring a Metropolitan Watershed. It has always been one of my favorites. I reprint it now because after ten years I have just returned to witness another falcon banding session at the same location. This time I also went to four additional banding sites in Milwaukee. Stay tuned for the new story--and many more photos!

Power Plant 

One hundred and twenty feet up the chimney of a coal-fired power plant, wind roars in my ears. Far below and all around are the signs of a century of enterprising development and subsequent decline. 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. They have the look of ants fussily tending an anthill. 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.

This isn't the kind of setting one expects nature lovers to seek out; nevertheless, this vertiginous height is one of several area nesting sites for the once-endangered peregrine falcon. As such, it is a significant outpost in the urban wilderness—symbolic of a dramatic environmental success story—and I am witnessing as much wild fury as a pair of falcons can muster.

Tolerance of humans and adaptation to their synthetic environments has helped bring the species back from the brink of extinction, but tolerance has its limits. With no way to communicate their benign intentions, the banding team is provoking the falcons in the most distressing way possible, by raiding their nest and stealing their young. In a frenzy, the adult birds dive at us, swerving by as close as they dare. They circle around and dive again, screaming all the while in high-pitched desperation.

Greg, the naturalist in charge of the operation is getting an equally ferocious reaction from the fledglings in the nest. In what they only can perceive as a battle for existence, they simultaneously claw, peck, and struggle to evade his grasp with great feathery commotion. But it is a futile fight, as gloved hands deftly snatch each chick and transfer it to a waiting cage. All the while the parents continue the attack. Capable of speeds as high as 230 M.P.H., which makes them the fastest animals on earth—their intimidation is real. The larger female aims straight at my head, eyes blazing with passionate intensity. Just beyond reach, she stalls her headlong plunge with a wide sweep of her wings, talons writhing with frustration, and veers away.

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. In the urban wilderness, nature's indifference must be guided by humanity's care and stewardship.

Once inside, identifying bands are applied expertly to the fledglings' legs. Held as gently as possible, they nevertheless struggle continuously. Sharp beaks and talons flex and strain, eyes glare with a vehemence born of panic. The banding team's calm, scholarly attention to detail belies a genuine respect and affection for the fate of the individual birds as well as the species. They are given names. Personalities are noted along with physical traits. All is done with such alacrity that we are soon back up on the chimney, returning them to the nest. No longer attacking, the adult falcons continue to circle, eyeing us suspiciously.

When I return to solid ground I turn to look up through a lattice of steel structures toward the tiny white nest box affixed to a narrow railing on the massive vertical form of the stack. Two even tinier black specks with wings whip around like torn bits of cloth whirling in an updraft. Then each circles the stack one more time, swoops gracefully up to the nest, and disappears inside. The only sound is the wind in my ears. 

This story and the photograph of the Fledgling Falcon are from Urban Wilderness: Exploring a Metropolitan Watershed, Center for American Places at Columbia College Chicago. © Eddee Daniel 2008.

Between Park and Power Plant: 10 acres in Tosa

A look at the present and uncertain future of the parcel of land between County Grounds Park and We Energies' soon-to-be sold power plant.

View of woodland, Ronald McDonald House in background

One of the last remaining stands of mature trees, along with a valuable wetland, may yet be lost on the Milwaukee County Grounds in Wauwatosa. No, the compromise that established UWM’s Innovation Park development zone and County Grounds Park did not protect all of the undeveloped portions of the long-contested county land, as many have assumed. 

Two unprotected parcels that are among the loveliest in what officially is known as the Northeast Quadrant are located immediately north of the We Energies power plant and Ronald McDonald House (A and B, respectively, on the aerial view below.)

Last week the Economic Development Committee of the Milwaukee County Board voted to recommend the sale of the power plant to the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center (MRMC.) The resolution goes to the full board Thursday, March 26.....

To read the rest of the story please go to Milwaukee Magazine. 

Here are a few photos that didn't get used by Milwaukee Magazine:

 
View from Innovation Park of the 10-acre woodland across the fence line enclosing the power plant.

View north from the 10-acre woodland towards County Grounds Park. Recreational users prefer the woodland to this flat section of the park.

The newly built substation that supplies power to the MRMC (via power lines from the grid) in addition to that generated by the coal plant. Viewed from Innovation Park.

ATC begins tree cutting in Underwood Parkway

Those who have been following the Underwood Creek Parkway controversy about placing power lines through there to provide power to the proposed We Energies substation on the County Grounds know that permission was granted by the WI Public Service Commission months ago. (Read my original post describing the issues by clicking here.)

The work began in earnest recently. Wauwatosa, an officially designated "Tree City USA," is losing more of them. The power lines will run along the north side of the railroad tracks from the existing powerlines near 119th St. to 115th St. (above) They will then cross the tracks, the road, and Underwood Creek to follow the Oak Leaf Trail east of 115th St. (below)

I don't know what is being done in the park between the Parkway road and the creek west of 115th, but something is. Construction fences surround many of the existing trees and cyclone fences surround at least two sections where work is being done. Here's what it looked like over the weekend.

New gas lines to Valley Power Plant disrupt Canal Street

Two years ago We Energies announced plans to convert the Menomonee Valley Power Plant from coal to natural gas. To do so requires not only retrofitting the existing boilers to accept the new fuel, but also installing new natural gas main lines to bring that fuel to the plant. Work on those gas lines began along Canal Street this week. As a result this vital Valley artery will be constricted to two lanes for the duration. Construction vehicles were operating even in the open lanes today, causing backups.

The work is expected to be completed in September. Between now and then, if you drive that way, it might be a good idea to find a different route. The good news for cyclists, however, is that a paved detour has been created in front of the Twisted Fisherman property so that Hank Aaron State Trail users can bypass the construction.

On a related note, the new Hank Aaron Trail ramp and staircase that lead down off the 6th St. bridge is complete. The opening has been delayed while the trail segment through the Reed Street Yards is being finished. It is supposed to open in July, last I heard.

Stay tuned.

The trees lose again!

Many people in Wauwatosa, as well as others who frequent the County Grounds, are still in shock at the loss of trees there. Prepare yourselves! If you drive along this stretch of Highway 100 south of Watertown Plank Road you will see that here too the highway is winning and the trees losing.

In this case, it is due to the widening of Hwy 100 that is being done to accommodate a projected increase in traffic during the Zoo Interchange reconstruction. Of course, it won't be narrowed again once that project is completed.

Wauwatosa is among the many cities that pride themselves on being a Tree City. How many stumps does it take to lose that designation, I wonder? I hope it doesn't come to that.

I want to thank Cheryl Marlega, one of the staunchest supporters of the Friends of the Monarch Trail for sharing the following link to a video about the tree cutting on the County Grounds. It is called, "In Memory of the Trees." If you were among the many who were moved by my post on that subject, you will want to check out this link: "In Memory of the Trees."

All is not completely gloom and doom, however. We Energies has just unveiled its plan for the new substation to be built on the County Grounds. It will be sited to the west of the existing plant in what is currently an open field, as indicated in orange on the map. This is a better location than the other alternative, north of the plant, which is still woodland and butler garter snake habitat - among other wildlife species! So, here is a case where the trees have been saved for the time being. A Tree City ought to be able to protect them in perpetuity, don't you agree?

Power lines and parklands don't mix

I just returned from the Wauwatosa City Hall where a public hearing is underway regarding the plans to run transmission lines through parts of Milwaukee and Wauwatosa. The new lines would provide power to a planned substation to be built by We Energies next to its existing plant on the County Grounds. (Read more about these plans. Pictures included in earlier post.)

Much of the testimony was from people associated with either St. Theresa or the Milwaukee Montessori School, both of which will be impacted if plans proceed to run overhead power lines along their properties. I agree with their position that power lines should run underground. Since I don’t live next to any of the proposed routes, my concern is more general. However, it is no less passionate. I don't believe that this is merely a local issue.

Here is the gist of my testimony:

Many of us have heard from representatives of the ATC that the Commission will be choosing a power line route solely on an economic basis, that the cheapest route is always chosen. Furthermore, since parklands will always be less expensive to develop than locations with existing development, they will always be sacrificed for this inherent short-term economic advantage.

I hope that the ATC has mischaracterized the Commission’s intentions, that your deliberations will prove more flexible than they have claimed and that your understanding of the economics involved is more nuanced. If the only economic consideration is the narrow one that considers only the cost of constructing a power line, then by default our community will lose its parklands. More than that, every community where these circumstances exist will sacrifice parkland. Sadly, the places this loss will be felt the greatest is where they can least afford it, densely populated urban areas like ours.

There are many ways besides the cost of construction, of course, to measure economic costs – and benefits. In this case the benefits of preserving parkland and the benefits of burying the lines outweigh the narrow, short-term economic considerations. Some of the benefits are less tangible, like quality of life, but others truly are economic, like property valuations and the costs of physical and emotional health. These costs would not be bourn by the ATC but by the larger community. Ultimately, the short-term economic argument makes everyone poorer.

This is not just hearsay. There is legal precedent for the larger, more long-term economic view. In a 1971 ruling the US Supreme Court established in principle that parks should not be developed solely because they would be the cheapest alternative.

The loss of scarce parkland in urban areas is not an insignificant issue. Because of the well-documented benefits the current trend in cities throughout the country is to revitalize open spaces and to increase parklands wherever possible. Wisconsin has a well-earned reputation for its concern for the natural environment. If power lines are allowed to be built in urban parklands, not only will local communities suffer, but our reputation will be tarnished. It not only will be a huge step backwards but one that goes against prevailing wisdom.

I urge the Commission, as so many others are doing, to choose a route other than Underwood Parkway and to bury the lines.  (End of testimony.)

I might have added that, as a ratepayer myself I am willing to pay the extra amount that would be charged to pay for underground transmission lines. I also don’t understand why the ATC (as opposed to the PSC) has been so insistent that the cheapest route be chosen. Their interest, which is to profit from the construction of the line, is served in any case.

Menomonee Valley Power Plant public hearing Monday

The following message is from the Cleaner Valley Coalition. The organization's mission statement is below.

EPA Community Meeting Dec. 12th

EPA Community Meeting on Valley Coal Plant Pollution, Health Concerns and Environmental Justice

Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency are participating in a Community Meeting and Forum to discuss environmental justice and health concerns, including We Energies’ Valley coal plant, located in the heart of the downtown Milwaukee. Sponsored by Cleaner Valley Coalition, the community has the opportunity to talk about the plant’s pollution and its health impacts, which primarily affect low-income people of color who live in the Menomonee Valley.

EPA representatives include Susan Hedman, Head of EPA Region 5 in Chicago, and Lisa Garcia, Associate Assistant Administrator for Environmental Justice, Washington, D.C. There will be an opportunity to provide personal statements to head EPA officials; written testimony accepted too.

The Valley coal plant is one of the dirtiest plants in the state, yet sits in Wisconsin’s most populated city. The community has grown deeply concerned over the increase in cases of asthma and respiratory illnesses in children in Milwaukee, particularly within the African-American, Latino and lower-income communities.

When: Monday, Dec. 12, 6:00 p.m.

Where: Ascension Lutheran Church,1236 S.Layton Blvd. Parking in rear.

             

What: Community members giving testimony, EPA officials

                       

Contact: Dianne Dagelen, ddagelen@sbcglobal.net

Cleaner Valley Coalition is a coalition of health advocacy groups, civil rights organization, grassroots organizations and local service providers and individuals concerned about the health of our families. Together, we are working to improve air quality for all Milwaukee residents by cleaning up We Energies’ coal plant in the Menomonee Valley. The window of opportunity to clean up We Energies’ Valley Plant is here. Ultimately, we call on We Energies to be a responsible neighbor and clean up the plant for the health of Milwaukee and our children’s future.