march-april 2006 boom year for eagles · 2009-05-13 · eagles on the upper miss. by pamela eyden...

www.big-river.com

Exploring the Mississippi from the Twin Cities to the Quad Cities

March-April 2006

Boom Year for Eagles But What’s Happeningto their Young?

Boom Year for Eagles But What’s Happeningto their Young?

SavannaA Restless River TownSavannaA Restless River Town

Photo Essay: Water Birds Show OffPhoto Essay: Water Birds Show Off

STEAMBOAT CRUISES ON

Day tripsBreakfast, Lunch and Dinner Cruises Weddings Company Outings Reunions, etc.

Great River Steamboat Company, 227 Main Street, La Crosse, WI 54601(608) 784-4882 Toll-free 1-800-815-1005 www.juliabelle.com

STEAMBOAT CRUISES ON THE JJUULLIIAA BBEELLLLEE SSWW

AAIINN

The Julia Belle Swain Steamboat, all decked out in red, white and blue bunting,provides a sentimental journey on a real steamboat cruising the Mighty Missis-sippi. The picturesque Julia Belle offers back-to-yesteryear public tours, privatecharters, and special theme cruises on the portion of the Mississippi that MarkTwain called the prettiest. Escape from the hurried world and go back to a more genteel time.The soundof the calliope and the whistle blowing brings back a voice of America’s past.The dining salon and mahogany bar provide meal and beverage service in thegracious manner of a bygone era. Come aboard for a local cruise with great food or just a short refreshing sight-seeing trip. Day trips depart from La Crosse, Wis., to Winona, Minn.; Lansing,Iowa; or Prairie du Chien, Wis. Don’t wait to explore the many possibilities onthe beautiful Mississippi!

Reservations are required. Call 800-815-1005.For schedules online: www.juliabelle.com

35th Anniversary of Julia Belle Swain!

C O V E R I N G T H E U P P E R M I S S I S S I P P I S I N C E 1 9 9 3

F E A T U R E S12 Savanna — Looking for Its Future

Will tourism, a new winery, biodiesel, data storageand other creative ideas rescue this river town?

By Abbie Reese

17 Saying Goodbye to the Dredge ThompsonA documentary video tells the story of a boat thatspent 70 years keeping the Main Channel open.

By Molly McGuire

18 A Valley Full of EaglesThere’s never been a better year for watching baldeagles on the Upper Miss.

By Pamela Eyden

20 Looking DuckyThe first colors of spring arrive on the wings ofnorthward migrating waterfowl.

By Pamela Eyden and Reggie McLeod

25 All About WakesTwo writers explore boat wakes — complex andinteresting phenomena with a big impact on rivershorelines.

By John Heddle and Reggie McLeod

D E P A R T M E N T S3 From the Riverbank

Nobody goes there anymore.

By Reggie McLeod

5 River NewsRiver otters, giant bronze clammer and plans toput more nuclear waste on the banks of the river.

41 Advertiser IndexWhere did I see that ad…?

42 River CalendarBird-banding, star watches, eagle watches, In-Fisherman swap meet

44 River PeopleNative river mussels didn’t get no respect beforeMarian Havlik came along.

Cover: Two eagles (Carol Knabe)

Above: The cutterhead dredge William A. Thompson works on a mistyUpper Mississippi in 1963. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

March-April 2006

TM

2 BIG RIVER MAGAZINE / March-April 2006

ISLAND CITY HARBOROpen 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, closed Mondays

P.O. Box 10 • 305 South Ave.Sabula, IA 52070-0010

email:[email protected]:islandcityharbor.com

Phone (563) 687-2825 • Fax (563) 687-2229Mile 534.7 RDB • Upper Mississippi River

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Big River™

Big River Magazine (ISSN 1070-8340) is pub-lished six times a year by Open River Presswith assistance from Riverwise, Inc., 70 1/2 E.Fourth St., PO Box 204, Winona, MN 55987;(507) 454-5949; fax: (507) 454-2133;email: [email protected];website: www.big-river.com

Reggie McLeod ........editor/publisher

Molly McGuire ........managing editor

Pamela Eyden ..........news/photo editor

Marc Hequet ............contributing editor, Twin Cities

Maureen J. Cooney ..office/sales

Kathy Delano ..........sales/design

Robert Copeland ......bookkeeping/subscriptions

Subscriptions are $27 for one year, $49 for twoyears or $4.95 per single issue. Send subscrip-tions, single-copy orders and change-of-addressrequests to Big River, PO Box 204, Winona,MN 55987.

Second-class postage paid at Winona, MN.

POSTMASTER: send change-of-addressrequests to Big River, PO Box 204, Winona,MN 55987.

Big River Magazine, Volume 14, Number 2,copyright March 2006. Reproduction in wholeor in part without written permission of thepublisher is prohibited. Printed on recycled pa-per.

From theRiverbank

Yogi Berra once explained, “No-body goes to Coney Island any-more — it’s too crowded.”

The recent series of public meetingsabout the Upper Mississippi River Fishand Wildlife Refuge probably could havebenefitted from Yogi’s intellectual acuityand sense of humor.

For instance, at the meeting in Lans-ing, Iowa, discussion centered on two sit-uations. First, some airboaters areadamant about their “right” to take theirairboat anywhere on the river at anytime. This point of view clashes with newfeatures in the proposed refuge manage-ment plan that would create a few, smallquiet areas in the backwaters. The pro-posed plan would also restrict access tosome areas where waterfowl rest andfeed during hunting season.

Most of the airboaters were from Stod-dard, La Crosse or Onalaska, Wis. Someof the same airboaters went to meetingsin many communities. As a group, theystand to lose the most, because Plan Ewould ban them year-round from six“electric-motor areas” (Plan D had 17)and ban them from March 16 to October31 from eight “slow, no-wake areas” (PlanD had none). The electric-motor areaswould make up less than one percent ofthe refuge and the slow, no-wake areaswould make up 4.4 percent of the refuge.

The second situation that received alot of attention at the Lansing meetingwas a proposed hiking trail to a remotebackwater area. This area is currentlyvery hard to reach, so only a few localsmake the effort to go there. It’s also agreat place to hunt and observe wildlife,thanks mainly to its inaccessibility. Sever-al people argued passionately that build-

ing a hiking trail to this area would ruinit, because too many people would gothere. However, nobody suggested thatairboats and hovercraft, by bringing morenoise and human activity to remote back-waters, might be ruining the hunting andwildlife viewing in those places. Some ofthe same people were lambasting the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service both for makingthe refuge more accessible and less acces-sible.

We don’t like to admit it, but we hu-mans are a lot less logical and consistentthan we like to think we are. Take theSUV commercials (please). Millions ofthese lumbering, gas-guzzlers have beensold to people who think they are goingto drive from their suburban garage to amountain top where they can watchbears. However, please note that in thesecommercials you never see another SUVon the mountain top. If they showed sixother SUVs driving around that mountaintop, the ads wouldn’t work.

So the real issues are accessibility,noise and the fantasy of controlling yourown little piece of public land. Many ofus who use the refuge would like to beable to easily reach our favorite placesand not have other people get in our way.That’s why folks buy airboats, and that’swhy folks buy kayaks. The airboat ownerfeels he or she is privileged to go to thatplace, because he or she worked to earnthe money to buy the airboat. The kayak-er feels the same, because he or sheworked to paddle into the place.

Perhaps we can accommodate bothfantasies to some degree, but it will re-quire compromising. One thing is for cer-tain, in 12 years or so when the Fish andWildlife Service begins the next round of

Reggie McLeodEditor/Publisher

Contacts (800) 303-8201. For information about stories, columns and River News, contact Reggie McLeod, Pamela Eyden or Molly McGuire([email protected]). For calendar events, contact Kathy Delano or Molly McGuire ([email protected]). For information about placingan ad in Big River or for information about selling Big River magazines contact Kathy Delano or Maureen J. Cooney ([email protected]). Wemust receive calendar events by March 25 to get them into the May-June 2006 magazine. We must receive ads by March 15.

COMING INMAY-JUNE 2006

Travel Issue

Visit the 1800s on the River

Art Show in Muscatine

Mudpuppies!

Peregrine Update

ARE HUMANS AN INVASIVE SPECIES?

refuge planning, there will be more air-boats and kayaks on the river, and few-er inaccessible places.

Written comments on the plan arebeing accepted until March 6, 2006. F

March-April 2006 / BIG RIVER MAGAZINE 3


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Illinois DisconnectChicago — A stupendous canalbuilt to save human lives nowthreatens both Great Lakes and Mis-sissippi River ecosystems.

The 28-mile Chicago Sanitary andShip Canal, which was completed in1900 after eight years of construction,pulled Chicago’s sewage away fromLake Michigan, where the city got itsdrinking water. The canal links LakeMichigan to the Des Plaines River,which flows into the Illinois, whichflows into the Mississippi at Alton, Ill.

Now the engineering triumphserves as a path for invasive speciesmoving between the Great Lakes toMississippi.

Pinch it off? A conference of scien-tists suggested so in 2003. But the wa-terway has become a major barge

route and recreational stream. The zebra mussel that now plagues

the Upper Miss came to the river byway of the canal. Our next invadermay be the voracious round goby, aCaspian Sea import now in the Illi-nois. Asian carp are headed the otherway.

An electrical barrier at Romeoville,Ill., prevents movement of fish be-tween the Great Lakes and the Missis-sippi, but may not keep out larvaeand eggs. The $3.5 million demonstra-tion barrier switched on in April 2002convinced officials to spend another

$9.1 million for a big-ger, more permanent bar-rier 800 feet downstreamthat will begin operating thisspring. The federal govern-ment paid for the demo. Thestate of Illinois is seeking federalhelp to pay for the new barrier.

Rail-like steel billets on the bedof the 25-foot-deep canal carry anelectrical charge that drives away fish.The new barrier covers 480 squarefeet at the bottom of the 160-foot-wide canal. The Army Corps of Engi-neers, which is building the barrier,says the voltage won’t harm humans.

The barrier’s target for now isAsian carp, which grow to five feetand 100 pounds. These importedplankton eaters escaped from anArkansas fish farm in the 1970s andare now displacing native species inthe Mississippi.

Asian carp haven’t reachedRomeoville as of this writing.“They’re not sitting there with theirnoses on the edge of the electricity,”said Chuck Shea, project managerwith the Army Corps’ Chicago Dis-trict.

Even if it stops fish, however,Great Lakes advocates fear larvae andeggs can drift though the barrier.

Outright separation of the GreatLakes and Mississippi basins was thetop recommendation of nearly 70 sci-entists, engineers and invasive-species experts at the 2003 Aquatic In-vasive Species Summit in Chicago.But it would cost tens of billions of

dollars and take years. A possible al-ternative would be a system of lockswith water filters to screen out organ-isms. Congress is considering autho-rizing funds to study options.

The Chicago Sanitary and ShipCanal, dug between 1892 and 1900, isdeeper and wider than the originalChicago River and so reversed theflow of that stream in the flat countryof northeastern Illinois.

Other Great Lakes states sued overthe prospect of the artificial waterwaylowering the level of the big lake. In1926, the U.S. Supreme Court limited

River News

Visit the Big River Home page(www.big-river.com) for links toinformation about stories markedwith the mouse��.

Outright separation of the

Great Lakes and Mississippi

basins was the top

recommendation of nearly

70 scientists, engineers and

invasive-species experts.


outflow through the canal to 3,200 cu-bic feet per second. Most of the flowin some parts of the canal is effluentfrom wastewater treatment plants,serving five million people in CookCounty, Ill.

The canal let zebra mussels andthe round goby into the Mississippibasin. Both arrived in the ballastholds of seagoing vessels in the GreatLakes. Zebra mussels, two-inch Euro-pean shellfish, attach to and smothernative mussels and clog water intakepipes. Great Lakes states spend about$1 billion a year in damage and con-trol costs, and now Mississippi Riverstates have the same problem. Theround goby is a bottom dweller fromthe Black and Caspian seas thatgrows to 12 inches with a large head,like a giant tadpole. Aggressive andprolific, it may displace some nativespecies in the Great Lakes and theMississippi.

Meanwhile, the Asian carp has tak-en over some fishing areas on theMississippi and would likewisethreaten the $4.5 billion annual Great

Lakes’ sport and commercial fishingindustry.

That set off alarm bells around thebig lakes and led to the movement toseparate the Great Lakes from therivers again or do something.

It was, said Joel Brammeier, associ-ate director with Alliance For theGreat Lakes in Chicago, “sort of ahead-slapping moment.”

If you’re curious and/or concernedabout invasive species in the river,don’t miss the new exhibit at Chica-go’s Shedd Aquarium, which featureszebra mussels, Asian carp, and otherexotic flora and fauna that are threat-ening ecosystems in the Great Lakes.The permanent exhibit opened thiswinter.

Price of SuccessDes Moines, Iowa — Iowa may al-low trapping of river otters, andhunting and trapping of bobcats start-ing in November, if the Iowa NaturalResource Commission (NRC) decidesthe animals’ populations have recov-ered enough.

River otters had declined steadilyby the time the state began restoringthem to Iowa’s rivers and streams in1985. The restoration was successful.

“River otters now live in everycounty and every watershed in thestate,” said Ron Andrews of the IowaDepartment of Natural Resources(DNR). “They’re showing up instreams that are only ankle-deep —otters’ ankles.”

The proposed otter trappingwould be “ultra-conservative,” An-drews said, with a maximum harvestof 300 per season, from the first Satur-day of November through the end ofJanuary. Trapping would be legal on-ly in certain areas, including north-east Iowa.

The DNR would keep close tabs onthe number of animals taken everyday and let trappers know if andwhen the maximum was reached.

Bobcat populations have grown inpast decades, partly because the Con-servation Reserve Program encour-aged the growth of sheltering cover.The 15-to-30-pound cats are seen fre-

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quently in 75 Iowa counties, with un-confirmed sightings in another 10.Their population is expected to con-tinue to increase, with or withouttrapping.

The proposal before the Iowa NRCdesignates a bobcat hunting and trap-ping area primarily in the southernpart of the state. The season wouldclose when 200 bobcats are taken.

The NRC will make a final deci-sion in June. Public comments arewelcome.

Rapids Pilot HonoredDubuque, Iowa — Intrepid river pi-lot Philip Suiter (1799-1884) garnereda measure of fame for his ability tosafely navigate the Rock IslandRapids. This winter he was inductedinto the Rivers Hall of Fame inDubuque, where he joins MarkTwain, Jacques Marquette, Louis Joli-et, Louis Armstrong, Zebulon Pikeand many others.

Before the lock and dam systemraised water levels, this granite-bot-tomed stretch of river between Dav-enport and Rock Island was one ofthe places riverboat pilots feared themost. Many boats and a lot of cargowere lost on the rocks there. Suiter,who knew the rapids very well andhad a knack for making it throughunscathed, made a good living as“the rapids pilot.” He also helped ayoung Army Lieutenant, Robert E.Lee, survey the channel, and he gavewinning testimony in court for abridge company whose case was ar-gued by attorney Abraham Lincoln.

Suiter’s great, great grandchildrenstill live in the area. They are restor-ing his small brick house, which hebuilt in 1839 near LeClaire, Iowa.

The National Rivers Hall of Fameis part of the National MississippiRiver Museum & Aquarium atDubuque.

On the MapWashington, D.C. — All 12 species ofNorth America’s map turtles (genusGraptemys) have been placed underinternational protection by the Con-vention on International Trade in En-dangered Species (CITES). The U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service will now be

working with individual states to reg-ulate exports.

Two map turtles are found alongthe Upper Mississippi River — thecommon map turtle and the Ouachitamap turtle, both of which are avidsun-baskers that prefer clean, slow-moving waters.

CITES includes 168 countries thatwork together to monitor and regu-late trade in wild animals and plants.

Big Museum PlanDubuque, Iowa — Since it opened 30months ago, the National MississippiRiver Museum & Aquarium has be-come an important regional attractionand a center for river education activ-ities. In January, the museum an-nounced plans for ambitious newgrowth, asking the city of Dubuqueto dedicate adjacent buildings andland formerly owned by the AdamsCompany, so it can double its size.

Nearly 700,000 people have visitedthe museum, which is affiliated withthe Smithsonian Institute. It has alsoformed a network with 58 other mu-seums up and down the river.

Besides adding a large-screen in-teractive theater and a 42,000-square-foot exhibit museum and research

VISIT WINONA AND THE WINONA COUNTY

HISTORICAL SOCIETY ARE LOCATED AT

160 JOHNSON ST., WINONA, MN 55987

UPCOMING EVENTS

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IMMERSE YOURSELF IN THE PAST IN

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Timeless Surroundings.

www.winonahistory.org507.454.2723

Open Monday - Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In the early and mid-1800s, Philip Suiter was oneof the first pilots able to navigate a boat throughthe Rock Island rapids without losing passengersor cargo. (National Rivers Hall of Fame)


center, expansion plans call for themuseum to broaden its focus fromjust the Mississippi River to all ofAmerica’s rivers.

The expansion will be a big part ofDubuque’s $188-million riverfront de-velopment project. Although plansdepend on funding, some parts of theplan may be completed by 2009.

Pool 9 FriendsLansing, Iowa — River lovers, bird-ers, sportsmen and residents of Pool9, the stretch of river between Lockand Dam 8 and Lock and Dam 9, areinvited to join a new organization —the Friends of Pool 9. Members canhelp create canoe trails and boat land-ing wildflower gardens, clean upbeaches, plant trees, do frog and birdsurveys, and join in picnics and cruis-es.

“We want to do positive things inPool 9 in cooperation with the Fishand Wildlife Service,” explainedgroup organizer Ric Zarwell of Lans-ing. “Our focus is on teamwork andfun. I’ve been wanting to do some-

thing like this for years.”Thirty people had joined the group

as of the end of January. Their firstproject is to reconstruct and restoresandbar beaches upstream of Lansingthis summer, recontour the beaches,clean up litter and control the poisonivy.

“We have the permits already,”Zarwell said. “A local bulldozer oper-ator is volunteering his time, andBrennan Company is giving us a dis-count rate to bring equipment downfrom Lock and Dam 8.”

The second project will be a rivercleanup and picnic.

The new Friends group is not affil-iated with the Friends of the UpperMississippi River Refuge. For moreinformation, contact Zarwell at (563)538-4991.

Frog FungusCosta Rica — Some experts say theresearch is not conclusive, but othersare convinced that a recent study offrog die-offs in the mountains of Cos-ta Rica points to a global problem.

Researchers at the Monteverde CloudForest Preserve have found evidencethat warmer temperatures over thelast few decades may have spurredgrowth of a fungus that is lethal tofrogs. Reported in the journal Naturein January, researchers’ conclusionsare based on an analysis of fungusoutbreaks and frog extinctions in di-verse and widely separated areas inCosta Rica.

The chytrid fungus is foundthroughout the world and has beenimplicated in amphibian deaths be-fore. It generally prefers cooler condi-tions than those found in the Ameri-can tropics, but warmer temperaturesincrease evaporation, which createsclouds that block sunlight, thus cool-ing off the daytime temperatures andtrapping heat at night.

“Disease is the bullet killing frogs,but climate change is pulling the trig-ger,” said one of the researchers, Dr.Alan Pounds. The impact on biodi-versity, he said, is “staggering.”

Critics of the research point outthat the evidence is all circumstantial.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historical Society

Little HouseWayside,Pepin,Wisconsin

We carry all of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books plus others,including Little House in the Big Woods and Laura’s Album.

Laura Ingalls Wilder DaysSecond Full Weekend in SeptemberCelebrating the life and times of thebeloved “Little House” books author.

The Little House Wayside and

Cabin depend solely on the

profits from the Museum.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Museumis open by appointment November – April(Look for phone numbers in the museum window)

Hwy 35 (306 Third Street)

P.O. Box 269, Pepin, WI 54759

or call (800) 442-3011

www.pepinwisconsin.com


“It is difficult to prove cause andeffect on the ground, where multiplefactors interact in complex ways,”said Cynthia Carey, amphibian dis-ease expert at the University of Col-orado. (New York Times, 1-12-06)

Bronze Clammer Muscatine, Iowa — A 30-foot-tall,bronze clammer standing in a boatand holding two bronze clammingforks crossed over his head, will takeup residence on the town’s waterfrontsome time this spring. The sculptureis currently being created by artistErik Blome of Chicago. Called “Mis-sissippi Harvest,” it will celebrate thetown’s history as a center of riverclamming and the pearl button indus-try.

The sculpture is part of a $9.6 mil-lion Pearl of the Mississippi projectfunded by public and private dona-tions, as well as a voter-approved,one-percent sales tax. An aquatic cen-ter and riverfront renovation are alsopart of the project.

A scale model of the sculpture ison display at the Muscatine History& Industry Museum.

Domain ChallengedBlaine, Minn. — Owners of river-front property in Champlin, Minn.,who have claimed that the city threat-ened to force them out of their houseto build luxury housing and a mari-na, spoke in favor of tightening thestate’s eminent domain laws at ahearing in the Minnesota House ofRepresentatives in January. TheHouse is considering legislation tochange the state’s eminent domain

laws. Similar legislation will probablybe proposed in the state senate.

Minnesota, like other states, haslong allowed cities and counties totake private property for economicdevelopment. The proposed changeswould give landowners more powerto fight takeovers. Opponents say thechange would also make it more ex-pensive for governments to take anyproperty, even if the land is to beused to create a road, park or school.

Minnesota isn’t alone. Similar leg-islation has been put forward in Illi-nois, Wisconsin, Iowa and 23 otherstates. The move follows last year’sU.S. Supreme Court decision that itwas constitutional for the city of NewLondon, Conn., to take private homesand land needed to develop newbusinesses and residences.

Nuke FullMonticello, Minn. — Public hearingswere held early in February on Min-neapolis-based Xcel Energy’s requestto store radioactive spent fuel from itsMonticello nuclear plant in above-ground casks. It has used a similar“dry cask” storage system at itsPrairie Island plant, a few miles fromRed Wing, Minn. Both the Monticelloand Prairie Island nuclear plants areon the banks of the Mississippi River.

A Summer Place B & BAbode Gallery

BNOX Gold & IronCentury 21 David & Linda Brassfield

Clementine Fresh FlowersDad’s Place

Dan’s Pepin MarinaDave Peters Edina Realty

Dockside MercantileHarbor Hill Inn

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historical SocietyOn-Deck Seminars & Charters

Smith Brothers LandingStockholm Gardens

The Good Apple & Maiden Rock ApplesUp a Creek

“Cheers” to Chuck and Ruththe new owners of the

Harbor View CafePepin, Wisconsin

The bronze sculpture is being made from a casttaken of a full-size clay sculpture. (Photo courtesyof the Muscatine History & Industry Museum. )

The bronze sculpture was based on this historicalphotograph of a clammer. (Photo courtesy of theMuscatine History & Industry Museum.)

Xcel has proposed storing thespent nuclear fuel in up to 30 contain-ers made of concrete and steel, whichwould prolong the life of the plant by20 years. If the Minnesota Public Util-ities Commission does not permitstorage of additional waste, Xcel saysit will close the plant and replace itwith a new one.

Xcel is a public utility that pro-vides electricity and natural gas toColorado, Kansas, Michigan, Min-nesota, New Mexico, North Dakota,Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas andWisconsin. Xcel says demand for elec-tricity in its system is growing byabout 100 megawatts each year.

Casks at CordovaCordova, Ill. — Exelon NuclearQuad-City Generating Station has be-gun storing its spent nuclear fuel inthree thick concrete silos outside thenuclear reactor building in this river-side town 25 miles upriver of theQuad Cities.

When it opened in 1972, the nu-clear plant had the capacity to store

up to 40 years worth of waste, or8,000 rods, in underwater tanks insidethe building. It is now running out ofroom and is moving the waste out-side, like the nuclear plant in RedWing, Minn. One concrete pad canhold 60 storage casks. There isenough space at the Cordova facilityfor four pads.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Com-mission has licensed 23 plants to storenuclear waste in outside facilities, asa temporary measure until the federalgovernment takes all the country’snuclear waste to a single storehousesometime between 2012 and 2015.

In the MoviesCape Girardeau, Mo. — DirectorJohn Madden and actors comman-deered the towboat Elizabeth Ann andlocal shipping company offices herein January to film scenes for themovie “Killshot,” based on the popu-lar crime novel by Elmore Leonard.The story follows an ironworker andhis wife, who escape trouble in De-troit by running to Cape Girardeau,

where he finds work as a welder.Thomas Jane, Diane Lane and MickeyRourke star in the film. A host of tow-boat engineers, pilots and deckhandswere hired as extras. The film isscheduled for release in the summerof 2006.

Ferry Loses FundsCassville, Wis. — The Cassville Ferry,which has struggled through many aseason with no governmental supportat all, will go without the $400,000 infederal funding that seemed so sure afew months ago. The funding wasneeded to help with operating ex-penses —fuel, insurance and mainte-nance costs. Instead, the federal fundswere granted for capital improve-ments that it doesn’t need.

Village President Louis Okey saidthe landing area and terminal didn’tneed improvement, and it wasn’t theright time to purchase a new boat.

“We would have to come up with$70,000 in matching funds to pur-chase a new boat, and we don’t havethe money,” said Lisa Hoffman, a



member of the Cassville HarborCommission who has organized sev-eral successful fundraising events tokeep the old boat running.

The little ferry provides importantservices to people who would other-wise have to drive to Prairie duChien, Wis., or Dubuque, Iowa, tocross the river by bridge. It’s been op-erating since 1836 and is the oldestoperating car ferry in Wisconsin. Thenew season opens May 5.

Fish PartnershipLa Crosse, Wis. — A new nationwideprogram to benefit fish and fish habi-tat, called the National Fish Habitat

Initiative (NFHI), will focus this yearon the streams and rivers of the Drift-less Area — that hilly, unglaciated re-gion centered on the Mississippi Riv-er, and extending from Eau Claire,Wis., to Hastings, Minn., south tonorthwest Illinois and northeasternIowa.

“NFHI won’t be involved in pro-jects on the main stem of the Missis-sippi, but on contributory streams,”said Pam Thiel, U.S. Fish and WildlifeFisheries biologist.

However, since NFHI projects in-clude streambank protection andkeeping cattle out of streams, as well

(River News continues on page 38)

Now it’s your turn. Send river photographs to us at Big River by the dead-line below. If we select your photo to print in these pages, we’ll send youthree free copies of the magazine to share with friends. The contest is open toamateurs and professionals, adults and kids. Email a digital JPEG (.jpg) photofile — high resolution photos only, please — to [email protected]. Write“PHOTO CONTEST” in the subject line.

Or send a print to Photo Editor, Big River, P.O. Box 204, Winona, MN55987. (We cannot return photographs, though.)

Please send no more than three photos for each issue. Include your name,address, phone number and a short description of the photograph — who orwhat it is, when and where it was taken, etc.

The deadline for the May-June issue is March 20, 2006. The deadline for Ju-ly-August is April 21, 2006.

What do you do while you wait to lock through? On a hot summer day, Ron Vaughn of Dubuque,Iowa, knew the perfect way to pass the time while waiting for barges to lock through. He used a boatbumper as a flotation device and tied the bumper to the boat to keep from drifting away toward thelock and dam. This issue’s winning photograph was taken by P. Carter Newton of Galena, Il.

Winner of the March-April River Lovers’ Photo Contest!


Savanna, Ill., seems to have a lot go-ing for it. Signs posted from three di-rections tout this river town as asportsman’s paradise. It sits at oneend of the Great River Trail, whichstretches 62 miles south along the riv-er to Rock Island. About three milesnorth of town, Palisades State Parkoffers camping, hiking and stunningoverlooks of the river. Upriver fromthere, most of the former SavannaArmy Depot’s 13,000 acres are aboutto be opened to the public and theother 3,000 acres will be made avail-able for commercial development.

Despite these assets, developmentin town has struggled with somefrustrating setbacks.

“It’s been a devastating past,” ad-mits Gene Flack, who has served

more that 30 years in local public of-fice, including as mayor.

Maybe it wouldn’t seem so bad ifthe town hadn’t once had it so good.In 1938, when Flack arrived in the Sa-vanna area from Wisconsin, the U.S.Army Depot employed 7,000 peopleand the railroad companies providedjobs for 30 percent of Savanna’s laborforce. Unlike many people, Flackstayed put even as industries tooktheir business elsewhere, people fol-lowed, Main Street retailers aban-doned their storefronts and a hospitalclosed its doors. The economy shriv-eled. Today, Carroll County’s popula-tion hovers around 16,000, downfrom 19,507 in 1960.

The county’s unemployment ratewas 8.2 percent in 2004, compared to5.6 percent in JoDaviess County, justupriver, and 6.8 percent in WhitesideCounty, just downriver, according tostate figures.

“People are leaving. People are go-ing outside this area to work to live.

They don’t have a choice,” saidSteven Haring, Blackhawk Hills Eco-nomic Development District director,a Savanna native and second-timecandidate for state representative.

Industrious SettlersThe first white settlers traveled

from nearby Galena by river and trailon Nov. 4, 1828. They built three logcabins within a month, and within ayear, they sold lumber on the river.By 1844, Savanna had 500 residents.

In 1862, the Northern Illinois Rail-road Company laid track, and morefollowed its lead in 1885. A year later,five hotels accommodated visitors.Eventually, the railroad industrymade up 47 percent of the local econ-omy.

“The history of Savanna was therailroads,” Flack explained. “Youcould go anywhere you wanted to go— north, east, west, south.”

In 1917, the Army built the Savan-na Army Depot to test artillery on

Looking for a Future By Abbie Reese

(Abbie Reese)

Its potentialis a matter ofperspective.

Savanna, IllinoisSavanna, Illinois


13,172 acres of prairie andbackwaters. Then it addedfacilities to store and main-tain munitions.

Throughout America’swars, the Depot and Savannathrived. Clothing shops and shoestores enticed shoppers downtown.About a dozen neighborhood grocerssold produce. Telephone companiesand utilities opened offices.

“If you graduated from SavannaHigh in the 50s or 60s, you wereguaranteed employment,” said PamBrown, executive secretary of the Sa-vanna Chamber of Commerce.

Haring thinks the downturn beganin the late 1960s when the Depotdownsized.

Then, in 1980, the MilwaukeeRoad, the major company in town, hiton hard times, changed ownershipand closed its local operations. Flack,like many, had worked on the rail-roads. After 32 years as a car inspec-tor, he was out of a job.

As Brown remembers, the firstblow to the town’s economy was therailroad industry pulling out.Brown’s office is an old railroad car,stationed parallel to the train tracks,which are parallel to the MississippiRiver. Trains rumble past her win-dow, but they no longer stop in Sa-vanna for servicing.

The spiral continued when theArmy Depot was closed in 1995. Em-ployees transferred to the Rock IslandArsenal.

“Savannabecame like abedroom com-munity,” Brownsaid. “Whenthousands of peo-ple leave, that really takes itdown.”

“Everybody has tried to get some-body to come in here. It’s just been afutile story. We have not been lucky,”Flack said.

TransformationAfter the Depot closed, the

government said it would help thecommunity rebound by making theDepot’s land useable again. It desig-nated 9,400 acres for the U.S. Fish andWildlife Service, and promised the re-maining 3,000 acres for redevelop-ment. The land includes roads, rail-road tracks, storage buildings, officebuildings and other facilities, much ofit on or near the river.

“This is a property that is environ-mentally-challenged from a variety ofdifferent issues,” said Dave Ylinen,executive director of the Jo-Carroll

Depot Local Redevelopment Authori-ty (LRA) at Eagles Landing. The pos-sibility remains of an unexploded ar-tillery shell on the grounds.

“People are making a gung-ho at-tempt,” said Haring. “It’s been aroller coaster ride. We just can’t quit.It’s a monumental task.”

While rent in some buildings is on-

Mark Skidmore, who moved to Savanna fromChicago five years ago, is planning to move toGalena, where he hopes his art will have a betterreception. (Abbie Reese)

Savanna

former Savanna Army Depot

(Original map courtesy ofU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.)


ly a dollar per square foot, Ylinensays some businesses won’t considermoving to the Depot unless they canbuy property. The land is scheduledto be turned over to the LRA by 2012,once the clean-up is complete.

“To me,” Brown said, “the govern-ment has been lax, or lackadaisical, orwhatever word you want to use,about getting the Army Depotcleaned and ready for redevelop-ment.”

Haring disagrees, “If we’re a vic-tim, maybe that’s our own fault.Maybe we need to get beyond that,and create our own destiny.”

Recently, the LRA was granted anearly transfer of 1,500 acres of land sothat even though it isn’t clean, as ofMay 2006, the LRA can sell propertyto businesses.

The Sac and Fox Indian Nation inOklahoma has talked about develop-ing a bio-diesel plant and a call cen-ter. A security information companyplans to store sensitive data in theearth-sheltered bunkers that used tohold munitions. A local winery plansto do business on the old testing site.

“If we get half the projects on thehorizon, we’d be a winner,” Ylinensaid.

The FutureLocals agree on one thing: A ro-

bust economic recovery will require

diversity. They learned this the hardway, having suffered from their de-pendence on the railroads and theDepot.

JB Sullivan Inc. is their prized casestudy, the local success story. Sulli-van’s Foods sold groceries before theArmy Depot closed and has sinceopened 10 more grocery stores andtwo Save-A-Lots within a 350-mile ra-dius. Along the way, the companyhas picked up other businesses — ahotel, a gas station and a banquet fa-cility.

Brown says the company has real-ly survived and thrived because ithas diversified. The communityneeds to follow suit, with moretourism and more industry.

Lewziana Kitchen, described as a“French Quarter Coffee House,”which opened a year and a half ago,draws customers with a menu ofespresso coffee drinks and Cajuncooking, including pork creole, redbeans and rice with smoked rib tips,and cajun sausage. Co-owner SandraWhite said Lewziana Kitchen is a sea-sonal business, and it will open againsometime after March 1, wheneverthe weather warms up and peoplestart coming to town.

The occasional new restaurant orantique store helps attract sometourism, but the latest target market--hailed by some as the town's econom-

Dave Ylinen, executive director of the Jo-Carroll Depot Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA), isworking to bring jobs onto 2,930 acres of former Army land on the Mississippi River, renamedEagles Landing. (Abbie Reese)


ic salvation -- has also drawn somelocal controversy. A sign on a down-town bar touts, “Bikers Welcome,”and another boasts a Biker Museum.On weekends during the warmmonths, the street is often lined withmotorcycles.

Flack calls the campaign to luremotorcyclists into town a fad.

Mark Skidmore, a painter andgraphic designer, has attempted tocapitalize on it by putting up abstractpaintings of Harleys, displayed to-ward Main Street in SkidmoreGallery, facing Poopy’s, a motorcyclehangout. But he admits his strategyhas a logistical flaw.

It’s hard for a biker to come in,pick up a picture and take off on his

bike.Skidmore, a Chicago transplant,

says he and his wife gave Savannaeverything they could for five years.Now they’re planning to move toGalena. “As an artist, unless I switchcompletely and go into tattoo artistryor airbrushing, I don’t see muchlongevity here,” he said.

Skidmore created free renditions ofan improved riverfront for the city,but locals greeted them with a coolreception. “I’ve kind of gotten the im-pression they like things the way theyare and don’t want to see any im-provements,” Skidmore said. “Maybethey just don’t want to see peoplecome in and rock the boat.”

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Afew miles downriver from Savan-na, the smaller community ofThomson, Ill., is also playing a

waiting game with the government. Lastyear, when politicians and business lead-ers met together for a tri-state planningsession in Illinois, a Wisconsin residentsaid he thought he remembered hearingof an unoccupied prison in these parts.

That promptedsighs from local lead-ers and this, fromSteven Haring, Black-hawk Hills EconomicDevelopment Districtdirector:“That’s our$145 million ghost.We have our own white elephant.”

The 1,600-cell, maximum-securityprison still stands empty more than fiveyears after it was completed.

Mike Schafer, owner of Schafer’s Fish-eries Inc. in Fulton, Ill., opened his organ-ic fertilizer plant a mile from the Thom-son Correctional Center after the statebuilt it.

“They ought to close down one oftheir prisons that aren’t cost-efficientand open this one that is,” Schafer said.

Officials visited the town as theprison project unfolded and told resi-dents how many gas stations, housesand hotels the community would needwhen the prison opened. Locals re-

sponded. Some invested their life sav-ings to prepare for an economic oppor-tunity that never materialized.

“I think we’re a victim of poor plan-ning and we continue to be a victim. Ithink we’ve been held hostage on thatissue,” Haring said.“It’s a fleecing ofNorthwest Illinois. It’s a fleecing of the tax-payers’money, knowing we have over-

crowding in other fa-cilities and other facili-ties are crumbling be-fore our eyes.”

Dates of the facili-ty’s opening wereonce bandied about,Haring said, but

aren’t anymore.Gene Flack, who spent 30 years serv-

ing as a mayor and city council memberin Savanna, thinks the next electionscould provoke the opening.

“Politics are coming up pretty soon,and that’ll make a difference,” he said.

When it does open, locals are con-vinced it will not only revive Thomson,it’ll boost the economies of neighboringcommunities, as well.F

Editors note:At press time, Illinois governor Rod Blago-jevich announced the prison will open onSept. 1, 2006, with 200 beds for minimum-security inmates.

Prison Holds Thomson’s Economy HostageBy Abbie Reese

The 1,600-cell,maximum-security

prison still stands emptymore than five years

after it was completed.

(Savanna continues on page 35)


Dredging Up Memories: the DredgeWilliam A. Thompsonmediawërks, with the U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers St. Paul District,2005, 31 minutes, $10.95.

The first time I spotted theThompson at night I didn’tknow what I was seeing. Dri-

ving around a bend on Highway 61, Isaw a huge vessel in the river, spec-tacularly lit up and looking quite fes-tive. I knew that none of the bigQueen paddlewheelers were in thearea, so what was this glittering vi-sion? Had we been invaded?

Only later did I realize that this267-ft. boat was all lit up, not for aparty, but for the work that went onon the dredge 24 hours, seven days aweek when it was cleaning settledsediment out of the Mississippi’sshipping channel.

The dredge William A. Thompsonhas been digging sand from the bot-tom of the river for almost 70 years,way beyond its original life expectan-cy and long enough for two genera-tions to work on it. In a few years itwill be replaced by the Goetz. TheThompson will retire to Winona,Minn., as part of the Minnesota Mar-itime Art Museum.

This documentary videotape is afond farewell to the largest and only

remaining cutterhead dredge on theMississippi. Not just a history ofthe boat, it is a glimpse of theriver before and after the dredg-ing of the nine-foot channel. Itoffers an explanation of whydredges are needed on the river,and of course, what it is like tolive and work on the dredge.

A lot of infor-mation is present-ed in this docu-mentary, with nar-ration by the veter-an newscaster DonShelby, interviewsof former and pre-sent workers, his-torical pho-tographs, andreadings fromprinted works.Historian John An-finson and biolo-gist Cal Fremling,talk about how maintaining thechannel for shipping haschanged the river. Gretchen Ben-jamin of the Wisconsin Depart-ment of Natural Resources ex-plains how the St. Paul Districtof the Corps has made drasticchanges in the last 30 years todeposit dredge spoils in a more

Sedimental JourneyVideo says goodbye to the Dredge Thompson

Sedimental Journey

(Thompson continues on page 27)

Top: The Thompson pulls into its homeport at Fountain City, Wis., in 1963. (U. SArmy Corps of Engineers)

Above: The large cutterhead mountedon the Thompson’s bow digs sand,gravel and silt from the Main Channel.(U. S Army Corps of Engineers)


The sight of a bald eagle — pow-er-stroking over the river orswooping and diving for fish

— stops a lot of people in their tracks.It stops them in their cars, too.

Drivers this year will have morereasons to stop along the river thanever before. Last year was a boomyear for bald eagles on the UpperMississippi River Refuge, the 261-mile stretch of river from Wabasha,Minn., to Rock Island, Ill.

“Eagles are doing really well onthe river,” said Brian Stemper, refugebiologist. “The numbers are just phe-nomenal.”

The number of known, active eaglenests on the refuge doubled in fouryears, from 81 in 2001 to 167 in 2005,according to the U.S. Fish andWildlife Service. An estimated 279new eagles fledged from those nests.

Crowded NeighborhoodEagle nests are too big to mistake

for anything else. These stick nests —which can be six to nine feet acrossand weigh a ton or even two — areset high in tall, mature trees. Manynests are visible from the highway.

Look for eagles’ nests in places thatare protected and close to both waterand a source of food — fish — yetaway from other eagles’ nests. If ea-gles can’t find a spot that meets their

criteria, they may move to a tributaryriver or up on the ridge.

“Eagles are filling in the territorypretty well,” Stemper said. “The onlyproblem is the availability of big treesthat can support the nests. The floodshave knocked down a lot of thelargest trees, so the young birds arehaving to move farther off to buildtheir nests.”

Stemper noted that 90 of lastyear’s new nests are in the more re-mote, undeveloped stretches of theriver in Pools 9, 10 and 11, wherethere are more trees.

Terrence Ingram, who coordinates

a mid-winter bald eagle count for theEagle Nature Foundation, based inApple River, Ill., agreed that the num-ber of eagles is up, but he’s concernedthat the percentage of immature ea-gles has been decreasing for the lastsix years.

“A healthy percentage of imma-tures to adults is at least 32 or 33 per-cent. In 2000 we had 38.9 percent, in2005, it was 24.6 percent and now, in2006, the count for the MississippiRiver was way down — just 15 per-cent of the eagles were immatures.This concerns me.

“Also, we usually see large con-centrations of immature eagles in thewinter, but we didn’t in 2005 or in2006. They just weren’t out there,” In-gram said.

(Immature bald eagles are mottledbrown, or brown with white streaks,and they lack the white head and tailfeathers of adults.)

Ingram speculated that eagles maybe moving farther away from the riv-er to find territory to build their nests.Then when their young fledge, theyhave to fly farther from their hometerritory to find food. This may stress

The number of immature eagles

was way down this year — a

cause of concern to Terrence

Ingram of the Eagle Nature

Foundation.

A Valley Fullof Eagles

By Pamela Eyden

(RJ and Linda Miller)


them and cause greater mortality.“We see eagles out in the boonies

feeding on dead animals and manurefrom hog and chicken farms.” Eaglesare scavengers by nature, he said,“but this may come back to hauntus.”

Some speculate that the increaseddensity of nests and territories mayresult in eagles laying fewer eggs orraising fewer young.

“You’d have to do a study of thisto know, but it makes sense,” saidMary Beth Garrigan, director of theNational Eagle Center in Wabasha,Minn. “The more nests you haveclose together, the fewer chicks mightmake it to fledgling age. There wouldbe more competition for food.”

Nests are uncommonly close toeach other near Wabasha, Garrigansaid.

“We’re seeing eagle nests as closeas 500 yards apart in some places.There’s even a new nest visible fromthe viewing platform [on the rivernear the Eagle Center]. Last summerwe noticed a lot of interaction be-tween adult and juvenile eagles over

there, but we couldn’t see the nestuntil the leaves fell off the trees,” shesaid.

Eagle FlocksEagles only pair up in the spring.

During the winter, they roost andfeed together in large numbers, wherethe river hasn’t frozen over.

As many as 800 have been countedin Spring Lake south of Savanna, Ill.

People in Bettendorf, Iowa, kepttheir pets indoors for a week thiswinter while more than 100 eaglesroosted in neighborhood trees down-river from Lock and Dam 14.

Eagle watchers in Alma, Wis.,counted 500 eagles fishing below thedam there one weekend this winter.

In March, as the ice melts and theriver opens up, eagles disperse andmove north. By the time they get backto their home territories, they areready to settle in to old nests or findterritory for new ones. Some of theeagles that move through the UpperMississippi River Valley continue onto northern Minnesota, northern Wis-consin and Canada. Others nest here.

Nesting may begin two weeks ear-lier near the Quad Cities than nearthe Twin Cities, and a week earliernear McGregor, Iowa, than Winona,Minn.

Sally and Bob Sloan have lived intheir riverside home in Homer town-ship, near Winona, for 10 years. Thereare four eagle nests within a mile oftheir house.

“We keep an eye on those fami-lies,” Sally Sloan said. “When we goto town and come back, we’re alwaysogling the nests to see if anyone’shome.”

Sally Sloan said the eagles havebeen very loyal to the four nests.

“Every year they rebuild the nestsand raise more babies. They’re veryproductive here! I’m beginning towonder about eagle fertility.”

She looks forward to March andApril: “It’s spring! The world is right!The eagles are nesting!” F

Pamela Eyden is news and photo editorfor Big River.

(Allen Blake Sheldon)


In Spring They Return, Flashing Their Wings and

Looking Just DuckyNature tends to economize. When

it’s courting time, male water-fowl sport their brightest, show-offyplumage to go along with their loud-est calls and show-offy behavior,which they flaunt to get the attentionof females. These showy drakes

brighten up springtime on the UpperMississippi, when much of the river-scape is still dominated by mutedbrowns and grays.

Later in the season — when allchance of mating is over, the younghave grown and pairs drift apart to

join larger flocks — molting drakeslose their bright feathers and meta-morphose to a more camouflaged ap-pearance, similar to the hens.

So when the difference is most im-portant, it is the most obvious, but ameasure of anonymity is apparentlymore useful for community life. (Youmay pause here to contemplate paral-lels with human behavior.)

Green-Winged TealGreen-winged teals don’t stay long

in the Upper Mississippi River Valleybecause they’re on their way to nest-ing grounds in northern Minnesotaand Canada, but they’re vivid whilethey’re here. Drakes sport red heads,emerald eye masks and whiteepaulettes on their wings during thebreeding season, and they soundsomething like the frogs called springpeepers. After the season is over, theycamouflage themselves in speckledbrown feathers, much like theirmates.

MallardDrake mallards continue to wear

emerald green heads and high-con-trast tuxedo-style plumage until theend of summer, partly because henscontinue to mate and raise as manybroods as the season allows. Then —just before hunting season — thedrakes molt and grow new mottledbrown feathers, like the females wearall year.

Northern ShovelerNorthern shoveler drakes change

plumage three times during the year.From December through May, theyhave bright green heads, rufous redflanks and white breasts, and theirwings rattle loudly when they takeoff. Their two other sets of feathers

The green-winged teal is the smallest dabbling duck in North America. (Charles and Marsha Kessler)

The wings of the mallard whistle in flight. (Dave Menke, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)


are both paler and duller. They nestin western Canada and northwesternUnited States, spending winters onthe Gulf Coast and Mexico.

Greater Scaup As they migrate through the Mis-

sissippi River Valley on their way tonest in the northern reaches of Cana-da and Alaska, greater scaup drakesare bright and bracing to see, but youprobably won’t hear them unlessyou’re a hen — Sibley’s Guide to Birdsdescribes their call as a “soft, hollow,bubbling hoot.” At the end of breed-ing season, the drakes lose theirstark, high-contrast, black and whitelook and molt into a streaked brownthat’s more drab than their mates. Fe-males have bright white cheek patch-es all year.

This northern shoveler drake is in full breeding plumage in the spring of the year. (Charles and Marsha Kessler)

This northern shoveler drake look a dissheveled mess because he is in the midst of molting, when his springfeathers fall out and are replaced by inconspicuous, autumnal wear. (Charles and Marsha Kessler)


Pied-billed GrebePied-billed grebes aren’t ducks at all, and they don’t

really look like ducks. With their long necks and stubbytails, they look more like loons. The drakes spruce up abit during the mating season, with white rings aroundtheir eyes, a dark patch under their chins and a striking,pale bill with a broad black band. But they compensatefor this subtlety with loud calls described as “far-carry-ing, vibrant, throaty barks.” After breeding season, theyquiet down and lose these contrasting touches.

Canvasback The canvasback drake is a striking bird, indeed, in the

mating season, with its white coat, black vest and ruddyred head. To attract attention from potential mates, hegives an “eerie hooting goh-WOOO-o-o-o-o, with weirdsqueaky overtones,” according to Sibley’s Guide to Birds.Vast numbers of canvasbacks traditionally migrate

The drake canvasback at left is showing off his spring costume. (Charles and Marsha Kessler)

After breeding season, the pied-billed grebe drake molts to become an evenmore subtle bird. (Charles and Marsha Kessler)

Pied-billed grebe drakes are subtle, but still distinctive in the spring, with brighteye rings and a dark band crossing its beak. (Charles and Marsha Kessler)

The greater scaup is very easy to spot on the river, thanks to its high-contrastplumage. (Dave Menke, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)


This pair of wood ducks is in breeding plumage. Note the female’s wide eye ring, and the male’sred eye ring. (Dave Menke, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

through the Upper Mississippi RiverValley to nest in the prairie potholeregions and farther north into Cana-da.

Wood DucksDuring breeding season, wood

duck drakes are one of the most vividand ornate ducks on the continent.They sport vivid yellow flanks, ru-fous red breasts, bright white “chinstraps” and emerald green manesthat sweep down the backs of theirnecks like Prussian soldiers’ helmets.Later in the season they tone down,although they are always readily toldapart from their mates. Wood ducks,like their name implies, prefer wood-ed areas and nest in holes in trees orin special boxes mounted on trees orpoles. They nest in the Upper Missis-sippi. F

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One of the best places to study wakes is in a canoeor kayak on the Main Channel of the MississippiRiver on a nice summer day. From this vantage

point, you can easily compare the wakes of houseboats,tows and cruisers. You’ll also learn about rocking androlling.

Waves are created by any disturbance in or on the wa-ter: wind, a rock, a shift in the earth or a passing boat.Wakes are one kind of wave that is created by something

moving through the water — like a boat or a duck — orby water moving past something — like a buoy or abridge footing.

Much of the energy that goes into moving a boat istransferred to the water in the form of a wake. Ocean-go-ing ship wakes are clearly visible from space shuttles.

Some of the most powerful wakes on the river are“Kelvin wakes,” which spread out in a wide V behind aboat. The Kelvin wake is named after Lord Kelvin, who, inaddition to studying wakes and tides, was the electricalengineer in charge of laying the first successful transat-lantic cable in 1866.

The Kelvin wake is generated by two other waves.

(Wake Up continues on page 37)

Wake Up! Watch Your WakeBy John Heddle

Three years ago two men were fishing a wing damin Pool 5a, above Winona. A large cruiser threw a

wake large enough to swamp the fishing boat andput the fishermen in the river.

The fishermen were okay. A boater who witnessedthe incident radioed the lockmaster, who held thecruiser in the lock until the sheriff came. According tothe sheriff, the cruiser operator was very angry hegot a ticket. After all, what was such a small boat do-ing on the Main Channel?

Of course, it’s not just big boats that create damag-ing wakes. (See “Wake Up!”)

Boat owners are legally responsible for the dam-age caused by their boat wakes, but many are oblivi-ous to what they leave in their wake. A May 2004study by the Minnesota Department of Natural Re-sources found that: “Shorelines exposed to significantrecreational boat traffic are eroding at an average rateof 2-3 feet/year.” (“Shoreline and Water Quality Im-pacts from Recreational Boating on the MississippiRiver”)

What’s the answer?Posting a no-wake or speed-limit sign won’t be ef-

fective unless it is accompanied by visible enforce-ment. Consider that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife hasjust four game wardens to enforce regulations for 10river pools.

The Power Squadron does an excellent job of edu-cating new boat operators, but its seamanship courseis voluntary and taken by only a small percentage ofnew boat operators.

Perhaps someday we will have to pass a test to geta boat operators license, much like automobile dri-vers have to pass driving tests to get a drivers li-cense.

This isn’t a new problem, but it is a problem that’sgetting bigger. F

John Heddle is a Winona writer. His last story for BigRiver was “Amphicars!” May-June 2005.

A jet ski quickly attains “planing speed.”This speedboat pulling a skier travels at “transitional speed.” Notice theKelvin wake behind the boat. The skier leaves a complex wake, too.

Creation of a Kelvin Wake

Boats leave little or no wake whenthey travel at “displacement speed.”

By Reggie McLeod


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environmentally-thought-ful way. Chris Lennon ofthe Army Corps of Engi-neers is our guide through-out.

The videotape includesan interview with the lastremaining deckhand fromthe Thompson’s 1937 maiden voyagefrom the yards in Pittsburgh, up theOhio River and then the Mississippi.He recalls the onlookers lining the

river to witness the big boat headingupstream to its home in FountainCity, Wis.

One crew member recalls visitingthe boat when he was 14 and his fa-ther worked on the boat, and how itsmelled like diesel.

This “exquisitely designed vessel”with a wrought-iron hull can removemore than one million cubic yards ofsediment per year at a rate of 1,000cubic yards an hour. It requires 8,000feet of floating pipeline and up to3,000 feet of shore pipeline to disposeof the sand.

The Thompson’s size on the rivermakes it act like a sailboat in a heavywind. In October 1996 the 1,370-tonboat was caught in a storm on LakePepin for 36 hours, and was protectedby commercial towboats nuzzlingalongside it. You get the idea that notonly is the Thompson respected on theriver, but it’s sometimes thought of as

a big ol’ buddy. It’s evident that the workers inter-

viewed here are fond of the big yel-low boat. They speak naturally andeagerly about their job and how theboat works. One man uses his armsand legs to demonstrate how the boatsteps forward as it pumps its waythrough the water. Another remem-bers working the midnight shift un-der a full moon, calling it the most ro-mantic job he ever had.

The work of dredging will contin-ue on the river. As Chris Lennon saysin the closing, the crew will step ontothe new boat with the same excite-ment the crew had when theystepped onto the Thompson more than68 years ago.

Viewers of Dredging Up Memorieswill learn about this boat and the riv-er, from trivia to larger themes ofwhat it takes to keep the channelopen for shipping, and how using theriver primarily for shipping affects itfor other uses. When you watch it, besure to stick around for the credits,when you will be treated to EddieAllen and Clay Riness singing the ti-tle song, a tune sure to evoke nostal-gia for the big yellow boat. F

Molly McGuire is managing editor ofBig River.

(Thompson continued from page 17)

The cutterhead carves out dredgespoils that are then sent through

hundreds of feet of pipes.(Winona Country Historical Society)

The Thompson houses a smallcommunity of dredge workers. (U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers)

Another remembers working the

midnight shift under a

full moon, calling it the most

romantic job he ever had.

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(Savanna continued from page 15)

MEET MUSCATINE

ON T H E BA N K S O F T H E MI G H T Y MI S S I S S I P P I

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(Havlik continued from page 44)

and then declined for unknown rea-sons. In 2004 the numbers seemed tobe up again, Havlik said, but zebra

mussels don‘t seem to be as dramatica threat anymore.

“Yes, they have seriously impactedsome populations, but the nativemussels are doing better than anyonethought they would.”

In 2003 Havlik was awarded theLifetime Achievement Award by theFreshwater Mollusk Conservation So-ciety. But her achievements aren‘tover. Rumors of her retirement arepremature. She already has field

work scheduled for this summer.“Climbing into and out of boats

isn‘t as easy as it was, but I‘m not re-tiring yet. I‘ll keep doing this as longas I can crawl into the boat,” Havliklaughed.

Her work is a labor of love.“She has never tried to separate

her labor of love from her business,”Welke said. “She does what she doesbecause ethically and philosophicallyit‘s something she feels stronglyabout. I respect and admire her long-term commitment.” ��. F

“The river is why we live here,”Brown said. “I mean, most of us enjoythe Mississippi. That’s why we stayedhere. Most of us have mixed emotionsabout the development of the river. Idon’t want a barge terminal staringme in the face like a smoke stack.”

Flack is open to new industry. He’shelping court the Sac and Fox IndianNation into building a lodge the statepromised him 45 years ago. He’sstubbornly optimistic, reboundingfrom his litany of disappointments.“We can’t keep going back all thetime,” he says. “I’m sure the tide hasto turn sometime.”

Flack says this might be his finalwhirl at economic development. Thenhe admits that if another opportunitypresents itself like bait, he’d bite.

Locals say they’re willing to do allthey can, but they’re still trying to de-fine a vision of their new identity. F

Abbie Reese is a writer and photogra-pher who lives in Galena, Ill.


“Climbing into and out of boats

isn’t as easy as it was, but I’m

not retiring yet. I’ll keep doing

this as long as I can crawl into

the boat,” Havlik laughed.


• Ride along with Duke on his regularly scheduled eagle watching van tours at the Minnesota Valley NationalWildlife Refuge in Bloomington, Minn., or schedule one of Duke’s tours for your group. (952-858-0740)

• Attend or schedule one of Duke’s presentations at the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, Minn., and viewboth wild and captive eagles there. (651-565-4989)

• Attend or schedule one of Duke’s presentations at the Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota inSt. Paul and view the captive eagles with him there. (612-624-4745)

• Select an eagle-watching location and meet Duke there with your group or make Duke’s presentation partof your community or organization’s eagle-watching events and environmental education programs.

Duke also tells Tales about American Indians, Fur Traders, Explorers, Ghosts, and More!For more information about Duke and his wide variety of River Tales presentations, and to view his schedule:

www.DukeAddicksStoryteller.com (651) 643-0622 [email protected]

Duke Addicks Tells River Tales

DUKE ADDICKSSTORYTELLER

Duke’s upcoming scheduleon board the riverboat Mississippi Explorer

Call (563) 586-4444 for reservations.

• Sunday, May 14 Wild Eagle Watching on the River Cruise,departs Lansing, Iowa, at 2 p.m.

• Sunday, July 23 Black Hawk War Cruises,depart Lansing, Iowa, at 1 and 3:30 p.m.

• Saturday & Sunday, September 23 & 24Don’t Forget Zeb Pike Cruises, depart Prairie du Chien,Wisconsin, at 2 p.m.

• Or schedule any of Duke’s River Tales presentations on aChartered Mississippi Explorer Cruise for your group.

HONOR THE EAGLES!Watch wild eagles with Duke and listen to his

Eagle and Thunderbird Legends and Lore


When thebow of aboat pushesthrough thewater, it cre-ates “diverg-ing waves”that spreadout at a35.25-degreeangle to the“sailingline,” whichis the direc-tion that the boat is pointed. Mean-while, “traverse waves” spread outbehind the boat at right angles to thesailing line. Where the crests andtroughs of these two waves meet,they create the Kelvin wake, which islarger than the other two waves andspreads at a 19.5-degree angle fromthe sailing line.

If the light and the wind are right,you can clearly see all three wavesbehind a duck, a row boat or a run-about.

The height of a wake depends onmany things — speed; the shape ofthe hull (or duck); the weight of thecraft and cargo; the water depth; andthe distance from the sailing line.Generally, the faster the boat goes, thebigger its wake, but it’s not that sim-ple. For example, a bass boat blastingthrough shallow water at 40 mph willcreate less of a wake than a big cruis-er tooling down the channel at 25mph or a tow moving along at 12 mph.

Boats travel through the waterthree different ways, depending ontheir speed and design. Speedboats ina no-wake zone move at “displace-ment speed” or “hull speed.” Theyare about as level as when they arestanding still, and they are basicallypushing the water aside with justenough energy to move, at about 7mph or less. They produce a verysmall wake, like a canoe or a duck.

“Transition speed” produces thebiggest wake. This is when the boatspeeds up so the bow tips up and thestern dips down. You see a lot of thiswhen boats leave a lock, in a hurry toget away. If it takes off when otherboats are nearby, a big high-powered

cruiser can swamp a smaller boat ortip a houseboat enough that its pro-pellers spin in the air. Flat-bottomedboats and many larger boats cannotgo faster than transition speed, so op-erators need to be especially aware oftheir wakes.

The third way is “planing speed,”when the boat hull lifts mostly out ofthe water and levels out at highspeeds. Bass boats, jet skis, speedboats and some other craft are de-signed to operate at “planing speed,”which creates less of a wake than attransition speed, but more than atdisplacement speed.

No-wake zones and speed limitsare usually created for the safety andbenefit of boaters in crowded areas ornear docks, but they have been im-posed in some areas to protect plantsand eroding shorelines, because whena wave hits the shoreline, some of itsenergy washes away or stirs up thesoil. A five-inch wake doesn’t causemuch damage to either docks orshorelines, but a 10-inch wake is fivetimes as destructive, and a 25-inchwake is 30 times as destructive as afive-inch wake! The energy of thesewaves destroys plants, trees andproperty.

The wave we see on the water’ssurface is a simple part of much morecomplex interactions happening un-derwater. Even though humans havebeen making waves for thousands ofyears, scientists are still working tounravel their secrets. F

Reggie McLeod is editor and publisherof Big River magazine.

(Wake Up continued from page 25)

Maximum Wake Heights of Recreational Boatsdistance from sailing line

0 to 100 ft 100 to 300 ft 300 to 500 ft

jet skis 3 in 2 in 0 infishing boats 6 3 2pontoon boats 3 2 2medium power boats 9 8 4large cruisers 20 16 8houseboats 3 2 2

Information from “Effects of Recreational Boating on the Upper Mississippi RiverSystem,” St. Paul District, Army Corps of Engineers


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as building underwater structuresthat attract and shelter fish, theyshould have a positive effect on thebig river, by improving water qualityand cutting erosion.

Like the highly successful NorthAmerican Waterfowl Plan, which elic-its cooperation from agencies andpartners all over North American toprotect habitat and flyways for migra-tory waterfowl throughout theirrange, NFHI is supported by manypartners, including anglers, industry,government agencies, tribes, academ-ic and conservation groups, and indi-viduals. Some of the partners alongthe Mississippi include the U.S. Fishand Wildlife Service, Trout Unlimited,the Nature Conservancy and the Mis-sissippi Interstate Cooperative Re-source Association.

NFHI’s draft Fish Habitat ActionPlan identifies some of the factorsthat have caused widespread andalarming destruction of aquatic habi-tat — barriers along migration routes;inhospitable stream conditions; directalteration of important spawning andnursery areas; coastal anoxic (“dead”)zones; and wetland loss. ��

Cleaner WaterDes Moines, Iowa — The Iowa Envi-ronmental Protection Commissionvoted in January to approve new pol-lution rules that would put stringentlimits on levels of bacteria, ammoniaand other pollutants in streams. Themove would bring Iowa into compli-ance with the federal Clean WaterAct, which says that waterways mustbe inhabitable by fish and wildlife.

The new rules would force 334Iowa cities to improve their sewagetreatment plants, at a cost of nearlyone billion dollars over the next tenor 20 years.

Missing TimeLa Crosse, Wis. — La Crosse Policehave suspended their investigation oftwo incidents in January that resultedin two young men passing out in thelobby of a hospital on the same night.One, a 25-year old, said his truck wasmissing. He couldn’t remember howhe got to the hospital. Police laterfound the truck parked near surveil-lance cameras that showed a man re-sembling the owner using keys to en-ter the truck at about 3 a.m.

The other young man, a 21-year-old, was soaking wet, but couldn’t re-member how he’d gotten that way.Police reported that his blood-alcoholcontent would have been about 0.163at bar closing time. They later foundsome of his belongings near the riverand concluded that that’s how he’dgotten wet.

Both incidents struck a nerve intown. In recent years, seven youngmen have died from drowning in theMississippi near the downtown bardistrict late at night.

(River News continued from page 11)


Nav Study SnaggedWashington, D.C. — The ArmyCorps of Engineers’ proposal to ex-pand the lock-and-dam system on theUpper Mississippi and Illinois riverssuffered setback in January from theArmy’s assistant secretary for civil works.

A letter from John Paul Woodley,Jr., to the Office of Management andBudget points to “flaws seriousenough to limit the credibility andvalue of the study within the policy-making process” especially in theNavigation Study’s economic analy-sis, according to the Washington Post(2-8-2006).

Despite the steady decline in rivershipping in the last 15 years, thestudy had predicted big increases forthe next 50 years.

A Safer L&D 3Red Wing, Minn. — Of the 13 locksand dams on the Mississippi Riverwithin the Army Corps of Engineers’St. Paul District, Lock and Dam 3 hasthe highest frequency of navigationaccidents, according to the Corps.

During high water a strong outdraftpulls tows headed downstream awayfrom the lock and toward the dam.

The Corps has proposed extendingthe upstream guidewall of the lockand modifying the channel to make itsafer. It has also proposed strengthen-ing low, weak embankments on theWisconsin side of the lock and dam.

A report and Environmental Im-pact Statement on the proposal willbe available for review in May. Con-struction could begin next year.

Real River FareOuacachita, Iowa — A steady succes-sion of new restaurants have provid-ed diners with the opportunity to en-joy fine dining by the river. A newrestaurant is finally giving diners aunique opportunity to dine of theriver.

Scales, the new bistro in tinydowntown Ouacachita, boasts amenu featuring fresh ingredientsfrom the same river that diners cangaze at through ample picture win-dows that line the river side of the

main dining room. All the old stan-dard river entrees are there — Snap-ping Turtle Stew; Broiled SheepsheadStuffed with Muskrat Livers; BakedCarp in a Marsh Marigold Sauce withCattail Tubers; Garlic Chestnut Eel onAngel-hair Pasta — but Scales goes astep further with more creative fare.Probably the most exotic dish is theZebra Mussel on the Half Shell appe-tizer.

You can wash it all down with oneof the two varieties of duckweed beeron tap (see “Floating Pastures” BigRiver, July-August 2005) or with wildgrape wine from Fox Grape Winery,in nearby West Ouacachita.

Most unusual, perhaps, are Scales’desserts, which are created with na-tive ingredients that are also organic.So, if you still have room, you may aswell indulge in a slice of SwampWhite Oak Acorn Pie or CottonwoodCatkin Torte with a Lotus BlossomGlaze.

I’d think twice, though, before or-dering the Mississippi Mud Pie. F


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Ad ve r t i s e r I n d exAmerican Boating Centers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16American House Inn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29Beno’s Deli . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28Best Western Quiet House & Suites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46Bird Song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Blooming Grounds Coffee House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28Blue Heron Coffeehouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39Blufflands Allliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43BNOX Gold & Iron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Braschler’s Bakery & Coffee Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38Cassville, Wis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30Celebration Belle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Deer Tracks Log Cabin Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Dredging Up Memories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27Duke Addicks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36Eagles Landing B&B and Winery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29Edina Realty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Franciscan Spirituality Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43Galena Cellars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Great River Café . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35Gregory’s Gifts & Greetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28Harbor View Restaurant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Hawks View Cottages & Lodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27Historic Bluff Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Island City Harbor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2John Deere Pavilion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34Julia Belle Swain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0KFAI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34Lake City Tourism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Lansing, Iowa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Magnolias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28McGregor – Marquette Chamber of Commerce . . . . . . .29McGregor/Marquette, Iowa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29McGregor Lodging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29Minnesota Fossils and Fossiliferous Rocks . . . . . . . . . .39Muscatine Convention & Visitors Bureau . . . . . . . . . . . .35National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium . . . . .37Nola’s Flowers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28Northern Breezes Sailing School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Northwest Sportshow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Ole Miss Marina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38Otter Side of Nature, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29Pepin Valley Realtors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45Pepper Sprout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43Piccadilly Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Pieces of the Past . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28Pocket City Pub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29Prairie du Chien, Wis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31Prairie Funland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Pretty Things on Third . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28River Log House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Riverfront Centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Riverwise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23Signatures Restaurant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11Smith Brothers Landing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39Stoney Creek Inn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45Touch of Class Interiors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34Twisted Chicken, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Villa Louis & Stonefield Village . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36Waterways Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6We-no-nah Canoe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Wildrose Timberworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45Willows, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Winona County Historical Society/Visit Winona . . . . . . . .7Winona, Minn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28Wisconsin Great River Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Eagles Eagles Eagles!March

First three weekends: Eagle Spotting, 1-3 p.m.,Colvill Park, (Hwy 61), Red Wing, Minn., volun-teers and scopes, (800) 498-3444.

11 Bus Tour, 8 am - noon, Eagle Nature Foundation,leave from the Stoney Creek Inn, Galena,Ill.,$50, register, (815) 594-2306.

11 Eagle Field Trip, guided tour in own car, Nation-al Eagle Center, Wabasha, Minn. (651) 565-4989.

MMaarrcchh 1177 -- 1199Soar with the Eagles

National Eagle Center, Wabasha, Minn.(651) 565-4989

Friday: 7 p.m. DinnerSaturday:

8:30 a.m., Eagle watching car caravan, $3, register.4 p.m., Waterfowl identification

Saturday and Sunday:1-hour houseboat tours, $20, register.

Sunday11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Brunch With the Eagles, Slippery’s

Kenny Salwey and Duke Addicks telling stories.Reservations, (877) 332-4537 or (651) 565-4989.


Big River Calendar

Special EventsMarch

All month: Ice spearfishing exhibit, Onalaska Area His-torical Museum, Onalaska (Wis.) Public Library,741 Oak Ave. S.

Through 27: Film Festival, Effigy Mounds NationalMonument, Harpers Ferry, Iowa, (563) 873-3491.

3-5 Festival of Owls, Houston (Minn.) Nature Centerand High School, (507) 896-4668.

10-12 Canoecopia, Alliant Energy Center, Madison, Wis.

11 St. Patrick’s Day Parade, 10 a.m., Prairie du Chien,Wis., (800) 732-1673.

The Book and the RiverCelebration of the Book

Winona (Minn.) State University(507) 457-5418

MMaarrcchh1 A Barge-Load of Books: Writing & the

Mississippi, 7 p.m., John Anfinson, National ParkService, Science Lab Bldg. Auditorium.

2 Writing the River, 7 p.m, panel includes JohnAnfinson, Cal Fremling, Reggie McLeod & RichieSwanson, Winona County Historical Society.

8 Reading the River: How Science Gauges theMississippi, 7 p.m., scientists from USGS, NOAA,Army Corps & WSU, Science Lab Bldg.

Looking AheadMay 12-14 Great River Birding and Nature Festival,

Mississippi Valley Partners, both sides of the riv-er, Red Wing, Minn., to Winona, Minn.

June 2-4 & 9-22 Alexis Bailly Vineyard Open House,wine tasting & tours, Hastings, Minn., (651) 437-1413.

June 24 One River Mississippi, simultaneous dance atthe Mississippi in seven communities from LakeItasca to Louisiana.

Meetings amdConferences

March9 Audubon Society, 7 p.m., E. B. Lyons Nature Center,

Mines of Spain State Park, Dubuque, Iowa.

11 A Gathering in the Blufflands, Prairie Enthusiasts,Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center, Lanes-boro, Minn. Sessions on invasive species such asbuckthorn and reed canarygrass, (507) 292-0063.

14 Lake Pepin TMDL (total max. daily load) technicalconference, 8 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Thunderbird Hotel,Bloomington, Minn., Minn. Pollution ControlAgency, (651) 297-5754 or (507) 280-3592.

14-16 Managing the River: A Collaboration of Manage-ment and Science, Upper Mississippi River Conser-vation Committee, Hannibal, Mo., (573) 522-4115 .

29-April 1 American Society for Environmental Histo-ry, "A River Runs Through Them: Landscapes inEnvironmental History," Radisson Hotel, St. Paul.

April13 Audubon Society, 7 p.m., E. B. Lyons Nature Center,

Mines of Spain State Park, Dubuque, Iowa.

20 Connecting North Minneapolis to the Mississippi,3:30-5:30 p.m., College of Architecture and Land-scape Architecture, Rapson Hall, 89 Church St.,Minneapolis, (612) 624-3739.

June25-28 International Conference on Rivers and Civiliza-

tion: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Major RiverBasins, La Crosse, Wis.F

River Action Quad Cities, (563) 322-2969

March 25 Rain Barrel Sale, 826 E. River Dr., Davenport, Iowa, (563) 322-2969

April 22 Fish & Fire and Eddy Awards, Credit Island Park, 2 p.m. cleanup and planting;6:30 p.m., dinner and Eddy Awards.

June 18 Ride the River

12 Bird Banding and Identification, 1 p.m., Mines ofSpain, Dubuque, Iowa, (563) 556-0620.

14 Moonlight Snowshoeing, Whitewater State Park,Elba, Minn., (507) 932-3007.

17-19 Mississippi Valley Fishing Expo, Onalaska Omni-Center, Onalaska, Wis.

18 St. Patrick’s Day Parade, 11:30 a.m., downtownRock Island, Ill., across the Mississippi River todowntown Davenport, Iowa, (309) 788-2341.

18 Lansing Loop, tri-state birding caravan, 7 a.m., 80miles along the Mississippi in Wisconsin, Iowa andMinnesota. Meet at Goose Island County Park,Hwy 35, south of La Crosse, Wis., (608) 783-1149.

19 Clock Tower tour, 2 p.m., Mississippi River VisitorsCenter, Rock Island, Ill., res., (309) 794-5338.

24 Minnesota Starwatch, 7 - 9 p.m., Carpenter NatureCenter, Hastings, Minn., res., (651) 437-4359.

28 Eagles in the Gorge, 6:30 - 8 p.m., Mississippi Riv-er Gorge Stewards Open House, St. Frances CabriniCatholic Community, Franklin Avenue just East ofthe Mississippi, Minneapolis, (651) 222-2193.

28-April 2 Northwest Sportshow, Minneapolis Conven-tion Center, (312) 946-6291.

April1-2 Traders Jubilee, McGregor, Iowa, (563) 873-2387.

1-9 Log Jam, daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., National Missis-sippi River Museum & Aquarium, Dubuque, Iowa,(800) 226-3369.

8 Waterfowl Watch, 3 - 5 p.m., Minnesota Valley Na-tional Wildlife Refuge, Bloomington, Minn., regis-tration, (651) 222-2193.

8 Waterfowl Watch, 10 a.m., Fort Snelling StatePark, St. Paul, (612) 725-2389 or (612) 725-2724.

17-23 National Parks Week, Effigy Mounds NationalMonument, Harpers Ferry, Iowa, (563) 873-3491.

22 Midwest Crane Count, 5:30 a.m., (608) 356-9462.

22 Earth Day Celebration, Winona (Minn.) State Uni-versity.

23 Earth Day Celebration, Clinton, Iowa, (563) 242-4771 or (563) 244-7050.

28-30 Midwest Mountaineering Spring Expo, Min-neapolis, (888) 999-1077 or (612) 339-3433.

29 In-Fisherman Swap Meet, QCC Expo Center, RockIsland, Ill., (309) 788-0559.

29-30 Bluff Country Studio Art Tour, SE Minn. and NEIowa, brochure, (800) 428-2030.

30 Mississippi Music Fest, Riverside Park, St. Cloud,Minn.

30 Open House, Fort Crawford Museum, 10 a.m. - 4p.m., Prairie du Chien, Wis., (608) 326-6960.

www.big-river.com

Check the Big River calendar on ourwebsite for event updates, links and

additional contact information.


When Marian Havlik steppedin to help her daughterwith a science project years

ago, she had no idea it would changeher life. A busy mother, wife and reg-istered nurse, she thought she wasjust helping her child find informa-tion about freshwater mussels thatlive in the Upper Mississippi.

They couldn‘t find any, and thatwas a turning point for Havlik. His-torically, 51 species of mussels livedin the Upper Mississippi River system— in such great quantities in some ar-eas that they supported large pearl

and mother-of-pearl button industries— but these unglamorous, sediment-dwelling mollusks hadn’t attractedmuch research attention.

Havlik went back to school; shewon a Bush Foundation grant tostudy with Ohio State University pro-fessor David Stansberry and became aprofessional malacologist. She startedher own business in 1977. For thenext 29 years, Havlik has spent hersummers in a boat on the Upper Missor other rivers, working with scubadivers to survey populations of mus-sels and sometimes to relocate themout of harm‘s way. Her primary

clients are state and federalagencies, construction com-panies and industries. Shespends winters writing upher field notes, writing pro-fessional papers, giving pre-sentations and answeringcalls to testify in court — arole she relishes.

Known widely as “theclam lady,“ Havlik‘s expertiseand dedication has changed how peo-ple think of freshwater mussels andtheir habitats. (Actually most of thebivalves on the Upper Mississippi aremussels, but calling her the “mussellady” would probably give people thewrong impression.)

“The Army Corps of Engineersand other agencies, too, used to laughat the idea of protecting mussels.They have done an about-face, and Ilike to think I’ve had something to dowith that,” Havlik said. “They can’tignore the Endangered Species Act.”

Colleagues agree.“Marian has been a ‘conscience’

speaking for the mussels,” said PamThiel, project leader for the U.S. Fishand Wildlife La Crosse Fishery Re-source Office.

“When the Higgins eye pearlymussel was first listed as endangered,Marian was on the forefront. She letagencies know about their plight. Sheprobably knows more and has han-dled more Higgins eyes than anyoneelse.”

Havlik has used her independentposition to her advantage.

“Marian is her own boss. She canbe frank and forthright and truthfulwithout fear of retaliation, and shehas done that routinely. She scruti-nizes everything. She writes letters toanyone who will listen, she gives pa-pers at professional meetings, andover time she has compelled agenciesto say, ‘Okay!’” said Kurt Welke, fishbiologist for the Wisconsin Depart-ment of Natural Resources.

“If you‘re going to be in the sameroom talking about these things withMarian, you had better know yourstuff, because she knows hers, andshe‘s not the least bit shy about call-ing you on the carpet. She has forcedpeople to elevate their own expertise.She has advanced our understand-ing.”

Havlik continues to be endlesslycurious about mussels. Back in Au-gust 1993, when a story featuringHavlik appeared in Big River, zebramussels were seen as an overwhelm-ing threat to the survival of nativemussels in the river. Since then, thezebra mussel population increased

“She has forced people to

elevate their own expertise.

She has advanced our

understanding.”

Marian HavlikThe Clam Lady

RIVER PEOPLE

(Havlik continues on page 35)

By Pamela Eyden

Havlik identified mussels retrieved during the Goose IslandMussel Rescue project south of La Crosse in July of 2001.

march-april 2006 boom year for eagles · 2009-05-13 · eagles on the upper miss. by pamela eyden...

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