Mazon Creek Fossils: Dinner With Dr. Frederick R. Schram

Rob Sula, Dr. Frederick R. Schram, Jack Wittry, Jim Fairchild.--August, 2011.

The Mazon Creek site is very significant because of the diversity of life compared to other

Lagerstatten.  Frederick R. Schram (2)

　

In August, ESCONI (Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois) members Rob and Sondra Sula, Jack and Charlene Wittry, and Jim and I met with Dr. Frederick Schram at the Two Brothers Roundhouse in Aurora, Illinois.  Dr. Frederick Schram had been spending some time at the Field Museum where, in 1965, he first began his work with Mazon Creek fossils as a graduate student.  The Field Museum's collection is considered the most comprehensive collection of Mazon Creek fossils.  

Dr. Frederick R. Schram is a palaeontologist and carcinologist who has roots in the  The Mazon Creek Project. Schram received his B.S. in biology from Loyola University in 1965, and a Ph.D. on palaeozoology from the University of Chicago in 1968 and has written over 200 papers on various aspects of crustacean biology, taxonomy and systematics, as well as several books, including the standard text Crustacea. He also wrote a chapter on crustaceans in The Richardson's Guide to the Fossil Fauna of Mazon Creek. (1)

In 1983, Schram founded the journal Crustacean Issues, which he continued to edit for over twenty years. Much of his career has been spent at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from which he retired in 2005. In July 2005, he became the Editor of the Journal of Crustacean Biology which is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in the field of carcinology (crustacean research).

In the fall of 2006, Schram was the special guest speaker at the Mazon Creek Open House hosted at the Lizzadro Museum in Elmhurst. The night before, he spoke at the ESCONI General Meeting and discussed his roots in the  The Mazon Creek Project:

Forty years ago, Gene Richardson and Ralph Gordon Johnson were the founders of the first real Mazon Creek study in Braidwood. George Langford structured the project and was able to get grant money for it.

Ferns were always plentiful, but Gene Richardson chose to do his PhD at Princeton on the insects of Mazon Creek. In 1958 Mr. Tully came to the Field Museum with his Tully Monster.

In 1965 Fred Schram arrived. He was was a graduate student of Ralph Gordon Johnson and he described two faunas of Braidwood clams.

Then June Douglas(Mother of Dave Douglas of Dave's Down to Earth Rock Shop) found the first coleiod cephelopd that was published in Science and funds started to come in. Gene Richardson was focused on working with amateurs and was a gracious diplomat. He worked well with amateur collectors as he tried to build up the Field collection.

When they began to put more field crews from the Museum into the field to collect. Charlie Shabica was the field boss of the students and Milburn MacKay was the Peabody geologist on the site. Many of the people involved then have gone on to noteworthy careers today.

Charlie Shabica, a specialist in regional geology, developed how Pit 11 was deposited in a Pennsylvanian-deltaic model.

Ida Thompson developed an early interest in annelid worms and did a monograph on polychaete worms.

Jim Edwards went to the National Science Foundation and then to become the Director of GBIF in Copenhagen.

Richard Wassersug is Professor of Biology at Dalhousie in Nova Scotia.

After the 1960s Ralph Johnson and Gene Richardson ended their partnership. Gene remained with Mazon Creek and Ralph moved on to other projects. Gordon Baird mapped Mazon Creek in the 1970’s. Gene retired in 1983 and died shortly thereafter and the Mazon Creek Project moved to Northeastern Illinois University. Later an NSF grant to the Field Museum in the late 1980’s with Brent Beall was to catalog the massive collection. This was a chance for Schram to rewrite his dissertation. (2)

The Mazon Creek area includes the following counties of Northeastern Illinois: Will, Grundy, Kankakee, LaSalle, and Livingston. The fossils are preserved in ironstone concretions or nodules which preserved many soft-bodied animals and plants that are rarely fossilized. During the Pennsylvanian this area of Illinois was covered with coastal swamps, deltas, and upland forests situated along an estuary bay. The fossils include animals and plants that lived in the surrounding swamps and forests; as well as animals that lived in fresh and brackish water of the rivers, ponds, and estuary; and some marine animals that lived in the shallow sea covering Western Illinois. The Field Museum's collection is the most comprehensive collection of these fossils. (5)

Mazon Creek fossils are most complete known record of late Paleozoic life. These extraordinary fossils rank impressively alongside with the Cambrian Burgess Shale fauna of Canada, the Devonian Bundenbach and Jurassic Solnhofen faunas of Germany, and the Cretaceous Santana fauna of Brazil. (3)

References
1. Frederick R. Schram; Wikipedia.
2. 11/10/06, ESCONI Newsletter.
3. Mazon Creek Fossils 
4.  The Mazon Creek Project
5.  Mazon Creek Fossil Invertebrates ; The Field Museum.
6.  Dave's Down to Earth Rock Shop; Evanston, Illinois.
7.  Mazon Creek Fossils; Illinois State Museum.

Wilderness Medicine: What Would I do if Something Went Wrong?

When you are in the mountains, on a river, or out to sea, you need to ask yourself, "What would I do if something went wrong?"

(Alec Boyd Peshkin practices CPR with Wendy Madgwick.)  

This past week I met with 19 other people from the Midwest at the Aldo Leopold Nature Center in Black Earth, Wisconsin, for the Wilderness Advanced First Aid Course that was being provided by Wilderness Medical Associates. 

Half of our group was attending for recertification which is required every 3 years and the general mix included a few EMTs, a fire fighter, a search and rescue person, a physical therapist, a few youth group leaders, a whitewater rafting guide, a handful of kayak guides/kayak related business, and at least one other person like me, who likes to venture out and planned to raise their awareness of how to handle emergency situations in more remote areas.

Caitlyn, who was from Bayfield, Wisconsin, works for the National Park Service in Alaska where she spends her summers with another park staff person kayaking and camping as she patrols the campsites and the area. Part of her repertoire involves carrying a gun to protect herself and others in the case that a bear, or bears, could get out of hand. 
(Sherri Mertz splints Wendy Madgwick's leg.)

*  Would you, and other CASKA members who attended, care to share small bits from what you learned? What one thing would you single out if you had to summarize the weekend? Anything particularly relevant for a paddler on a big cold lake?  Haris (Chicago Area Sea Kayakers Assoc.)


Haris,  In more remote areas you may have to stabilize and evacuate someone who is sick or injured on your own.  How would you plan to do that?  The answer to that question is what I would "single out" as the summary of our 4 days of training.  Classroom information was put into action by acting out "scenarios" to create the experience and practice needed to gain real competance at this.


Let's say you are setting out on a paddle with a friend "on a big cold lake." When you paddle out away from the city, you begin to experience a sudden sharp pain in your abdomen like you've never felt before but it resides. As you paddle throughout the next few hours you feel hot and sweaty and begin to develop a severe headache. Then, the pain in your abdomen returns.

Your friend, who is trained in wilderness medicine, begins to ask you a series of questions to check how serious your symptoms might be while watching you more closely.  Do you have any alergies?  When did you eat last?  What?  Where you taking medication? How long have you felt this way? You soon find it hard to paddle and answer your friend and he quickly helps you brace yourself by leaning you forward in your kayak while he tows you to shore.

Good thing you were not alone on the big cold lake today...

On shore, your friend gets out his first aid kit and begins to take notes while calmly checking your pulse and breathing rate.  After noting they are a little high he decides to get a t-shirt wet and tries to cool you down with it. You could be a bit anxious about the situation and the elevated pulse may not be so serious at this point.

It could be food poisoning or the flu at this point, but your friend doesn't like the pain in your abdomen and begins to feel for it.  You moan in pain as he lightly presses on your spleen which feels a bit swollen.  It's been five minutes since he checked your pulse so he checks it again and notes that your pulse and breathing have  increased and you appear to be getting light headed. He also notes that your skin appears a little yellow.

The swollen organ combined with fever, and continued increase in pulse are considered critical and your friend calls for emergency evacuation.  You are in the early stages of shock and as your body works to compensate you may soon need rescue breathing or CPR. 

Later, after you are stabilized in the hospital, you are diagnosed with the water-borne infection, Weil's disease.  It is treatable by antibiotics, but it sometimes leads to organ damage and even death. It is caused by contaminated water--oralfaecal contact usually infected rat's urine in the water. The infection is commonly transmitted through unhealed breaks in the skin, the eyes, or with the mucous membranes.

Paddlers can minimize this risk by learning the infective risk of the waters they take to. Infection is logically more likely in slow-moving water where rodents are present; lakes, ponds and canals are more likely to be contaminated than fast-running streams.  Weil’s disease is considered to be one of many typical paddling hazards.  Paddlers should cover all cuts and abrasions; avoid splashing themselves, or swallowing potentially contaminated water; wash their hands carefully and if possible shower afterwards; and wash all equipment and clothing regularly. Anyone experiencing flu-like symptoms after contact with fresh water should see their doctor immediately.

As you gain experience, your awareness of your own margin of safety becomes part of you. (3)

(Sawyer Alberi and John Browning of Wilderness Medical Associates demonstrate how to tie a tournicate.)

Our instructor was Sawyer Alberi, a graduate of the US Coast Guard Academy, and an EMT-P who served in Iraq as a Vermont National Guard Combat Medic.  Our associate instructor was John Browning, a Wilderness EMT who works in urban EMS for a private ambulance service.

The students who were recertifying(WFRs[Wilderness First Responder]) had the book, Wilderness and Rescue Medicine in advance and a worksheet to complete before class.  The WAFA(Wilderness Advanced First Aid) students recieved The Outward Bound Wilderness Handbook on the first day of class. 

Sue Gjerset, from Minnesota, splints Alec Boyd Peshkin's arm with a little consoling from Nancy Moore.

Our days were mostly dedicated to "getting experience," but you  must truly understand the principles behind the procedures in order to prepare for medical emergencies...

...The vast majority of situations...are well within the capabilities of every backcountry traveler to handle.  It is your right and responsibility to know, at least in general terms, how your body works and how to fix it when it's broken. (1)

(David, who is on Search and Rescue in Iowa, prepares to splint Greg's arm.)

Experience, thankfully, can often be difficult to come by yet we need to combine experience with our medical information in order to become competant at it.

Related
Paddling, Hiking, Climbing
CASKA

References
1.  The Outward Bound Wilderness First Aid Handbook, Jeffrey Isaac; Introduction.  
2.  Ibid., p. 213.
3.  Ibid., p. 214.
4.  First Lead 

Chicago River Kayaking: Don't Get Caught Up Creek Without a Paddle

(CASKA blog: Chicago Area Sea Kayakers Association; Flickr Pictures.)

When it comes to kayaking the Chicago River, some don’t give it a second thought, while others wonder if what they are doing is safe.  Erring on the cautious side, I pulled up a few blog posts from our past CASKA trip reports on the Chicago River that may help address concerns with the recent addition of four boathouses being built along the river.

CASKA trip report:  “Lot’s of confidence and NO BULKHEADS!” At the parking lot we ran into a nice couple putting into the river in recreational boats. They had PFDs, lots of confidence and no bulkheads. I asked them how they would get back into their boats if they tipped over and they didn't have a clue. I offered a few tips, pitched the CASKA safety center to them and hoped that love would conquer all….When we returned, I was heartened to see that the young couple's car was gone, suggesting that they had returned safely.

Chicago River Canoe and Kayak:  Because of the seawalls and larger boats in the main stem of the river, we prefer that you be confident you won't tip over. Complete beginners may find the traffic a lot to handle… Children: under 10 are not allowed on this trip; ages 10-17 great discretion is advised.  A parent must accompany these children, and some paddling experienced is required.

CASKA trip report:   Not A Lot Of Room For A Kayak--Stay Alert On The River (see last picture in article).

When I watched this WateridersVideo and read about the new boathouses this week I wondered about the recreational boats being used as well as the continued lure to bring young children and beginners in this area.  On my 90 minute Architecture Cruise this fall the boat traffic was busy, big, and fast.  One kayak tour, Flickr Pictures here, waited huddled along the seawall, some holding onto parked boats, as many large boats made waves as they squeezed by to go under a bridge.

Chicago Parent Article, 6/13/11:  Imagine getting a view of the Chicago skyscape from a duck's perspective. That is what participants in a kayaking tour of the Chicago River can expect….kayaking is a fantastic family activity adults and kids of all ages will enjoy.

Chicago Tribune:  Shoreline water taxi captain Marcus Carson can rattle off stories about the close calls he's seen on the Chicago River. He tells of kayakers who didn't follow basic maritime rules, who disregarded horn signals or paddled too close to the choppy wake left by large boats like the one he pilots.

As more and more people are lured to kayak the Chicago River it will be good to share how to stay safe and choose the right place on the river due to your abilities. (Read more here:  Chicago Area Sea Kayakers Association )

Old Copper Culture: A Visit with Pete Stark of Oconto's Historical Society

This is a picture of Pete Stark with our family's ancient Indian artifact--an authentic copper celt.  Pete, Vice President of the Oconto Historical Society, is an expert on the Old Copper Culture.  The Old Copper Culture refers to the items made by early inhabitants of the Great Lakes region.  


We met Pete Stark at the Copper Culture State Park Museum which is just about a half hour north of Green Bay.  This is the location of the "oldest dated cemetery" in eastern North America.  It is only the second instance of Old Copper artifacts found in sites with burials, the first being the Osceola site in Grant County, Wisconsin.  The artifacts at this site date from about 4,000 to 3,000 BC.   

(Image: USGS, Map showing the Laurentide ice sheet during the last glacial period)

Pete explained that most of the prehistoric copper was mined on the north shore of Lake Superior, Isle Royale, and the Keweenaw Penninsula of Michigan.  It was found in the bottom of pits and in veins.  Later, these ancient, abandoned copper pits eventually led early miners to most of the first successful mines.

Archaeological expeditions in the Keweenaw Peninsula and Isle Royale uncovered copper producing pits and hammering stones which were used to work the copper, but by the time the first European explorers arrived, the area was the home of the Chippewa people, who did not mine copper.

In her article, The Archaic Culture in Wisconsin, Peggy Hoehne writes that the people during this time were known as the Boreal Archaic group.  They used the adze, gouge, and grooved axe which were woodworking tools made of ground stone.  It was during this time that the atlatl was first used as well.  They also used a side notched spear-point as well as lanceolate spear-point.  The later groups of this time made many of their tools and weapons of copper and were referred to as the Old Copper Group. 


In Early Woodland Culture in Wisconsin Peggy Hoehne goes on to explain that after 1,000 BC the climate warmed and where once the archeologists had identified earlier groups by the spear points they used, now groups were to be defined by the use of pottery, the construction of burial mounds and the cultivation of plants.


10,000 BC:  Paleo-Indians first arrived.
7,000 BC:    Plano cultures replace Paleo-Indians as the last glaciers retreated from the state.  Later groups of the Boreal Archaic began to use copper in their tools and weapons and jewelry.   
500 BC:  Early Woodland period began.  Farming began during this time which created more permanent settlements as well as more advanced art and pottery. 
100 BC:  The Hopewell culture emerged.  The first Indian mounds were built during this period. 
600 AD:  Late Woodland period began and Wisconsin was soon dominated by the Effigy mound culture.  During this time sophisticated mounds were build in the shapes of animals for ceremonial reasons.
1050 AD:  Early Mississippian culture begins an established a settlement at Aztalan, Wisconsin.
1200 AD: Oneota people.  Eventually the Oneota were replaced by the Siouan tribes (Primarily the Ojibwa, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac, and Fox) who met up witht the European explorers.


After touring most the Copper Culture Museum and reveling in the incredible artifacts and how they were used, Pete showed us an interesting model that brought home the significance in understanding how the levels of Great Lakes have changed.

(Maps; James A. Clark and Kevin M. Befus, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL.  Shifting Shorelines.)


During historical times, the modern Great Lakes fluctuated by more than a meter, but when you go back over the past 20,000 years, the level of the lakes had changed by more than 100 meters.  These maps which are in the article Shifting Shorelines show the Great Lakes during several eras:


A)  15,400 years ago.
B)  13,000 years ago.
C)  11,800 years ago.
D)  6,000 years ago.


The great ice sheet that covered half of the North American continent once blocked the modern outlets of the Great Lakes.  During this time, further studies have found that the earth was deformed under the huge weight of the ice sheet as well.  As the ice sheet retreated northward, outlets became ice free and controlled the level of the lakes. But these outlets were also changing in elevation because the earth was slowly rising to the undeformed position it held in the pre-Ice Age. 


In 1897, a mastodon was discovered in an eroded stream bank in Boaz, Wisconsin.  Later, more Paleo-Indian points were discovered and their locations identified.  In the book “Images of America--Baraboo,” by the Sauk County Historical Society, we find that on the south side of Baraboo, which is also the Ringling riverfront area, a mammoth skeleton was excavated in 1844 when the first dam was built at Oak Street as well.  It was not preservable.


Just southwest of Baraboo, the Natural Bridge State Park features the largest natural arch in the state of Wisconsin. Directly beneath the arch is a rock shelter once used by Paleo-Indians. The oldest artifacts were pieces of charred wood, presumably from fire pits making this rock shelter.  According to the park sign it is "one of the oldest dated sites for human occupancy in northeastern North America."


A few years ago, after a kayak expedition in the Apostle Islands, I was able to take a ferry over to Madeline Island  which is part of the Apostle Island group in the northernmost part of Wisconsin. Here, at La Pointe, according to Selwyn Dewdney and Calvin Martin, Madeline Island possesses a religious importance among the Chippewa not unlike that of Rome or Jerusalem to the Catholics and Jews.


RELATED
Wisconsin Indian Mounds and Slideshows
Old Copper Culture; Milwaukee Public Museum
Baraboo's Ringling Riverfront Development & Circus Parade (Mastadon site in Baraboo)
Kingsley Bend Indian Mounds
Madeline Island Pictures on Flickr
Kayaking Rock Lake With Rutabaga:  Mezmerized by Aztec Mystery
Observatory Hill: Prehistoric and Ethnohistoric Culture of Marquette County

Paddling Lake Okoboji: One of Only Three Blue Water Lakes in the World

(Arnolds Park; CASKA Blog ; Paddling, Hiking, and Climbing blogs.)


West Okoboji Lake is located to the south and west of the City of Okoboji and northwest of the City of Arnolds Park in northwest Iowa. Last week I was able to paddle some of my favorite areas of the lake where we frequently vacation with my husband's family.

Vacation Okoboji Magazine 2011 claims that Arnold's Park's wooden coaster, located near Pillsbury Point State Park, is in its element today (pictured). Owner Wesley Arnold's granddaughter, Caroline Anderson Moyer, who lives in St. Charles, Illinois, just visited last year. She was never allowed to ride the roller coaster because her parents thought it was too dangerous--at that time, kids would try to stand on the seats during parts of the ride...


I rode the roller coaster for my first time in the summer of '83 when I was kidnapped from my wedding reception by the groomsmen and put on it in my wedding dress...  I'm not kidding.  It was our anniversary this past weekend and we were able to visit with two of the groomsmen who both remember "the adventure."


In 1946, Arrow Development was started by four men who previously worked together at Hendy Iron Works--Bill Hardiman, Angus Anderson (of Arnold's Park), Karl Bacon, and Ed Morgan. All four men were instrumental in the start up and development of Arrow along with designing/building the rides for Disneyland when it opened in 1955.

West Okoboji Lake is about seven miles long and up to two miles in width and it is the largest of a chain of five connecting lakes, which is considered part of Iowa's Great Lakes.  

The lake is a glacial pothole with curved, boulder-strewn shores surrounded by clusters of knobby hills, smaller lakes and bogs, and abundant sand and gravel deposits.

It is one of only three lakes in the world that are considered to be a blue water lake.  The other two are Lake Geneva in Switzerland and Canada's Lake Loiuse.  These lakes are fed by cool, fresh, subterranean springs. 

Just around the bend from Arnolds Park is Pillsbury Point State Park.  Mike Koppert, operates the Abbie Gardner cabin, and massacre monument which are located there.  

Mike has created a film, which he shares, depicting the history of the site where, on March 8, 1857, a small band of Wahpekute Dakota warriors led by Inkpaduta began attacking white settlements on the Okoboji lakes.  An interesting note, there are claims that, about twenty years later, in 1876, it was one of Inkpaduta's sons who may well have killed Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Ideally, I should have had my boater's registration sticker on my kayak right by the Geneva Kayak.com, but I don't have all the paper work from last fall's purchase of the used boat that is required for the process.

I've been lucky with my few excursions away from my Wisconsin home base where I am not required to have my kayak registered.

My boat travels to Maine next month and I will luck out again as Maine still does not require non-motorized boats to be registered--negative public response appeared to work in that state.  When it comes to non-motorized boats, only Illinois, Ohio, Oklahoma, Iowa (boats over 15'), Minnesota (boats over 9'), and Pennsylvania (if used at a Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission [PFBC] lake or area, or at a Pennsylvania State Park lake), require registration fees. 
After non-motorized boat users complained in droves, the registration fees in Alaska  were eventually dropped from the law.  In 2000, in Arizona the annual registration fee was also dropped due in part to high administration costs that were exceeding the revenues that were being collected and an ineffective ability to return services to the public.

When it comes to paddle boats, not only is there is a higher rate of turnover which makes for more paperwork, but many paddlers tend to own more than a single canoe or kayak and when it comes to registration, this makes what their share of what they pay in boating fees disproportionate compared to the owners of single, more expensive powerboats. 

Hundreds of thousands of dollars go into creating bike trails without requiring bicycles to be registered like cars and in the same way it makes sense that paddle boats ought to be separated from motor boats.  All power-boats are registered just like cars for a good reason. The money is used to support investments in channel marking and provides for law enforcement in heavily used oceans and lakes. 

American Whitewater reports that registration fees have rarely been used to benefit paddlesports, but tend to be diverted for motor-boat launch sites and programs that benefit fishermen, but unlike hunters and fishermen, paddlers take nothing from the environment.  Registration laws also increase the opperating costs for church organizations, university programs, and comercial angling outfitters and whitewater outfitters.

Since Illinois requires all boats to be registered in the state, if you are coming from another state that does not require kayaks to be registered, as most do not, you will have to purchase a license in your state or from Illinois. The initial fee for registration in Illinois currently is $13.00 for 3 years (for each boat). Renewal is then $6 (for 3 years). 

Out-of-state boaters can stay up to 60 days in Illinois if they are registered in their state but since only a few states currently require canoe and kayak owners to register or pay special taxes on their boats, this creates an inconvenience to out-of-state paddlers visiting that have not been required to register their boats.

Heading back to the Crescent Beach Resort...   Time to get out the jet skis and stand-up paddle board...  Life's good.

Kayaking Rock Lake With Rutabaga: Mezmerized by Aztec Mystery

(CASKA link; Paddling blogs.)

On Friday, I traveled to Rock Lake where I met up with Kevin Leher from Rutabaga.  I was in the area and decided to see if I could meet with someone who could teach me how to re-enter and roll and work on some self-rescue skills for a few hours.


Rock Lake is only 3 miles away from the important archaeological site of Aztalan. 
  
About the same time that the Vikings founded Greenland and Canada, the "Middle Mississippian" culture appeared in Wisconsin.  About AD 1000, emigrants from Cahokia began to build new towns in northern Illinois just before moving up the Mississippi and Rock River valleys into Wisconsin.

I asked Kevin if I should be concerned about hitting my head on one of the "supposed" submerged pyramids in the lake and he assured me I wouldn't have a problem.

....We were just kidding!!

We briefly chatted with some of Kevin's neighbors who were arriving at the beach that morning, Kevin lives a few blocks down from the beach where we put in. It was perfect. I was able to park within feet of the beach for free. There were nice public restrooms and the weather was a dream--sunny and 85.

Kevin had assisted Sam Crowley during his circumnavigation of Ireland in 2007. In fall, Kevin will be spending some more time with Sam in Marquette working on his ACA training.

(Map of Rock Lake Indian mounds 1914; Lake Mills Aztalan Historical Society)

The name Aztalan came from Aztec tradition that describes their ancestors coming from a country up north, which they called Aztalan.  It is made up of two Mexican words, atl, water, and an, near which seemed to describe an area that was close to large bodies of water not unlike the great lakes.

The burned remains of the stockade and house walls lended to the thought that Aztalan was most likely burned and not just damaged by natural prairie fires. The Lake Mills Aztalan Historical Society writes, "...the Woodland tribes surrounding these intruding strangers with their unheard of foriegn customs, grew intolerant of their superior ways and drove them out. Possibly their canabalistic habits of which there is such unmistakeable evidence in their food refuse, had to do with their abrupt dissappearance..." (2; p. 5)

Salon review, "...Andrew O'Hehir calls Cahokia: Ancient America's Great City on the Mississippi a "cautious but mesmerizing" account of the archaeological discoveries at the site, which certainly included lots of human sacrifices... it doesn't fit the traditional paradigm of prehistoric Native Americans as eco-friendly hunter-gatherers."

After the Great Depression, Aztalan was sought out to become a national park. The National Park Service made a favorable assessment, especially if the site could be reconstructed, but for economic reasons this never materialized.

The greatest period of public land recreation related construction occured late in and shortly after the Great Depression. Today, there is a lack of funding because tax breaks are being provided to corporations and the wealthy, and direct subsidies to powerful special interest groups. As a direct result of government policy, poor Americans are getting poorer and the wealthy are getting wealthier.

References
1. Aztalan: Mysteries of an Ancient Indian Town, Robert A. Birmingham, Lynne G. Goldstein; Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2005.
2.  "The Ancient Aztalan Story," Lake Mills Aztalan Historical Society; 1969.

Chicago Kayakers, Environmentalism, and Incentives: What's Good For the Goose is Good For the Gander?

(Cumberland Island; 3/19/11.  CASKA here)

*New--Chicago River Kayaking: Don't Get Caught Up Creek Without a Paddle

Cumberland Island, Georgia, is the premiere sea-kayaking destination in the Southeast.  Last February, I looked forward to catching my first glimpses of the feral horses on Cumberland Island.  The area is not only a birdwatcher's hotspot, but an important location for the nesting of three species of endangered sea turtles.  Just offshore, it is one of the world’s largest endangered right whale calving grounds as well. 
   
“Wild Cumberland,” is a chapter of the grassroots group, Wilderness Watch.  It is dedicated to protecting the ecology, wilderness, and wildlife of Cumberland Island.  This group reports that most of the feral horses on Cumberland Island are suffering from disease and malnutrition because they are not native to the island.  They are not native to the island or even the continent and therefore do not fit within the natural ecosystems. They suffer immensely as a result, and they also do widespread damage to the island itself.  They are not adapted to the harsh climate and topography, lack of freshwater, and numerous parasites.  Three out of ten foals do not survive their first year.  The horses also damage the island’s sensitive dune and marsh ecosystems, trample nests of endangered shore birds, and compete with native species for limited food and water resources. (17)



I did not know the plight of the wildlife on Cumberland Island until I researched it afterwards.  I questioned the appearance of some of the horses and I also wondered if we could leave our orange peels for the birds rather than bag them to carry out or release in the current during our trip as we were instructed by Leave No Trace.  

A big portion of the the waste we throw away each year is food and when it decomposes in the landfills, it releases methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more damaging than carbon dioxide.  The Environmental Protection Agency provides a useful resource with its Food Waste Recovery Hierarchy. At the top of the list is “source reduction,” or creating less excess. After source reduction, feeding hungry people through food recovery or gleaning.  Feeding animals comes next in the hierarchy.  On a larger level, hogs, cows, and other livestock make great use of commercial food waste.

Michael Pollan, in his book Second Nature, writes about the greening of his Connecticut home and scolds environmentalists for focusing too much on wilderness. He argues that "the habit of bluntly opposing nature and culture has only gotten us into trouble, and we won't work ourselves free of this trouble until we have developed a more complicated and supple sense of how we fit into nature." We misunderstand the middle ground even more than we misunderstand wilderness. It is there, in the places where we must grow food and cut trees, that we work everything out. (9)

Environmentalists broadly support the goals of the environmental movement as a political and ethical movement which seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities.  Some hold stronger views and are politically inclined and they tend to argue that true environmental change cannot occur under the present economic model.  Eco-socialists are environmentalists who combine Marxism, socialism and ecology with environmentalism and hold an anti-capitalist ideology that sees capitalism as the cause of environmental problems, social injustice and inequality.

(Chicago shoreline)


Here in Chicago, the Calumet-Sag Channel and the Little Calumet River up to where it joins the Grand Calumet River; the north and south branches of the Chicago River, and a portion of the North Shore Channel are areas where water quality is targeted to become safe for swimming.  Some question the timing as well as the cost of the end result of this project which began four decades ago.  Does swimming take front seat to poverty for the low-, middle income families in Chicago?

Tom Bamonte, who has led some kayak trips around this area recently, writes, "...Chicago's lakefront, traversed by millions of vehicles, pedestrians and boaters each year... Five of us met at the Jackson Park boat ramp on Sunday, June 26.... (that's four lawyers, but who's counting). ...We headed for the 68th Street Crib and then turned south and paddled towards Calumet Harbor...."  Tom Bamonte


In January, the Illinois' tax rate went from 3 to 5 percent and it will be paid out of what money is left over.  Andy Brownfield writes in the State Journal Register about the Alfonso Lee family that has chosen to move back to Florida since the recent tax hike this year.  Alfonso and his wife make less than $50,000 a year, and the tax increase has hit them hard.  They have two cars, but they both ride the bus due to the high taxes and high price of gas.  Brownfield sums up that an average family of four making $40,000 is going to have an extra $640 they're going to have to come up with. (25)

Unlike the Potomac in Washington, which is sporting mutated male fish with female traits from chemical polutants, over thirty years of improvements have made Lake Michigan fishable.  Older cities, like Chicago, built sewers that combine waste from homes and factories with storm runoff.  If waterways are saturated, locks and gates to Lake Michigan are opened to prevent flooding.  The Deep Tunnel project was intended to prevent those overflows. 


Although the Deep Tunnel project began in 2006 it is not expected to be complete until 2029 when it's final giant-control reservoir will be completed.  The first phase, digging 130 miles of geological ductwork, was intended specifically to "eliminate waterway pollution," according to district records. (20) 


Is what's good for the goose good for the gander?  Two famous lawyers debated an important issue back in the 1850s.  Abraham Lincoln believed so much that what the American system was all about was making it possible for other men to rise as he had done.  But slavery was completely against that.  A person worked hard, they labored, and yet the fruits of their labor belonged to somebody else. 


Could continued tax hikes not be considered a form of slavery for some today?  Abraham Lincoln countered that Douglas' reliance on majority rule was morally bankrupt.  Lincoln took Douglas' argument that says that what the people in the territories decide is up to them--it's a democracy. If they vote for slavery, so be it--that's majority rule. Lincoln's conclusion was that there was an independent standard of right and wrong that was more important than the majority vote--that slavery was wrong. (27)

(Inland Sea Kayak Symposium 2011; Nigel Dennis Tour, Bayfield, WI)


The Inland Sea Society was created in 1988 to advocate for conservation on Lake Superior and to promote sustainable recreation through responsible kayaking.  Inland Sea Society works on projects promoting environmental stewardship through education and recreation, sustainable communities, and watershed-based organizing.

This was the third year that the symposium was including an "incentive program." In order to reduce waste and to prove that people can gather without creating a heap of garbage, registrants were encouraged to bring thier own coffee mug and plate, paddle or bike to the event, leave their keys with them as proof that they would not need to drive once checked in, bring a bike to get around during the event, carpool to the event, and finally put on display the most interesting and artful trash found during the symposium so they could win this challenge...  (28; Inland Sea Kayak Symposium, p. 15.)

The Inland Sea Kayak Symposium is now located in Washburn.  In 2005, Washburn became the first eco-municipality in the United States.  Eco-municipalities aspire to develop an ecologically, economically, and socially healthy community for the long term, using Sweeden's Natural Step framework for sustainability as a guide, and a democratic, highly participative development process as the method.

I became familiar with the Apostles Islands when I went on my first expedition with Geneva Kayak in 2007.  On Friday, I drove my car into Bayfield to visit Juddith Lokken Strom (link to video featuring her), owner of Greunke's First Street Inn.  This is a bed and breakfast where I usually stay on my kayak expeditions.  Greunke's has been accomodating guests for over 140 years including John F. Kennedy Jr. and his kayak group in 1995. Other noteable visitors include Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Bridget Fonda and Billy Bob Thorton.  Juddith wondered why the symposium moved.  It had once been great for her business.

Bayfield Wisconsin:  "... there are some troubles in paradise.  Sky-rocketing property taxes and utility bills are making it harder for folks to live here year round.  The population has actually dropped inthe last ten years, the town could lose its only grocery store... there's still no Wal-mart..., no McDonalds.. no traffic lights.." Bayfield Wisconsin:  the best little town in the midwest? 

(Legendary Waters Resort and Casino.)


After checking in and getting our wrist bands on, we headed over to the opening reception for the symposium where we were led to do hand motions to the French song Frere Jacques.

Frère Jacques, frère Jacques,
Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?
Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!
Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong.


We were charmed by the research that had been presented to us about the influence of the French, the English, the Metis voyagers, and the Anishinable people who, in particular, continue to call this area their home with reservations at Red Cliff (pictured above) and Bad River at both ends of the Wisconsin shore.


The following morning, while kayaking the Wisconsin shore, Nigel Dennis and I noted the newly expanded Red Cliff Casino on the the beautful shore of Lake Superior.  The only casino with a view of the Apostle Islands...


Brother Jacob, Brother Jacob,
Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping?
Morning bells are ringing! Mornings bells are ringing!
Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong.

*New--Chicago River Kayaing: Don't Get Caught Up Creek Without a Paddle

References 
1)  "Nature in the Suburbs," by Jane S. Shaw.  perc@perc.org.
2) Feeding Wild Racoons
3) Red Cliff Casino:  A Boost For Northwest Wisconsin; Danielle Kaeding & Gitchi Gumee Gamut, 9/13/10
4)  Leave No Trace  
5) Leave No Trace--Dispose of Waste Properly ; Leave No Trace Dude
6) Forest Gardening
7) Is It All Right To Feed Wild Animals? by Whit Gibbons, June 7, 2009; University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Lab.
8) An Explosion of Green, by Bill McKibben; Atlantic Monthly, April 1995.
9) Michael Pollan, Second Nature: A Gardner's Education. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press
10) Horse Nutrition
11) What to do with 25lbs of Oats
12) Do Wild Birds Eat Orange Peels? ; How to Make A Bird Feeder
13) How to Feed Wildlife in Autumn
14) Food Not Eaten, Jonathon Bloom, 2007.
15) Basic Information About Food Waste
16)  Wilderness Act of 1964 by University of Montana
17)  Wild Cumberland: The Cumberland Island Chapter of Wilderness Watch.
18)  A Boater’s Guide to the Federal Requirements For Recreational Boats
19)  Local Wildlife:  Care Across the Continents
20)  Feds Probe Chronic Sewage Overflows into Lakes, Streams, Michael Hawthorne; 3/19/11, Chicago Tribune.
21)  A New Era For the Chicago River; Tom Bamonte, 5/14/11.
22)  Where I Stand On Cleaning Up the Chicago River, Debra Shore, 5/18/11.
23)  Taxpayers May Have to Pay Billions to Clean Up Chicago River, Paul Merrion; 6/20/11, Crains Business Report.
24)  Pollutant Turns Male Fish into Mutant Mommies; Kevin Spak, 4/21/10.
26)  Voyage of Discovery:  David Strauch's Calumet Harbor Portage, Tom Bamonte, 7/4/11.
27)  The Time of the Lincolns, Abraham and Mary Lincoln:  A House Divided , PBS The American Experience.
28)  Inland Sea Kayak Symposium 2011, Washburn, WI. 
26)  Sea Kayaking and Whitewater:  Roughing it With Nigel Dennis & Scott Berry, Mary Fairchild; 6/19/11.
27)  Taxpayers May Have to Pay Billions to Clean up Chicago River, CASKA; 6/20/11.25)  Income Tax Will Hurt Low-, Middle Income Familes Most, Andy Brownfield, 1/29/11, State Journal Register.