Big changes on Upper Mississippi Wildlif e Refuge?

“Fishing, camping... EVERYTHING might change from current regulations in my area.

http://www.gmtoday.com/news/front/topstory06.asp

Feds propose sweeping
changes to Mississippi

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May 19, 2005


Some changes could be in store for the upper Mississippi River as the federal government tweaks a sweeping, $216 million-plus package of regulatory changes. The package could transform life on the river for the next decade and a half by limiting waterfowl hunting, camping and boating.

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MADISON - No booze on the beaches. Keep those Jet Skis off the backwaters. And no more blasting away at ducks all day.

Those are some of the potential changes for the upper Mississippi River as the federal government firms up a sweeping, $216 million-plus regulatory package. The plan could transform river life for the next decade and a half by limiting waterfowl hunting, camping and boating.

Federal officials say the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s plan is designed to reduce human stress on the fragile river environment and improve wild habitats.

‘‘What we’re striving for is balance. We want people to be able to use the refuge and enjoy the critters,’’ said Jim Nissen, manager of Fish and Wildlife’s district in La Crosse, Wis., which lies on the Mississippi.

But outdoors lovers are livid over changes to their traditional river hobbies. They say the agency is rushing the plan.

‘‘This is big stuff. It really gouges a lot of folks,’’ said Ron Nicklaus, 56, of Genoa, Wis., an avid duck hunter who camps every summer on the Mississippi. ‘‘It (the Mississippi) doesn’t belong to the Fish and Wildlife Service. It belongs to the folks.’’

The 600-page document would lay out new regulations through the year 2020 for about 240,000 acres of Mississippi floodplain designated as a national wildlife refuge.

The refuge stretches about 260 miles from southern Minnesota to northern Illinois. It’s home to hundreds of species of plants, fish and birds, including bald eagles. More than 3 million people visit the refuge annually, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

The federal Wildlife Refuge Improvement Act of 1997 requires refuges be managed according to their mission to restore fish, wildlife and plants. The act calls for every national refuge to have a plan by 2012, Nissen said.

Public hearings have been scheduled in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois. Agency staff will tweak the document after the public comment period ends in August, and Fish and Wildlife regional director Robyn Thorson then will sign off on it, putting it into effect.

Among the agency’s recommendations:

-Limit overnight camping to main channel islands and shorelines. Anyone with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher would be banned from camping, and district managers would be allowed to declare beaches alcohol-free.

-Explore beach user fees, but the plan doesn’t set any.

-Set up 16 areas encompassing nearly 14,500 mostly backwater acres where boaters could use nothing more powerful than electric motors and must obey a 5-mph speed limit.

-Increase the number of no-hunting zones from seven to 13, encompassing 5,322 acres. The number of zones where waterfowl hunting is banned would go from 15 to 21 - 790 acres larger than the current areas - in 2006. Hunters would be limited to 25 shells. Currently there are no limits on how much ammunition they can carry.

-New waterfowl sanctuaries would be added near McGregor, Iowa, Winona, Minn., and Savanna, Ill.

Nissen said refuge officials have struggled with huge parties and underage drinking on the river, particularly in the Winona area, and people have complained they can’t get any peace and quiet, even in the backwaters.

‘‘If you’re fishing in a small flat and you’ve got Jet Skis buzzing all around you, so much for the solitude,’’ Nissen said.

The hunting restrictions were added to minimize conflict between people using the river for different purposes, improve safety, help waterfowl find more safe breeding areas and fill gaps between current closed areas, according to the plan.

The ammunition limit would discourage ‘‘skybusting,’’ the practice of shooting excessively at out-of-range birds, the plan said. Skybusting can result in crippled ducks that can’t be retrieved, it said.

Bill Howe, 82, of Prairie du Chien, Wis., grew up on the Mississippi. He scoffed at the plan.

District managers shouldn’t have the power to ban alcohol from beaches, he said. That’s the purview of state and local governments, he said. He wondered how the agency would enforce such restrictions.

‘‘Where do you go if you have a can of beer on your boat and you have problems and go to a beach to fix it?’’ Howe asked. ‘‘It isn’t a document that considers people.’’

U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., a duck hunter with a house on the Mississippi, said he couldn’t support a plan that restricts so much river access. Enforcement would be nearly impossible, he said.

‘‘That’s the problem with the plan. You can’t enforce it unless you hire 100 or 200 agents,’’ Kind said.

He said he’s still meeting with Fish and Wildlife personnel, but he might fight to withhold funding if the plan isn’t revised.

The Wisconsin Conservation Congress, a statewide group of sportsmen, plans to write a letter to Fish and Wildlife asking the agency to extend the public comment period to six months.

Feds propose big changes for Mississippi

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans sweeping changes to hunting, fishing and camping in the 261-mile Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. Among them:

HUNTING AND FISHING

-Add six new no-hunting zones, bringing the number of no-hunting zones to 13.

-Increase number of areas closed to waterfowl hunting from 15 to 21.

-Add new waterfowl sanctuaries near McGregor, Iowa, and Savanna, Ill.

-All closed areas except Lake Onalaska would be closed to on-the-water fishing and motorized watercraft from Oct. 1 to the end of the respective state’s duck season.

-Starting in 2006, limit each hunter to 25 shotshells during waterfowl season. Hunters must maintain 100 yards between each other.

-Establish a managed waterfowl hunting area on Lake Onalaska. The number of hunters would be limited through a random drawing and permits.

-Phase out the use of permanent hunting blinds around the Savanna, Ill., area.

-Issue special permits for fishing tournaments.

RECREATION

-Starting in 2007, camping and overnight mooring would be limited to islands and shorelines that border the main channel.

-All campers must have an approved marine onboard toilet or a human waste disposal system for each person.

-Entering or staying in the refuge while under the influence of alcohol, defined as a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent, would be prohibited.

-The refuge manager or district managers may restrict beaches as no-alcohol or day-only.

-Explore user fees for beachgoers.

-Starting in spring 2006, establish 16 electric motor-only areas on the refuge, encompassing 14,498 acres. A 5 mph speed limit would be in effect in those areas.

-Add 10 new no-wake zones in 2006, bringing the total to 12.

-Starting in 2007, all dogs must be on a leash between March and June. The rest of the year, dogs can be free only when they’re at least 100 yards from roads, trails, rest areas and boat landings, and within sight and earshot of their handlers. Dogs hunting or retrieving are exempt from the regulations.

LANSCAPE AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

-Resurvey and post the refuge boundary by 2020.

-Acquire 1,000 acres of land per year to complete the refuge’s 1987 master plan.

-Protect bluffs through easements or fee-title acquisitions.

-Nominate the refuge as a Wetland of International Importance.

-Increase control of invasive species. Achieve a 10 percent reduction in acres affected by 2010.

-Complete drawdowns on all refuge pools during the growing season by 2020. Lowering water levels leads to more vegetation, and, in turn, more food and cover for fish and wildlife.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service”

“Does this mean Lizs will lose her party spots? Time to write your Congressman.”

“Sounds reasonable. It is, after all, a National Wildlife Area.

Let's see, if I read this correctly -

Total acres = 240,000
Changes - Are these acreages totals or additions? If totals -

Limit boat motors to electric on 14,500 acres. That leaves 225,500 acres open to motors.

Increase non-hunting areas to 5,322 acres. That leaves 235,000 acres open to hunting.”

“I spend between 30-45 days of the 60 day WI duck season on the river. I cannot imagine how the USFW and the WI DNR expect to enforce the changes they are suggesting. The Miss River is BIG..You can easily get lost in the backwaters and sloughs. I see no easy way for Mr Warden to patrol an area looking for people breaking the new laws. It would require more man power than they currently have, and the use of airboats or helicopters. You cannot sense the size and power of this river until you sit in a 16' boat and look around you. It is beautiful and deadly at the same time. If you loose respect for it, you die.
I am a confirmed duckaholic. I would rather hunt ducks and geese than any other outdoor activity that I participate in. I am all for creating more wildlife refuge area's. It is good for birds of all kinds and would help ensure resources for generations to come. I can agree to limiting the number of shells hunters are allowed to carry. I HATE SKYBUSTING. The number of birds I've seen crippled and unretrieved is astonishing. I train my dogs very well, there is no duck they cannot find, they will dive underwater in search of a bird that dives. My hunting partners and I will always "run" the dogs on islands during the slow time of the day in order to find crippled ducks. You'd be surprised how many we retrieve.
The river is a huge resource, and like anything outdoors, will be respected by some and abused by others. It never ceases to amaze me, that for all the good some of us can do to help minimize our impact on the resource, others destroy everything in thier paths. It is unfortunate that everyone suffers because of those few.”

“I'm not saying this is good or bad.... just proposed. And this is my "backyard," kind of.

-- I haven't camped much in the Refuge. Never more than a night. It is kind of fun to, because you can find real out-of-the-way spots along the Mississippi's banks. Boaters like to camp on the islands. I can't get there. :-) WELL, once I did walk almost all the way across the Miss. south of McGregor and Pike's Peak State Park, at the Sny Magill landing. SO... either I am someone akin to Jesus and you should all honor me, lol... OR... it was winter.

-- Will be curious to see where the new waterfowl sanctuary near McGregor will go.

-- "Explore user fees for beachgoers." Hmmm, so would that mean putting up big fences to allow enforceability?? Sounds like BS! Actually, the only beach I can think of around here is downriver from Wisconsin's Wyalusing State Park, at the little village of Wyalusing.

-- OHHH, I see alcohol and dog bans/restrictions listed. Lets start a FUEGO thread! LOL!

-- I am all for protecting bluffs through easements, etc. I am sick of seeing someone's big ole home marring the beautiful bluffs. In the county I live in (NOT on the Miss, about an hour away), they zone for bluffland protection. I suppose that would get tough with so many jurisdictions on the Miss. Then again,that is talking private land and we're talking national fish and wildlife refuge land here.... Must be adjoining land or inholdings??

-- The pool draw-down idea is interesting. Does that mean barges will be getting swamped?? KEWL! LOL!”

“When I hear or read the words "jet ski, motocross motorcycle, ATV, mountain bike, and horse" in tandem with the word "restrictions" I get a big smile across my stupid looking face.

The last time I was at Lake Hartwell at a Corp of Army Engineers picnic area some idiot on a jet ski ruined the whole afternoon with his smoking belching, noisy as hell jet ski. He went round and round in cicles, jumping his own wake, churning the water to mud. He thought everyone thought he was cool. If I could have had five minutes alone with that jet ski and a five pound sleigh hammer........... Well, you get my drift.
last edited: 5/20/05 8:31:26 AM”

“liberals are so violent. ;-)”

“I'm not a liberal. I'm an Unreconstructed Confederate, Jeffersonian anti-Federalist, Buchanan isolationalist, anarchist with libertarian views on gun ownership and pot.
I dig the NRA, Oxfam, the Sierra Club, Mother Jones News, Friends of the Wilderness, A.P.Hill, R. E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Guderian, and Rommel. I think Osama Bin Laden is cool and I like his beard. Castro is a hero of the prolitariate but I hate Bolshevism and the founders of Bolshevism. Don't much care for Abraham Lincoln, Sherman, and the other founders of the modern federalist state that Amerika has become. Have no use for Woodrow Wilson, FDR, Harry Truman, LBJ, Bill Clinton, or the Smirking Chimp in Chief. Sorry bastards all. Then there's the Federal Reserve, the IRS, the FCC, the FTC, the DEA, the CIA, the NSA, FEMA, the FBI, the BATF, Social Security, Homeland "Security" folks, NAFTA, the WTO, the World Bank, the IMF. What did I leave out?........I'm sure there are some more.

Peace out!!! :)
last edited: 5/20/05 9:48:26 AM”

“New alternative plan for Upper Mississippi River RefugePlan, comment period open

http://www.fws.gov/midwest/planning/uppermiss/

A new preferred alternative for the draft comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge has been released for a 60-day public review and comment period the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced.

Refuge manager Don Hultman said the new alternative is being issued as a supplement to the draft CCP and EIS released in May and is currently available on the service’s planning Web site, in refuge district offices, and in community libraries.

An executive summary of the supplement is being mailed to more than 4,000 citizens and groups and delivery can be expected over the next several days. The executive summary contains background information, a summary of major changes reflected in the new alternative, a series of tables for comparing and contrasting alternatives, and 12 fold-out pool maps showing the alternative features.

Hultman said the new alternative, known as "alternative E: modified wildlife and integrated public use focus," contains several major changes as a result of public, conservation group, and agency input received in writing or during public meetings and workshops earlier this year.

"We had 2,900 people take part in 11 public information meetings and 10 public workshops," he said. "The workshops alone generated 87 group reports with recommendations on the most controversial issues, and we received more than 2,400 written comments."

The major changes include:

o Dropping three of six proposed no hunting zones around public use facilities.

o Changes to boundaries in several proposed waterfowl hunting closed areas.

o Dropping the "no fishing, no motors" provision for waterfowl hunting closed areas in favor of "voluntary avoidance" for large areas and "no motors and voluntary avoidance" for small areas, with restrictions taking effect Oct. 15 versus Oct. 1 each year to extend fall fishing.

o Dropping the 25 shotshell daily limit and 100 yard spacing regulations for waterfowl hunting, although the existing 200 yard spacing for blinds or parties in Illinois will remain.

o Dropping the fee managed hunt proposal for the Gibbs Lake Area of Lake Onalaska in Pool 7 in favor of devising a plan with water fowlers.

o Reducing the number of electric motor areas from 17 to six, but adding eight slow, no wake areas where from March 16 to Oct. 31 each year watercraft must go slow and no airboats or hovercraft are permitted.

o Dropping the restrictions on areas open to camping and proposed alcohol and human waste regulations, but adding a new regulation prohibiting glass containers.

o Dropping the proposal for a launch fee at refuge-administered boat ramps.

Hultman said comments on the new alternative will be accepted through Feb. 3. In January, the refuge will host nine open houses at communities along the river where the public can view large maps, talk with refuge staff and offer comments and suggestions. Specific sites for the open houses are being identified and will be announced when known. Communities and dates for the open houses are listed below. All open houses will be from 6 to 8 p.m. except the Saturday open house in Onalaska which will be 1 to 4 p.m.

Stoddard, Wis., Tuesday, Jan. 3; La Crescent, Minn., Thursday, Jan. 5; Onalaska, Wis., Saturday, Jan. 7; Lansing, Iowa , Monday, Jan. 9; Prairie du Chien, Wis., Tuesday, Jan. 10; Savanna, Ill., Tuesday, Jan. 17; Dubuque, Iowa, Wednesday, Jan. 18; Winona, Monday, Jan. 23; Wabasha, Tuesday, Jan. 24.

Hultman said the supplement does not represent the final changes to the full draft CCP and EIS.

"Comments received during the first 120-day comment period, along with comments received on this supplement, will all be considered when preparing the final CCP and EIS. People do not need to resubmit their earlier comments and can focus on the new alternative if they wish," he said.

Hultman said they are hoping to have a final CCP and EIS completed by spring 2006. The final plan will be released to the public and there will be a 30-day waiting period before a record of decision is signed and the plan becomes truly "final."

Copies of the executive summary and full supplement, along with the full draft CCP and EIS, can be viewed on the Internet at the service’s Planning Web site: http://www.fws.gov/midwest/planning/uppermiss/.

The documents can also be viewed at 52 public libraries in communities near the refuge or at refuge district offices in Savanna, Ill., McGregor, La Crosse and Winona. For assistance, persons can call the refuge at (507) 452-4232, or leave a message at the toll-free number (888) 291-5719.

With more than 3 million visitors per year, the "Upper Miss" Refuge is the most visited refuge in the country and has the added complexity of a major navigation system, including 11 locks and dams within its boundary. It is also a world-class fish and wildlife area which harbors 306 species of birds; 119 species of fish; more than 130 active bald eagle nests; thousands of heron and egret nests; spectacular concentrations of canvasback ducks, tundra swans and white pelicans; and several threatened or endangered species.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the federal aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.”

“It sounds like they have been paying attention to the suggestions and recommendations of the people in these areas.”

“The latest... from a meeting a reporter from one of our other newspapers attended:

http://www.bluffcountrynews.com/main.asp?SectionID=26&SubSectionID=137&ArticleID=10783

This meeting was at La Crescent, MN -- immediately across the Mississippi from La Crosse, WI.


1/10/2006 9:26:00 AM Email this article • Print this article
Public wants compromise on river refuge plan

By Jan Lee Buxengard, Spring Grove Herald


The need to compromise was the sentiment echoed by numerous outdoorsmen, and women, during a meeting on Thursday, Jan. 5, regarding the proposals of Alternative E of the Upper Mississippi Refuge draft comprehensive conservation plan.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service held an open house for nearly an hour in the La Crescent High School cafeteria, followed by a public open forum in the auditorium, which lasted another two and a half hours. F&W officials estimated about 130 people attended.

With the leadership of a facilitator, F&WS officials fielded comments and questions from the public. The panel included Don Hultman, refuge complex manager for the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife & Fish Refuge (NW&FR); James Nissen, La Crosse district manager of the Upper Mississippi River NW&FR, headquartered at the office in Onalaska; and Eric Nelson, refuge biologist and member of the planning team for the CCP (comprehensive conservation plan).

In opening statements at the forum, Hultman explained that Alternative E was prepared in response to public comments during a series of public meetings last summer on the draft (CCP) and environmental impact statement (EIS).

The plan is being crafted to guide refuge management of the 240,000 acres encompassed by the refuge which stretches for 261 miles along the Mississippi River in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois, for the next 15 years, as mandated from Congress.

"We had 41 requests — nine were most controversial. We used this input to make many changes. We did a new Alternative E to replace Alternative D," Hultman stated.

This new preferred plan was released on Dec. 5 for a 60-day comment period. Nine public open houses and forums were scheduled. At the first meeting, it was decided to extend the comment period another 30 days until March 6.

Plan includes major changes

Major changes in Alternative E compared to Alternative D include:

o dropping three of six proposed no hunting zones around public use facilities;

o changes to boundaries in several proposed waterfowl hunting closed areas;

o dropping the "no fishing, no motors" provision for closed areas in favor of voluntary avoidance for large areas and no motors and voluntary avoidance for small areas, with restrictions taking effect Oct. 15 versus Oct. 1 each year to extend fall fishing;

o dropping the 25 shot shell daily limit and 100 yard spacing regulations;

o dropping the fee managed hunt proposal for the Gibbs Lake area of Lake Onalaska in Pool 7 in favor of devising a plan with water fowlers;

o reducing the number of electric motor areas from 17 to six, but adding eight slow, no wake areas where from March 16 to Oct. 31 each year watercraft must go slow and no airboats or hovercraft are permitted;

o dropping the restrictions on areas open to camping and proposed alcohol and human waste regulations, but adding a new regulation prohibiting glass containers; and

o dropping the proposal for a launch fee at refuge-administered boat ramps.

Public comments

Numerous individuals were concerned about restricted use of airboats and jet skis due to their speed, noise, and also the wakes produced on the water.

James Oldenburg of La Crosse is an avid kayaker and concerned about safety in the water. "It’s a real problem when people can’t see you sitting on the bottom of the kayak."

"We are restricting the means of navigation. It’s still open to navigation," Hultman stated. "No one envisioned the technology we have today. Look at what it was in 1924 and what we have now."

"Reducing disturbances will benefit wildlife in the backwaters," Nissen pointed out. "Their nest is destroyed when you throw a wake over them. Birds leave when the first air boat fires up."

"I see nothing for senior citizens or handicapped people," Terry Niebeling of La Crescent stated. "All the slow, no wake areas are too hard to navigate. I take senior citizens fishing in my airboat. These people are getting too old or unable to go and enjoy the river without the help of others." He stood and showed the handicapped permit he has.

"We take disabled access seriously," Hultman replied. "We can look at a special permit for you who work with these people."

Ray Heidel of Onalaska expressed concern that proposed new trails and observation towers, decks and overlooks would involve more filling in and intrusion of wetlands.

"They will be low maintenance trails," Nelson responded, adding, "No filling in would be needed."

Along with this issue, Clarence Ferrier of La Crosse commented, "You’re building observation towers and say people can’t hunt there?" To which Hultman responded, "We have no intention/plan to close areas. Some are near areas where hunting isn’t allowed anyway."

"You’re closing all the walkout areas for the handicapped," stated Mike Adams of La Crescent, "and what about the younger people who can go out without adult supervision?"

Jim Rohrer of Brownsville stated, "I’m handicapped. Do I have to give up everything? How am I supposed to get back to my trailer? I can’t."

Bruce Brown of Houston urged, "Maintain what’s going on between Highway 26 and Wisconsin," and added, "Looks like you’re gaining more ground toward Hokah."

"Our acquisition ground is all the way up to Hokah," Nissen responded, adding, "The Root River produces 50,000 to 60,000 cubic yards of sediment per year. There are things we can do there. One option is, should we use the old channel?"

Staffing concerns

Another point of concern was the CCPs proposal to acquire additional staff. By year 2015, they want to increase from the current 37 to 60.5 FTEs.

Hultman defended the need saying, "This is based on a minimum staffing volume. We have no forester. We have no fishery biologist. We have no biologist at the La Crosse District. We have no maintenance people for 90,000 acres at McGregor."

Summing it up

"We want to do this for future generations," Bob Hurd of Coon Valley stated about the refuge plan. "We have to protect the resource and be careful how you do it. We have to make sacrifice for something for our kids and grandkids to use."

"There’s room for compromise on a lot of these items," stated a man from Stoddard, Wis. "Maybe compromise can become reality."

"The resource should be managed for all," Hultman said. "I hope what we’re doing here has some value and reason."

"The final [CCP and EIS] will come out in early summer, if we’re lucky, and then a 30-day waiting period," Hultman reported.

Copies of the executive summary and full supplement, along with the full draft CCP and EIS, can be viewed on the Internet at the service’s Planning Web site: http://www.fws.gov/midwest/planning/uppermiss/.

The documents can also be viewed at 52 public libraries in communities near the refuge or at refuge district offices in Savanna, Ill., McGregor, La Crosse and Winona. For assistance, persons can call the refuge at (507) 452-4232, or leave a message at the toll-free number (888) 291-5719.”

“"voluntary avoidance?" Like that'll work.”

“Thanks for the update, Lizs.”