The modest new addition to the fleet

Okay, so I'm a little jazzed. It won't be until this weekend that I get to launch the new (old) canoe. (See details in the posting below.) But to savor the event, tonight I threw it onto the truck, fashioned some tie-downs for transporting the boat, and got it ready to go.

Here's what the new craft looks like in transit (pictured above), and with the canvas skirt that will be used to keep my gear protected from the elements, in the event I take any longer trips in inclement weather (left).

Crow River: This Saturday, you are mine.

Reducing, renewing, recycling some gear

A while back, I decided to sell the two kayaks. I found the Pelican 10’ a bit small, at least when spending more than a few hours in it. The Mad River 12’ was more comfortable, but either it had growth heavier or my elbows have growth weaker; it was becoming difficult for me to lift it to the roof of the X-Terra. My goal was to use the sale proceeds to find a solo canoe, bigger than the 10’ kayak, but lighter than the double-hulled 12’ hybrid kayak. Turns out that everything sold a little quicker than I thought it might, including the Thule kayak racks on the roof of the truck.

Here is happiness: The Pelican went to a first-time kayak owner out of southern Minnesota, and the Mad River went to the younger of a father-and-son team who paddle the North Shore of Lake Superior. (Let the enjoyment continue.)

All of that equipment has been replaced by a used Old Town Discovery solo canoe; an 11’9” boat that was manufactured in 2003. Like the goods I sold, I found this craft through Craig’s List. It was owned by a gentleman who works part-time for a new company called Clear Waters Outfitting Company. While he was selling the canoe “private party,” the store had allowed him to display it in their warehouse. (They were smart to let him do this; I did not know about their shop until after meeting Todd, the gentleman I bought the Discovery from. I'll do business with them in the future, as they have a great store in Clearwater, MN.) It has abundant scratches on the hull, but more to illustrate the boats character than to indicate any serious damage. (The owner of a an old canoe that is unmarked by contact with logs and rocks has cheated himself and his boat from the privilege of a fast romp down the river.) It features a hand-made canvas cover, to protect packs and equipment from the elements on longer trips.

As far as transporting the boat is concerned, I gave my daughter a few bucks for an old set of Yakima cross-bars, and bought the appropriate mounts to make them work on my truck. Having already registered the boat in my name, I hope to float it for the first time this weekend.

Also last week, I pulled out an old Minolta X-700 35 millimeter camera (yes, film) that we've owned since the late eighties, and took it to a local camera shop to be reconditioned. Turns out that by the time the camera was moved through the shop, a small tear had developed in the shutter fabric… one that would only grow as used over time. Graciously, it was the shop’s decision to offer me a trade: They gave me a fully-reconditioned version of the same old camera to replace the one that had been damaged. Since I already have a number of lenses for the unit, it was an offer I couldn’t refuse. So on an upcoming river trip—or as I see critters far-off in the meadow behind our house—I’ll shoot some prints in traditional 35 mm film. (This re-purposed camera will allow me to try-out a used tele-photo lens I picked up more than a year ago!)

With all of this new (or used) outfitting, I must now get more aggressive about finding time on the river, as the paddling season is fast dwindling here in Minnesota.

© 2010 Mike D. Anderson. All rights reserved.

Headlines from shorelines all over

Grand concerns for the Grand Canyon
I saw a couple of reports today regarding the health and future well-being of Grand Canyon National Park. One came from USA Today (click here to read that version), and another came from Summit County Citizens Voice, a website within the affected area (click to link).

Seafood from the Gulf
In the aftermath of the biggest environmental calamity in history, fishermen and shrimpers are pulling the first harvest of seafood from the Gulf of Mexico since the BP oil spill. A story in USA Today today poses the simple question: Will it be safe for consumption? (Click here to read the USA today story.) I, for one, am among the thousands of people who hope Gulf seafood gets the green light; the people in this region have been through enough! But from the crude oil to the chemicals used to disperse the mess, there is good reason to do some testing, as well as tasting. (I hope the lesson that greater care and oversight are required in deep water drilling has been learned by everyone involved… and I hope the speedy recovery in the Gulf continues.)

Getting bigger before getting it right?
I read an article in the Wall Street Journal today about the expansion of crude oil pipelines and delivery systems for a company called Enbridge. (Click here to read the WSJ.com story.) The pipeline runs from Tioga, North Dakota or Cromer, Manitoba. The story didn’t just catch my eye because I was born and raised in North Dakota. It caught my eye because the name Enbridge sounded very familiar. While most of the world was fixated on the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico this summer, Enbridge was involved in another spill catastrophe involving the Kalamazoo River in Michigan. The spill began on July 25th, according to this timeline from the Michigan Messenger. According to an AP report, the company had been warned about problems related to their pipeline network, including the line involved with the spill. (Click here to see the version of the story run by MS-NBC.)

Staying on top of water quality issues, with direct access to the EPA
I first learned about the Enbridge spill because the EPA sent me an email. Not that I’m all that important… but I had signed-up for newsletter notifications from the agency by visiting this page on their website. If you’re interested in this kind of thing, don’t take it from me. Get it directly from the Environmental Protection Agency by email. (Click here to sign up.)

Fracking is freaking some folks out
The practice of extracting natural gas from deep shale beds by using water and chemicals to fracture the rock has been getting a lot of attention, lately. The technique, known as “fracking,” is the subject of a recent HBO documentary, suggesting that the practice can compromise water supplies in adjacent lands. Fracking was also the focus of a story today in USA Today. (Click here to read the story.) Or, to see the trailer for the HBO feature film, see below.


If you have a water-quality story to share--especially of the "good news" variety--drop me an email, okay?

Mike Anderson

Our conservation efforts turn a corner

If one is truly passionate about spending time on the water—whether in recreation or in various conservation efforts—there can never be enough time navigating, renewing, and being renewed by, our rivers, streams or lakes. That is certainly the case where I am concerned; over the past couple of years, a blend of personal responsibilities, workplace demands and physical challenges (the kind that come with age) have greatly reduced the time I can spend on the water. I’m still cleaning up trash and debris when I get the chance to float a river, but not in the tonnage I did a few short years ago. I’ve been thinking about that a lot. And a while back, it occurred to me that there are ways I can advance matters of stewardship more effectively in the future.

With that in mind, I’m going to adjust this blog to focus less on my direct activities with river clean-up, and use it to focus more on sharing the ideas and accomplishments of others. Whether a Boy Scout troop removing trash from a riverside road here in St. Michael, or a dam removal on the Penobscot in Maine, I’ll pass along stories I find from all over, in the hope that this site becomes an idea resource to anyone who’s inclined to improve the rivers, streams and lakes that are dear to them. In shifting to this approach, I will be allowed more time for what is next.

Footprints and Photographs
There is a classic phrase used in the conservation community to encourage the careful use of parks, trails, and waterways: “Leave only footprints, and take only pictures.” I love that quote, because it frames, concisely, such a true and simple solution to many of the problems facing our natural places and their wildlife inhabitants.

Shortly after starting the river blog back in 2007, I was hit with a couple of epiphanies. The first was that CleanUpTheRiver.com was preaching to the choir; it is a blog most likely to be read by people who are already sold on the idea of stewardship.

Another important understanding occurred to me: Conservation begins with appreciation. If someone takes the time to see and experience the outdoors, they just naturally become more inclined to protect those places.

With FootprintsAndPhotographs.com, I hope to help folks see, experience, and appreciate the outdoors. The past few years have been a great opportunity to learn a little about natural photography, which is a nice compliment to the kind of writing I like to do. By sharing some photos and narratives from the places I've had the chance to visit and absorb, perhaps I can remind people how good we have it... and foster greater appreciation for the outdoors.

I plan to remain engaged in hands-on river clean-up. But the accomplishments I’m seeing from around the U.S. (and the world) are much more impressive than my own. So it makes more sense for this blog to focus on those kinds of inspirational issues and ideas. At this writing, I have sold our pair of kayaks, and am shopping for a solo canoe that might serve as a better platform for writing and photography in the wild (Julie and I still have the tandem Old Town canoe for when she wants to ride along). And I’m taking my camera to some off-water hiking and biking trails, too.

I have a head-start on the new blog, as I began posting entries in January of this year; I did not want to make the new site known, however, as I wanted to make sure I was happy with its contents before I shared it with others. While far from perfect, some stories and pictures are ready for you now, and I invite you to stop by for a visit, at http://FootprintsAndPhotographs.com/.

© 2010 Mike D. Anderson. All rights reserved.

Introducing (and draining) Pelican Lake

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A couple of weeks ago, I dropped my kayak into a body of water that has been known, for a relatively short while, as Pelican Lake. This is not the famous lake by the same name that is in the Brainerd Lakes area… nor is it the one found near Barnsville in the west central part of our state. This Pelican Lake is a small body of water about four miles west of our home in St. Michael.

I had heard about the odd origins and even more peculiar destiny of Pelican Lake from various neighbors and acquaintances since we move here last year. Rumor held that the Department of Natural Resources was threatening to partially drain the lake, and sending the water into a wetland on the edge of town (coincidentally, an area right behind our home). From there, it would trickle into the Crow River via Regal Creek.

As with any land management issue, this idea had a polarizing effect. Hunters were in favor of the plan, as the land now covered by Pelican Lake would be more fowl-friendly and bring in more ducks and geese. On the other side, fishermen were opposed to the idea, because low water would almost assuredly result in the winterkill of the bass, crappie, pike and sunfish that call the lake home.
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A couple of people had asked my position on the matter, but found myself unable to respond... as I did not have the facts that might validate an opinion. Recently, however, I had a conversation with someone who did have the facts, and learned a little more about this complex situation.

Pelican Lake was nothing more than a seasonal slough as recently as the 1960s. It would be mildly flooded by the spring melt, but sustain hay and other crops through most of the summer. Then, in the late 60s or early 70s, something changed. Nobody knows whether it was because of inappropriate ditching, maybe a shift in the way area farmers were draining their fields, or if perhaps a department of transportation project significantly altered one or more canals in the area… but for one reason or another, the spring flood did not recede as far as they once did. And over the years, what was once a slough became deeper and deeper, even drowning some farm equipment that had been stored on the lands there. Eventually, the place became a lake—literally. Pelican Lake, at this writing, has a couple of spots as deep as twelve feet, although the prevailing depths in the central areas of the lake range from five to nine feet.

That explains the origin of the lake. Now… here is its destiny, at least as I understand it.

The area is a designated waterfowl preserve, with the Litchfield Watershed Management District, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources each participating in its management. However, primary management responsibility rests with the DNR-Wildlife, and the parcel is managed for wildlife, not fish. (See details at the DNR website by clicking here.) Thus, whether the lake should be drawn down has never really been a matter for debate; the endgame was apparently known all along, so there is essentially no room or reason for debate on the matter.

As for me--for what it might be worth-- I’m in favor of seeing the land be placed in its original condition, before humans started messing with it. If that means un-doing the water table that has been artificially set, so be it (and that sounds like what they’re going to do). That is perhaps not likely to be a popular attitude, but it is mine.

© 2010 Mike D. Anderson. All rights reserved.

Debris on Pelican Lake

Last evening, I had the pleasure of a kayak trip on Pelican Lake, just west of our home in St. Michael. I reclaimed perhaps 18 pounds of various trash (I cannot be completely accurate as I did not have my scale along). And I saw hundreds of pounds of additional debris that I could not reclaim from the vantage point of a kayak. There were a number of items that appeared to be one type of farm equipment or another.

Recently, I have learned these items were likely not discarded by someone as pollution. On the contrary, it is likely these items were borrowed by a spring flood -- and never returned -- as a temporary rise became a semi-permanent body of water that became known as Pelican Lake. (But I’ll offer more on that story later.)

© 2010 Mike D. Anderson. All rights reserved.

A renewed commitment to MN Adopt-A-River

In a recent email exchange with Paul and Eva at the Minnesota DNR, I continued by participation in the Adopt-A-River program. Specifically, I will maintain the two stretches of northern St. Croix River clean-up. But instead of re-filing on my stretch of Mississippi River, I have added an "at large" commitment of additional river conservation. That's because of the commitment of Tim Brown at Minneapolis Parks and Recreation to make sure work on our 9-mile section of north metro Mississippi is completed as a part of the MPRB's redevelopment effort... and because of Julie's and my relocation to St. Michael, Minnesota last year. I'll have greater access to the Crow River, the Sauk River and other creeks than I will the old section of the Ol' Miss.

Staying on top of this blog--and the next project I'd like to be working on--has been just out of reach but seldom out of mind over this past winter and spring. Work requirements have been stronger than ever in response to the recession and its' aftermath. And Julie and I have been rennovating our unfinished basement, a job that was more intense than I expected. Every moment of "free time" has gone to placing sheetrock, tile, and stone. We have suffered innumerable slivers, I have sanded-off my fingerprints while cutting stone for the fireplaced, and lifted more tonnage in home improvement supplies than anyone should be expected to carry without being employed by The Home Depot. But alas, the heavy work is done (on this, our final major home improvement project, period).

Today, I can say with confidence that anything left will wait. My rivers and wetlands are overdue, and I will now set my focus on giving them the attention they deserve.

Overdue, too, is the enjoyment and renewal I absorb from them.

© Mike D. Anderson, St. Michael, MN. All rights reserved.

From Earth Day to May Day

(Or perhaps, “Mayday!”)

For people who invest their time, creativity and effort in conservation, the recent (and continuing) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is very difficult to watch. (For those who have not seen enough, I offer an Associated Press video below, which I found at the Washington Post.) The event began as a human tragedy, of course, including the loss of many human lives in a still-unexplained explosion and fire (the leading assumption is that drilling ruptured a pocket of flammable gas much earlier than anticipated). We shouldn’t forget that for many families, there will be an empty chair at the dinner table tonight. Those families deserve our prayers.

To overstate the obvious, the scope of this environmental tragedy is also immense. (Perspective is available through these Washington Post photos.)

On the high seas, “Mayday” is known the world over as a signal of distress. Until now, I have not written about the BP oil spill. But on May first, as the consequences wash ashore along the coastline of the Gulf near the mouth of the Mississippi River, May Day seemed both an appropriate time and term for it. Each of the three rivers I’ve personally focused on over the past few years are part of the Mississippi watershed. But rather than be discouraged, I think it’s a good time to realize the waterways need more help than ever.

The next time I stop for gas, I will remind myself that the price we’re paying for petroleum is far higher than its price per gallon.

The AP video is available immediately below.

© Mike D. Anderson, St. Michael, MN. All rights reserved.

Happy 40th Birthday, Earth Day

One of the most amazing rewards to come from the Apollo space program was, simply, perspective. For ages, humanity had looked skyward and seen distant images of the sun, moon and stars. We could not have known (until modern science intervened) how massive those objects really were.

Inversely, until distant photographs of the Earth were taken—from the perspective of Apollo 8, while in lunar orbit—few of us realized how small our little globe really was.

In the spring following our first moon landing (specifically, on April 22, 1970), Earth Day was born. A few months later, the Environmental Protection Agency was formally established. And since that first Earth Day, momentum has grown for the idea that natural resources and places must be actively protected and cared for.

Earth Day was established because the behaviors of a few can hold consequences for many. In 1970, those consequences were bad, and the few were villains. In 2010, it is my hope—no, my belief—that more and more people accept the need for behavioral change, and that the consequences will be good.

Happy 40th Birthday, Earth Day.

© Mike D. Anderson, St. Michael, MN. All rights reserved.

Joining the iLCW

Recently, the demands of work have limited my chances to think about this blog. Thankfully, it is a season when little is to be done in the way of hands-on river clean-up, as most of the waterways are swollen with the runoff of the spring thaw. At best, I would be collecting thoughts from various news reports on matters of conservation, as I have done often over the winter months.

That said, I have been making slow but steady progress on a companion blog, one composed of brief pictorial and written essays about the amazing places I have been fortunate enough to visit, whether by kayak, canoe, or on foot. As a part of that project, I have been studying independently (when time allows) to improve my photography skills. By that, I don’t mean just learning how to run a camera… but thinking about how to be a good observer and student of the natural landscapes and wildlife within my reach. This process led me to an organization known as the International League of Conservation Photographers, a group which boasts some of the finest natural photojournalists on the planet. My current photo skills do not provide for participation in that elite group. (Think National Geographic, Audubon, Discovery Channel, etc.) But discovery of that organization has led me to another, somewhat related peer group: The International League of Conservation Writers.

The iLCW is a young organization, founded only this year. But its interests are parallel enough to my own that I applied to join, and was recently accepted as an associate member. Recently, my addition—along with two other writers from Canada and the United Kingdom—were announced in this brief release at the iLCW website.

I have been writing professionally, in one way or another, for somewhere north of thirty years, now. (You might not know it by my skills in grammar or punctuation, but I hope color and character are an adequate substitute for my shortfalls in English composition.) Most often, my writing has had something to do with advertising copy, media production, or more recently, research, consumer behavior, and related marketing matters. But writing is not only something I am paid to do; it is something I enjoy doing; more so over the past several years, as my life has been given the compliment of numerous outdoor experiences, and a new appreciation for the same.

You may never have heard of the International League of Conservation Writers, and perhaps you will never consider it a high-profile group. But I’m really looking forward to benefiting from—and contributing to—a group of like-minded people, who share the goal of helping others appreciate…

Life.

© 2010 Mike D. Anderson, St. Michael, MN. All rights reserved.