Posted: 1/10/06
Mississippi refuge plan under fire again
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
ìNo matter what I do with this plan, people are going to be angry.î
That statement by Don Hultman summed up public reaction to a new a Mississippi River Refuge plan.
Hultman, manager of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, made the comment midway through a public forum on the plan on January 5 at La Crescent High Schoolís auditorium. He was responding to Tim Morgan of Stoddard, who said that hunters and fishermen are the biggest users of the river, and are being restricted by the proposal.
Morgan and more than a dozen other people voiced concerns over Alternative E of the Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Impact Statement for the refuge.
It was released for a 60-day public review and comment period on December 5. Another 30 days was added at the request of people at the hearings, making the new deadline March 6.
The final plan will be released early this summer, and will be in place for 15 years, refuge director Don Hultman said.
Several people also spoke in favor of Alternative E at the 90-minute hearing. The two sides at times exchanged shouts and sarcastic remarks. It was slightly less subdued than another hearing in La Crescent last fall that drew 300-plus people to the American Legion.
Since then, refuge workers worked to come up with a new alternative to reflect the feedback from the citizens. Last weekís hearing indicated that a happy medium is unlikely when the final plan is released this summer.
The subject of airboat restrictions came up several times during the public forum, with people from both sides speaking out. One kayak user, James Oldenburg, said he worried that airboats in the Root River Bottoms go very fast and might not be able to see him in his kayak. ìItís really an issue more of safety than anything,î he said. Donít just look out for yourself, he said.
That prompted another man to say that the kayaker could compromise himself by having some visibility feature like a flag on the kayak. The refuge plan could require that, he added.
Andy Pretasky from Onalaska, Wisconsin, said not allowing airboats in the Black River Bottomsí proposed slow, no-wake zone would make it impossible for him to reach the Main Channel from his house in Brice Prairie because of shallow water. He said he treats canoeists and kayakers respectfully, but needs an access lane to the river. ìThey have a right to be out there but so do I,î he said.
ìWeíll take a serious look at that,î Hultman responded.
La Crosse District Refuge manager Jim Nissen said at the public forum that restricting airboats and ìGo-Devilsî (a surface-driven boat) in the Blue/Target Lake area south of La Crescent is intended to reduce disturbance of birds at night, which in turn will help hunters the next day. Migratory birds are moved out when airboats and Go-Devils come in, he said.
A citizen countered that later in the meeting, saying that he uses an airboat a lot. ìAnd the ducks always fly back,î he said.
Greg Egan of La Crosse said he opposed Alternative E because it does little to address problems of sedimentation, invasive species, and pollution. He said he supports Alternative A, which was to leave things as they presently exist.
Hultman responded that he recognizes those things as problems, but objectives in the plan must be measurable and do-able. The refuge doesnít have sole control over things like invasives and sedimentation, Hultman said.
Hultman addressed concerns from hunters who feel that the plan is taking things away from them. Hultman said the plan is trying to take care of waterfowl resource. ìThis does not mean we have some vendetta out for hunters,î he said.
The USFWS has purchased about 1,200 acres in Pools 7 and 8 since 1988, most of which is open for hunting, Hultman said. ìAs we add land to the refuge, we add land that is open to hunting and recreation,î he said.
Open house was first
People looked at maps of Alternative E at an open house before the public forum. They had a chance to talk informally with several U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service workers.
Jim Wilde and Ted Haerer of La Crescent didnít like what they saw as they peered at a map laying on one table. Wilde said there was nothing in the plan conducive to hunters. ìEven with Alternative E, theyíre restricting our access to the refuge,î he said.
Refuge officials would be better off enforcing laws that currently exist, Haerer said. He called the plan ìempire building,î because it includes a lot of building projects and hiring new staff.
Once the restrictions are in place, they will never be lifted, Wilde added.
Tim Lange of Caledonia stated a different opinion while looking at a map of the Reno Bottoms taped to a wall. The area, located below the Reno spillway, is proposed to be a slow, no-wake area from March 16-October 31. It would also ban airboats and hovercraft. Lange likes that, because he opposes the use of airboats in the Bottoms. He said heís seen and heard them there. ìAnd all of a sudden the ducks are just gone.î He feels people can hunt and fish adequately in the bottoms with conventional boats.
More information
People can pick up the executive summary of the Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Impact Statement for the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge at the Refuge office at 555 Lester Avenue, Onalaska, 54650. Call 608-783-8405 for more information.
Copies of the executive summary and full supplement, along with the full draft CCP and EIS, can be viewed on the Internet at www.fws.gov/midwest/planning/uppermiss/.
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