In Wisconsin #807

Patty Loew:

Welcome to “In Wisconsin.” I’m Patty Loew. This week we investigate why some lakes and streams in central Wisconsin have vanished.

Man:

It just kept going down and down and down and it was gone.

Patty Loew:

Plus sacred symbols for Native Americans withstand the test of time.

Man:

We’re a people of the panthers and the people of the bears and the people of the birds.

Patty Loew:

Now the stories of long ago are preserved for future generations. And a trip to Jean Garvey’s alpaca farm in Mazomanie. See why she thinks alpacas are a good investment. Next on “In Wisconsin.”

Announcer:

Major funding for “In Wisconsin” is provided by the people of Alliant Energy who bring safe, reliable and environmentally friendly energy to keep homes, neighborhoods and life in Wisconsin running smoothly. Alliant Energy, we’re on for you. And the Animal Dentistry and Oral Surgery Specialists of Milwaukee and Oshkosh, a veterinary team working with pet owners and family veterinarians throughout Wisconsin providing care for oral disease and surgery for small companion animals. Additional funding by Bike Wisconsin.

Patty Loew:

We begin with the end of a journey for a Madison landmark. We first told you about the Native American effigy tree last January. Carved from a tree trunk it marks the spot of ancient effigy mounds. This week “In Wisconsin’s” Andy Soth shows you what happens when time and weather have taken their toll on a beloved neighborhood icon.

Andy Soth:

On a warm fall day there is a gathering at Madison’s Hudson Park, a spot where people have gathered together for a long, long time.

Man:

1,000 years ago folks like yourselves came together to meet new friends, you might meet a spouse and celebrate life. Is it neat that 1,000 years later we’re standing here doing the same thing.

Andy Soth:

The park is known for its thousand year old effigy mounds and now for the effigy tree carved in 1991 by Harry Whitehorse.

Harry Whitehorse:

I started chiseling on April 10^th on the figures. I incorporated the mounds into it, so that goes back to ancient times. My mother always called the people that did the mounds the Ancients.

Man:

We’re the people of panthers, bears and birds.

Jay Toth:

As far as this particular site and my other sites, this is a religious burial site and many other things but also a way to solidify the community.

Andy Soth:

Today the community unites to honor that spirit by celebrating the effigy tree. It had become a revered part of the neighborhood.

Man:

The bear cubs down here wrapped around the mother’s legs. This is the thunderbird here, right? Isn’t that neat?

Harry Whitehorse:

People, when they look at it, like one woman came up and asked, When you took the bark off, I was watching you take the bark off. I didn’t know all the figures were underneath that bark.

Child:

Here is a bear.

Harry Whitehorse:

There is a bear, a cub bear that is eye level with the smaller kids and they like that part of it.

Andy Soth:

But the wooden sculpture couldn’t survive the elements.

Pat Tully:

The original piece was beautiful but it started to deteriorate quickly because it was a tree that had died and it was kind of hard to watch that deterioration and we tried to stem the tide a little and do repairs but it looked pretty rough after a while.

Andy Soth:

That led the neighborhood and Whitehorse to seek a lasting replacement.

Karin Wolf:

He wished for it to be bronzed and put here, and then the neighborhood generously agreed that that was the best solution and raised the funds.

Andy Soth:

The effigy tree was removed from the site, restored and prepped for casting. Pieces were recreated in wax that was then replaced with molten bronze. Once cooled, the pieces were re-assembled into a new effigy tree.

Man:

I guess we cant call it the effigy tree anymore, cause there isnt any wood remaining. We have to call it its proper title and that is Let the Great Spirits Soar, and we are doing that today.

Andy Soth:

As the sculpture soared into place over the summer it was a spellbinding moment for some.

Pat Tully:

I totally had chills. You envision it and then you see the pictures and know what the drawings are but on this incredibly hot, muggy day it felt funny to get chills but I very much had chills as I saw the piece and saw Harry and remembered being in this spot 20 years ago. It was an amazing experience to see it back.

Andy Soth:

On this fall day at the rededication the neighborhood and Ho-Chunk celebrate the same way they did 20 years ago.

Man:

These songs, these words, the drums, all these were in existence long before the square houses ever came near this place.

Andy Soth:

The sculpture doesn’t only honor the mound builders of ancient times but also those who called this place their home in more recent history.

Karin Wolf:

This land until the 30s, much of it was used by Ho-Chunk people that were camping here.

Man:

He was telling us today that when they were boys with their mother and father they would camp here. And he said, If we started playing too hard we would fall off that cliff and end up in the water.

Andy Soth:

It’s moments like that this work will honor long after the memories fade away.

Jay Toth:

It is way to reach across the past and touch your ancestors and at the same time look ahead to the future.

Harry Whitehorse:

I would like to present a model of this effigy tree to the Ho-Chunk nation. It’s heavy.

Man:

Members of the community have a closeness. We’re connected.

Woman:

I thank him on behalf of the Ho-Chunk nation.

Harry Whitehorse:

Thank you very much.

Man:

Thank you.

Patty Loew:

It’s called Let the Great Spirits Soar. It is built to last 5,000 years. For more information go to our website at wpt.org and click on “In Wisconsin.” We have posted more of the dedication ceremony and a closer look at how it was cast into bronze. The abundance of water is one reason why Native Americans settled in Wisconsin. But in recent years, some lakes in central Wisconsin have been drying up and streams have disappeared. It’s been nearly ten years since Wisconsin Public Television aired the documentary, Water Rich, Water Poor. And if 2009 is any indication, the problem is getting worse. This week “In Wisconsin” reporter Art Hackett shows you how the drought and new wells are draining the area from Hancock through Stevens Point.

Art Hackett:

Barb Feltz grew up along the Little Plover River, a four mile long stream near Stevens Point.

Barb Feltz:

I’m completely emotionally attached to the Little Plover because my grandmother used to take me trout fishing at the 80 that’s east of here.

Art Hackett:

She still lives next to the stream, although there is an automatic flow monitor on her property, she still logs it personally every day at an old manual flow station. On September 15th, she said the creek had gone dry.

Barb Feltz:

The sand silt in the bottom was hard. You could go and walk completely up the creek.

Art Hackett:

There are still trout in the Little Plover but some of those trout are in Feltz’s freezer. She collected the dead fish not long after her discovery.

Barb Feltz:

I don’t know how many other holes there was trout in that the coons ate up before I came home that day.

Art Hackett:

The Little Plover River may be low but at least it’s still flowing most of the time. That’s not the case just to the south in Washara County. Here Long Lake is long gone.

Butch Bredow:

We bought a cottage right over there in 1973. Yeah, the water in the lake was really, really nice. Good, nice fishing.

Art Hackett:

Butch and Karen Bredow say the problem started to show up five years ago.

Butch Bredow:

It went down and down and down and it was gone completely.

Karen Bredow:

It was a shock when we looked out in the fall and everything was gone.

Butch Bredow:

Kaput like the Germans would say, it’s gone.

Art Hackett:

Today Long Lake is a prairie. No longer can you catch trophy bass in its waters but a Christmas tree farm is developing in the Bredow’s backyard. They’ve seen sandhill cranes from time to time. A mirage perhaps? This is the town of Oasis. It’s home to several used to be lakes like Long Lake, Plainfield Lake is water-free. Huron Lake is in the process of drying up.

Cris Van Houten:

There was always farmland, always irrigation. The water level stayed high. Sometimes too high for us. But didn’t get to be an issue until it got down about beyond that point and it never came back up.

Art Hackett:

Cris Van Houten has a picture from the late 1990s showing him and his daughter pulling a sailboat. This is the stump of the tree that’s in that shot. It is now about 30 feet from the waterline.

Art Hackett:

What was your reaction when you first saw that?

Tim Asplund:

Well, it was surprise and shock a little bit.

Art Hackett:

Tim Asplund is a water resource specialist with the Wisconsin department of natural resources. He says he was first called to Long Lake in 2006.

Tim Asplund:

People call all the time when there are dry conditions saying, my lake is down, the water levels are going down, what is the reason? You sort of ask and probe a little bit more and usually people are talking about a couple feet drop and that is typical.

Art Hackett:

Asplund says it’s normal because these lakes are seepage lakes. The water comes from springs feeding water out of the surrounding soil. Theyre profoundly affected by prolonged drought.

Tim Asplund:

What I saw was pretty significant decline and something that did cause some concern in terms of this might be something more than just climate.

Cris Van Houten:

They put in much bigger irrigation systems. They put in new irrigation systems the last few years and they’ve killed the goose that laid the golden egg.

Jim Burns:

You could quit irrigating tomorrow in the whole state and it wouldn’t change these lakes one bit.

Art Hackett:

The debate explains why the central sands are ground zero as Wisconsin reviews its laws on groundwater.

Patty Loew:

The problem has gotten so bad in some areas, Abbottsford and Colby are considering a 35 mile long pipeline to Wausau because wells serving those cities are going dry. The state legislature is reviewing groundwater laws. Next week Art Hackett explores the role farm irrigation wells are having on the problem and you’ll hear from vegetable growers about their concerns over tougher water regulations. Thats next week on “In Wisconsin.”

Patty Loew:

It’s the tail end of the migration season as millions of birds wing their way across our state. It’s a journey with many hazards including window collisions. “In Wisconsin” reporter Jo Garrett shows you some seasonal solutions that can save birds and energy costs in Milwaukee.

Jo Garrett:

The man walking through downtown Milwaukee is Scott Diehl. He’s the director of wildlife rehabilitation for the Wisconsin Humane Society. And he is out to solve a problem. A problem with birds and glass.

Scott Diehl:

A lot of glass. A lot of glass. I think the bird collision issue has been one that has not had much awareness to date and when these buildings were built, there wasn’t an awareness about the magnitude of this problem. Reasonable estimates place the mortality between 100 million and a billion native birds dying in North America each year in window collisions.

Jo Garrett:

The problem is bird/window collisions, what are called window strikes. To combat the problem the Wisconsin Humane Society has inaugurated a program called WINGS, Wisconsin Night Guardians for Songbirds. People like Diehl hit the city every morning during migration to look for casualties like this one. It’s a warbler that Diehl found downtown. Every year in North America, hundreds of millions of birds die from window strikes.

Scott Diehl:

This bird that weighs ten grams has flown from Costa Rica or Panama to Wisconsin across so many hazards and they are at once amazing in their capability of flying those distances and traversing all those mountain ranges and rivers and oceans and yet a 1/16-inch piece of glass is enough to stop them permanently.

Woman:

I hear you. There you are.

Jo Garrett:

Most are in the dark about this problem. The Wisconsin Humane Society is on a mission to change that.

Scott Diehl:

It’s great to be able to treat that bird and hopefully rehabilitate it. Get it out and get it released. How much better is it to prevent this in the first place? To stop this needless death and suffering for birds?

Jo Garrett:

Rehabilitation is costly and wildlife rehabilitators receive no public dollars. They exist on private donations.

Scott Diehl:

Weather conditions, windy. Rain.

Jo Garrett:

So the WINGS volunteer monitors not only collect birds.

Scott Diehl:

First bird was a Canada warbler.

Jo Garrett:

They collect information on the when and where of window strikes. With the hope of persuading business managers and owners to take steps to cut down on collisions.

Scott Diehl:

We want to go back to them and say here is what we found and be able to document the problem. Give us backup when we approach these folks and ask them to help us save birds.

Jo Garrett:

There are cities that have programs in place to reduce window strikes. One of the easiest for buildings is lights out at night. It has a huge benefit and not just for birds.

Scott Diehl:

It actually did a study in Toronto and the study actually indicated that each of those businesses that turned their lights out between the hours of about 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. During periods of peak migration, those businesses saved hundreds of thousands of dollars and reduced their carbon footprint.

Jo Garrett:

Lights out cuts down on collisions at nighttime. And inexpensive window treatments on the first two floors of buildings can cut down enormously on daytime collisions.

Scott Diehl:

You’re trying to create some visible noise, an awareness that this way is not a good way to fly. Dont come this direction.

Jo Garrett:

Homeowners can use these distractions too during migration time, to create what the Humane Society calls the bird-safe home. Some are small. Easily peel off after migration is done.

Scott Diehl:

These are static window clings. They can be put up and taken down easily without hurting the window. These have been up there for a couple of years and they came down that fast.

Jo Garrett:

This one peels off, too. It is meant to stay up for a long time.

Scott Diehl:

This is very similar to the product that you see on buses. People outside the house cannot see in very well so added privacy factor but this is very effective for cutting down on those reflections and really lowering bird mortality.

Jo Garrett:

The goal is to save these birds. But protecting these tiny migrating travelers could also serve to remind us of the change in seasons and provide us with a bit of ritual to mark our way.

Scott Diehl:

When I was a kid seasonally we used to decorate with something called glass wax.

Woman:

Why are we going to draw on the windows? For the birds. What will it help the birds do?

Child:

Not crash into the windows.

Woman:

That’s right.

Scott Diehl:

You could have your children cut out decorative patterns, do something just for migration season. We’re doing this for the birds trying to save birds.

Jo Garrett:

Dead or alive?

Scott Diehl:

Alive. Fortunately alive, which is wonderful.

Jo Garrett:

The little warbler Diehl found is alive. Diehl bundles the bird into a simple paper bag. It is dark and safe and the bird won’t injure herself if she flutters about and tries to fly. And it’s off to the Humane Society and some time in a bag on a heating pad.

Scott Diehl:

In this cold, wet weather she’s probably a bit hypothermic, so we want to warm her up a bit.

Jo Garrett:

After the warming, her injuries are assessed.

Woman:

We’ll look for eye injuries, head injuries, blood coming from the mouth. You can see this eye is a little bit swollen, looks a little dehydrated, droopy eyed. It is not open all the way like this one is. I’m just testing to see how they kind of bounce back into place. If they are broken they will droop down and they won’t pop back into place like this one is doing. It looks in good condition and not feeling any breaks in the wings.

Jo Garrett:

After assessment it is time for a little re-hydration and a warbler- sized amount of medicine.

Scott Diehl:

We’ll put it on the seam of the bill. This helps with pain and swelling and inflammation.

Jo Garrett:

The same day as this rescue, Diehl drove to Doctor’s Park north of Milwaukee to band.

Scott Diehl:

Be careful.

Jo Garrett:

And release four birds brought back to health after window strikes.

Scott Diehl:

So just roll them over there, Elizabeth and let me get a leg. Okay. Ready to go. Be careful there, kiddo, don’t you hit any windows. Success, wonderful. Oh, I hope they do well. We gave them a second chance anyway. There are 10,000 windows between here and where some of these guys want to be so we’re hoping that people will get involved, take action on their own homes and businesses to help these little guys make it.

Patty Loew:

Now an update on that tiny yellow Canada warbler found injured during our report. It had a broken wishbone but after being immobilized for two weeks the bird healed and has been released back into the wild. For more information on how you can help migrating birds, just go to our website wpt.org and click on “In Wisconsin.” You’ll also find more details on the WINGS volunteer monitoring program sponsored by the Wisconsin Humane Society. Those birds migrate to escape winter in Wisconsin. Alpaca’s grow a thick coat to shelter them from the cold. There are nearly 250 alpaca farms across the state and it might be the only time fleece is a good thing when it comes to a financial investment. This week contributing producer Steve Doebel takes you to Jean Garvey’s alpaca farm in Mazomanie.

Jean Garvey:

Would you like an apple? There you go.

Jean Garvey:

You’re a wonderful boy. My name is Jean Garvey and I have been an alpaca farmer for eight years. I raise and sell alpacas. We wanted something to do on small acreage. What we discovered about alpacas is that they’re an excellent livestock investment. They don’t take much acreage and that they are very enchanting animals. There is a difference between an alpaca and llama. Most people don’t know what it is. I’ll be glad to tell them. A llama is a large animal and it was bred as a pack animal mainly. An alpaca has always been a small animal and bred for fiber. They definitely have personalities. They hum and talk to each other in a hum, hmmm, hmmm. They like it when you talk softly to them or sing to them. I’m down here talking and singing to my alpaca’s a lot.

Jean Garvey:

She looks likes the flying nun’s hat.

Jean Garvey:

If they argue with each other, which is usually when they spit. The horrible smelling green stuff comes out of their mouth and oh my, it does smell terrible. It smells awful. Alpacas are terrific livestock to own because they go potty in the same spot all the time. So we have dung piles. I happen to love to run around and clean up alpaca manure. I’m a very strange person. I can keep track of my alpacas by cleaning up the manure to make sure everyone is healthy. Come on, let’s get some apples.

Jean Garvey:

Owning alpaca’s has been life changing for me. I personally wasn’t supposed to see the change of the century. I have certain illnesses and conditions that it’s remarkable that I’m still around. But alpacas have given me that incentive and the love of alpacas and the attention and love that they give me, gives me the incentive to keep moving and keep moving keeps you alive.

Jean Garvey:

Go to the barn. There you go. There you go. My partner in all of this alpaca business and mill business is Roy Lord, who is my life partner. The first love of my life. Then there are the dogs and the alpacas. He’s the first one. He runs the mill. Our fiber mill processes alpaca fleeces for us and for other farms all over the country. Alpaca fiber has incredible insulative qualities. We’ve walked out after a snowstorm and brushed off six inches of snow off the top of our alpacas because it doesn’t melt. They’re so insulated that the heat doesn’t get away from their body to melt the snow off their backs. Stetson is getting cleaned right now. Now he’ll shake it off and his fiber will be all separated and clean. This yarn is hand spun yarn from one of our alpacas. Her name is Icy Mocha. If somebody wants to make something out of hand spun Icy Mocha they can do it. Individual animals do have followings. You’ll have a hand crafter that wants Icy’s fleece this year and can I contract to get Icy’s fleece next year, too or they can have a throw or something made out of the fleece from a special alpaca. All alpacas are special, actually.

Patty Loew:

Buyers will spend from $500 to $500,000 on an alpaca. Now a look at some of the reports we’re working on for the next edition of “In Wisconsin.”

Liz Koerner:

The University of Wisconsin has a laboratory that has been turning out research for three quarters of a century and this is it. This is “In Wisconsin” reporter Liz Koerner. I’ll show you how this prairie restoration is like none other in the entire world.

Frederica Freyberg:

This is Frederica Freyberg. Thousands of foreclosed home in the city of Milwaukee turn block after block into vacant board-ups. This is one face of foreclosure.

Julius Holmes:

I can’t pay that. I tried as long as I could but I couldn’t keep up.

Frederica Freyberg:

New developments that could change his future.

Patty Loew:

Plus an update on the massive fish kill last spring on the Big Eau Pleine reservoir near Mosinee and what is being done to keep it from happening again this winter. Those reports next Thursday at 7:00 on In Wisconsin.” We leave you this week with the fall splendor along Little Star Lake in the Northern Highlands state forest. Enjoy the view and have a great week “In Wisconsin.”

Announcer:

Major funding for “In Wisconsin” is provided by the people of Alliant Energy who bring safe, reliable and environmentally friendly energy to keep homes, neighborhoods and life in Wisconsin running smoothly. Alliant Energy, we’re on for you. And the Animal Dentistry and Oral Surgery Specialists of Milwaukee and Oshkosh, a veterinary team working with pet owners and family veterinarians throughout Wisconsin providing care for oral disease and surgery for small companion animals. Additional funding by Bike Wisconsin.

Patty Loew:

Next time on “In Wisconsin.” Water in our state is disappearing faster than you might think.

Man:

This area here was a bubbling spring.

Patty Loew:

It is a controversy with deep undercurrents. See why this prairie restoration holds worldwide significance.

Woman:

I thought it would be a great place to test the idea.

Patty Loew:

Thousands of foreclosed homes in Milwaukee turn block after block into board-ups.