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Pigeon River Country Association Newsletter – February 2009
Editor’s Notes This latest edition of our newsletter begins with a summary report of the most recent Advisory Council Meeting, followed by an unsettling but, unfortunately not unexpected, report (“Pigs in the Pigeon River Country?”) and in turn, an editorial-article on “Climate Change and the Pigeon River Country.” Finally, we will end with a few words from the President of the Association. Then, after this harsh winter, “Think Spring!” *** UPDATE February 17, 2009 ***
The DNR, DEQ and Michigan Department of Attorney General have announced
filing of a lawsuit against Golden Lotus, Inc., popularly known as Song
of the Morning Ranch. They're seeking recovery of costs involved in
restoring the Pigeon River to pre-dam failure status, damages for loss
of public resources and recreational value, and removal of the dam.
January 16th Advisory Council Report Council member attendance at the meeting, during which the new PRCF Manager, Scott Whitcomb was introduced to the Council, was better than expected, considering the bitterly cold temperatures (the thermometer hit -8F that same night, and it had been -25F the night before!). Although the changeover is not yet official, the new representative for the Association (myself, Mike Brown) was introduced, with our retiring representative Eugene Horan (thank you for your years of faithful service), present as well. Public input, however, was considerably less, with only one horseback rider present (other than the Council member appointed to represent them) to continue their protest (more on that below) to the current regulations. In addition, the following issues came up during the meeting.
Song of the Morning Ranch-Dam
The attorney
representing the Association as well as the Michigan Chapter of Trout
Unlimited reported it appears he will be allowed to take part in
negotiations to reach a settlement on the dam release issue. At this
time all parties are waiting on reports from the DEQ and DNR Fisheries
prior to moving forward.
ORV Use A new State Law regulating ORV use on County roads was signed into law July 2008; this new law allows Counties to open all roads to ORV use. The Council in general is opposed to opening of any roads within the PRCSF boundary. After attending additional meetings I am hopeful some agreement can be reached to keep ORVs off the county roads as opening these roads would create great difficulty in keeping these units off State Forest roads and trails which remain off limits. (Note: A special meeting to address this issue is in the works – Ed.)
Snowmobile Use in the Elk Hunt It has been reported that snowmobiles were used to retrieve a few elk harvested during the December 2008 season, in further investigations and meetings it was discovered that this has been an on going practice and that pickup trucks have also been used in closed areas. The issue came to light since the updated “Concept of Management” limits snowmobile use to roads and trails designated as open under the vehicle access plan, except where necessary for management purposes. (Later, at a January 26th, 2009, committee meeting DNR Wildlife Biologists and a retired PRCSF Manager stated they felt this use was allowed as they consider it part of a management practice. But after great discussions a motion was passed recommending that, “snowmobiles and other motor vehicles NOT be allowed on any roads or trails except those open to the general public under the vehicle access plan”, emphasizing the need to FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES IN THE CONCEPT and that retrieval of a harvested animal is NOT considered a management practice. During discussions on the issue it was mentioned several times that the Elk hunts as they are currently conducted are greatly lacking in ethics, the Wildlife Biologist in attendance stated that the DNR is currently discussing options for revising future Elk hunts. Some of these options are aimed at making for a more quality experience not only for those involved in the hunt but for others using the Forest at that time as well, while still meeting the Departments goal of proper management of the Elk herd.)
Horseback Use The Horseback User group is still upset with new restrictions imposed by the updated “Concept of Management” they have appealed to the Advisory Council to revisit the issue. In the many meetings I have personally attended it appears quite clear that this group feels they should have NO restrictions placed upon their activity. Most other forest users have restrictions: Fishermen have limited seasons, size and creel limits, gear restrictions (fishing guide books contain over 70 pages of rules!). Hunters & Trappers have limited seasons, bag limits, restricted methods of harvest, limited land areas open to hunting and trapping (their guide book contains over 40-pages) plus there are Elk, Bear and Turkey season regulations that in addition to the above general hunting rules additional special regulations contained in separate guide books for each species and also have a limited entry/lottery type system for license applicants, where in some cases applicants might only be successful once in a lifetime. With over 300-miles of road and trail still open to horse back use there are numerous opportunities for this user group. While some argue that county roads are not safe, horse back users have ridden on these roads for years and it was only after the new restrictions that they raise the safety issue on roads. The areas closed to access except by human foot traffic provide the seclusion that the wild creatures that inhabit the PRCSF seek out and require. Man by contrast desires such a place for the wild character it offers, yet then demands access with new modern conveniences, campers equipped with all the comforts of home, towed by big trucks.
In-holdings and Boundary Lands The DNR has a land specialist working on acquisition of properties within the boundary of the PRCSF as well as some that border the Forest, which have recently become available to the State. The Current economy seems to be a double edged sword in this case as some lands are available because current owners cannot afford to continue to hold these lands and pay taxes, while on the other side the State might not have the funds to acquire them. The Natural Resources Trust Fund however currently has one million dollars available for this purpose, (What better use for this money than to add to the Forest that has been the source of all these funds!) Discussion was also held regarding an attempt to acquire the mineral rights on the Blue Lakes Tract. When the area was purchased an agreement could not be reached with regards to the mineral rights, however with a failed attempt to drill for oil prior to the State’s acquisition and two leases of the drilling rights since State acquisition with no wells actually attempted this would seem to be a very opportune time to attempt negotiations with the mineral rights holder in an attempt to forever protect this land.
High Country Pathway Repairs of the bridge over the Pigeon River near Pine Grove Camp Ground are nearly complete and we can look forward to an announcement that the bridge has been reopened in the very near future.
The Council meeting ended around 9:30PM. The next meeting is scheduled to start at 6:30 PM at the PRCF Headquarters on Friday April 17th, 2009. (Report by Michael Brown, PRCA representative to the PRCSFAC)
Pigs in the Pigeon River Country? In a previous edition of this newsletter, it was reported that although wild or feral swine have been seen in a few locations outside of the PRC Forest, none have been spotted actually within the Forest. This past month we received a note from a PRCA member (Bernadene Van Syckle of Dowling, MI) who said she had seen one trotting westward through a clearing within the forest near Sturgeon Valley Rd. while she was driving eastward back during the week of May 14, 2008. She added that “Having lived on a farm most of my 83 years, I know a pig when I see one!” Although we have relayed this report to the DNR wildlife division, we have been urged to request our membership to notify the PRCF Manager as promptly as possible if any more of these animals are sighted. They have begun to be a big problem facing our wildlife managers, due to their ability to spread disease affecting other forms of wildlife, and do great damage to the forest ecology. They need to be eliminated as quickly as possible!
Climate Change and the Pigeon River Country During August of 2006 and again in August 2007, I attended meetings on the subject of climate change that were held at the university of Michigan biological research station at Douglas lake near Pellston. The topic of the first meeting was the overall threat of global warming, with scientists from various parts United States and Canada giving talks about the seriousness of the situation. The subject of the second meeting was the likely effects of global warming on the Great Lakes basin. This second session was particularly interesting in light of our weather since then. The regional prediction was that the future would bring us milder but wetter winters and longer and dryer summers, but with precipitation events, when they do occur, being more severe or violent. These predictions seem confirmed when the winter of 2006–2007 turned out to be rather erratic, with fairly mild temperatures with frequent snowfalls punctuated by meltdowns that left us with unprecedented amounts of ice on the back roads in and around the forest. This was followed by an early spring break up and unusually warm weather that prompted early budding which in turn was blighted by a severe late frost. All this fulfilled another prediction—that the current climate change might turn out to cause real problems for northern Michigan’s fruit growers as well as for winter sports enthusiasts and winter tourism. However, this current winter, although it started out much like the previous one, has proved to be, so far, anything but mild. We sustained record snowfalls in the December, followed by a melt-down (triggering mid-winter flooding) that reduced the snow depth by roughly 2/3 but which since then was slowly replaced by nearly incessant snow-flurries, despite many days of record cold temperatures. The second full week of January, in particular, seemed to be paralyzed by what the local weather announcers call an “Alberta Clipper.” But don’t believe it. A check of one of the jet-stream map websites on the internet showed that this frigid air was reaching Michigan not so much from Alberta but was coming almost straight down to us from the Yukon and the Northwest Territories in the Canadian arctic! So what does all this erratic weather mean for the PRCF and for all of us who live in Northern Michigan? For one, we have to remember that it is not the short-term variations in the weather, even from year to year (see the comparisons on page 4, charted by the National Weather Service at the regional forecast center south of Gaylord) but rather the long term trends, which may show up only in terms of a degree or two difference from decade to decade. In fact, when I first heard of the phenomenon of “global warming” several decades ago (up until then the worry was more about global cooling) one of the predictions was that of increasing short-term variations—unusually mild winters followed by relatively cold ones, and even the same for summers!) Instead, only the long term statistics tell the real story. For example, the average surface temperature of Lake Superior has been increasing about 1 degree Celsius per decade during the past several decades despite yearly fluctuations (see www.d.unm.edu/~jaustin/ICE.html ) This change is approximately twice as much as the rate of warming of overall air temperatures over the lake as measured by NOAA during the same period, which points to a cumulative effect, especially when it comes to larger bodies of water. But one can’t but wonder if the rather troubling increase in periods of extended warm river water conditions, occasionally going beyond the tolerance of capabilities of brook trout and as recorded in the main branch of Black River in recent years, has been simply due to too many beaver dams and too much sand or (as some have claimed) to too much clear-cutting. But one way or another, there seems to be no question that the effects of climate change, no matter how subtle, are being seen in the PRCF. One U of M wildlife biologist that I met at the Douglas Lake conferences told me that his study of in one area of the PRCF showed that over the past decades that most of the more northern varieties of small rodents that were once typical here, such a deer mice and flying squirrels, have been replaced by southern varieties of the same species. And few of us can have failed to miss the invasion of opossums in recent years—an animal that back when I was young (which admittedly was a long time ago) was rarely seen, even in southern Michigan. So what can we do to try to arrest all this? I suppose that we really can’t do much specifically that will slow down climate change in the PRCF. But despite the gloomy predictions of some climate scientists (one of those speaking at the Douglas Lake meetings said that things had gone way too far to reverse—the best we can do is to adjust to it or maybe try to slow it down some) I still think we should at least do what we can, mostly by personally reducing carbon and other energy use emissions, to reduce the overall impact. I know that there are people who will shrug all this off (some of them are among my best friends) and simply say it is all just part of long term climate cycles that the earth has been through many times before—implying that there is nothing that we can or should do about it—other than maybe try to adjust or get used to it. But have they considered what the consequences might be of doing nothing? Some 20-30 thousand years ago the earth was plunged into its last major ice, which was apparently triggered by a sudden period of global warming—if we can believe the data indicated by deep borings made into the Greenland Ice Cap. (If that seems counter-intuitive, consider this: warm air holds more moisture, which at higher latitudes translates into more snow, which unless it all melts, eventually compacts into ice, the result being the gradual formation of ice-caps and glaciers.) However, it has also been estimated that the world’s human population before the last ice age was at most well below a million persons, and that once that ice age set in, it dwindled to about one-tenth that. Now, this time around it is estimated that we will probably have about nine billion persons on earth by the year 2050, which also happens to be the year by which many scientists say we must have either arrested further global warming or else be headed for certain disaster. If so, then one hardly needs to do the math to come to the conclusion that doing nothing, even now, is to become guilty of contributing to a future, and as far as the human race is concerned, a unprecedented catastrophe. R. W. Kropf 1/21/09
A Word from the PRCA President The Association would like to thank Eugene Horan, its representative on the Pigeon River Advisory Council, for all of his efforts. Eugene told us that changing conditions at work would limit his time and he wanted others to have a chance to represent the Association on the Advisory Council. The DNR just asked who should represent us for a new term beginning this year. Eugene’s replacement was discussed at the annual meeting last summer and then at a Board meeting afterwards. We agreed that Mike Brown would be an excellent candidate to represent our interests in maintaining the wild characteristics of the Pigeon River Country, and I’ve just been told that he will be recommended to Lansing as our representative for a two year term on the PRCAC starting this year. Mike has been active in the Pigeon for a long time and has been on the Oil & Gas Committee for several years. We look forward to his reports in the newsletter.
Graphs copied from the NOAA National Weather Service Station Website — Gaylord, Michigan
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