John Tuma’s Capitol Update – March 12, 2010

“Charge those lines!”
- General Winfield Scott Hancock, Gettysburg, July 2, 1863

That was the command given to Colonel Colvill of the Minnesota 1st in the midst of the second day of fighting outside of the previously unknown and sleepy hamlet of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  Colvill, along with only a portion of the famed Minnesota 1st Regiment of 262 men, had just arrived on the battlefield after an arduous 20-mile march toward the sound of the developing battle.  Upon their arrival on the scene, Union forces were in chaos along the soon to become hallowed grounds known as Cemetery Ridge south of Gettysburg.  Sixteen hundred Confederates from Alabama, under the command of Gen. Cadmus Wilcox, moving quickly to take the high ground along this important place on the battlefield. (more…)

John Tuma’s Capitol Update – February 26, 2010

“There is magic in the feel of a paddle and the movement of a canoe, a magic compounded of distance, adventure, solitude, and peace.  The way of a canoe is the way of the wilderness and of a freedom almost forgotten.  It is an antidote to insecurity, the open door to waterways in ages past and a way of life with profound and abiding satisfaction.  When a man is part of his canoe, he is part of all that canoes have ever known.”

-Sigurd F. Olson, The Singing Wilderness, 1956

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Over at Conservation Minnesota, we’ve been trying to track where the nearly $300 million in new money from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment is going over the next two years. Although our work is not yet done, we have posted overall water spending numbers by agency here and detailed descriptions of money going to the Minnesota Department of Health (here and here), Department of Agriculture, Board of Water and Soil Resources and the Metro Council (for water supply planning). We also looked into the long-range water plan being developed by the University of Minnesota.

The money will fund badly-needed water cleanup, important habitat projects and critical parks and trails services. But making sure all the money is spent well and transparently is the job of citizen watchdogs and constituencies. We are interested in whether the material gathered to date raises any questions, concerns, or skepticism.

John Tuma’s Capitol Update – The Summer Version

Lobbyist John Tuma tells the second half of the story of Benny Ambrose, a legendary Boundary Waters woodsman who learned the wilderness was more precious than gold.
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The time to sweep our beaches is upon us once again. Join in the 13th Annual Minnesota Beach Sweep 2009, a community event that runs from September 1 through October 31.

Minnesota Beach Sweep started 13 years ago when Great Lakes Aquarium partnered with Ocean Conservancy for the International Coastal Clean-up (ICC). The ICC is the oldest running cleanup efforts of its kind and involves 123 countries around the globe. Focused on removing man-made debris from coastline of all kinds, ICC volunteers also collect data about the debris they gather. This data becomes part of the global database and is used to enhance efforts to protect and restore global waterways. This year, Great Lakes Aquarium has also partnered with Conservation Minnesota for the 13th Annual Minnesota Beach Sweep 2009. (more…)

A Congressional hearing yesterday is generating national headlines today. As the Associated Press puts it, “Consumers know less about the water they pay dearly for in bottles than what they can drink almost for free from the tap because the two are regulated differently, congressional investigators and nonprofit researchers say in new reports.”

That’s no surprise to those who’ve followed the issue for years. The double standard is one of the reasons for the surge in popularity of bottled water. The Minnesota Legislature should correct that for in-state bottlers if Congress won’t act nationally.

Marketing is another reason for the surge. Bottled water is sold to consumers as a lifestyle choice, an accessory, like a cell phone. Sometimes that marketing gets out of hand. At yesterday’s hearing, Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak noted an example: Aquamantra Spring Water explains that the words written on its labels — mantras such as “I am healthy” and “I am loved” — “permeate the liquid influencing the taste and beneficial properties of the water.” The company also claims that “Aquamantra uses the design on its labels to affect the molecular structure” of the water.

The question not discussed at the hearing is this: What happens to public control of groundwater, lakes and streams when private parties are allowed to claim ownership of and make enormous profits from this public trust resource? Water-rich Minnesota needs to think this through carefully.

News from Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness:

The PolyMet mine site was identified as important habitat by the Forest Service and the DNR in the late 1990s, as part of the Superior National Forest Plan revision process.

For more information, visit the Friends website.

Conservation Minnesota this week is launching its second year of regular reporting on summertime public beach conditions in Minnesota. Using data from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s Lake Superior monitoring program and our own research on conditions at inland beaches scattered across the state, we’re trying to develop a picture of the health of Minnesota’s recreational waters as they affect swimmers, and to help get the word out about any beach closings or advisories.

Exposure to pathogens can be a health problem at public beaches, as the Minnesota Department of Health notes. For example, in in 2001 there were over 3,000 confirmed cases of infectious diseases, including Giardia, Campylobacter, Shigella, Salmonella, e.coli and more.

Reader information — suggested beaches to check on, news about advisories or closings, or summertime beach stories and memories are all welcome. Simply contact dave@conservationminnesota.org or cmstaff@conservationminnesota.org.

Conservation Minnesota this week launched the second season of Check My Lake, a one-stop shop for information on the health of Minnesota’s 11,842 inland lakes. The site assembles and makes easy to use state testing data on those lakes.
This year the site has new features, including links to lake-specific information on fish consumption advisories; whether a specific lake has been identified by the state as having aquatic invasive species, and the latest state database on the swimmability and fishability of lakes.

The sulfide mining industry argues that if its mining is not done in our state, it will be done elsewhere. Such an argument misses the point. Minnesota should not engage in a race to the bottom, loosening safeguards and letting industry have its way with our clean water. While we certainly should not hide our polluting industries in Third World countries, we ought to demand that if they operate here in Minnesota, they operate with the very highest level of protections for our water and our tax dollars. (more…)