in this issue
   Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacaia) Removal, La Crosse WI
   Adopt A Mississippi River Mile Project
   April Reader's Digest article features Chad
   Big River Educational Workshops March 2005
   Students Make A Difference By Cleaning River

Greetings!

"There are two things that interest me: the relationships of people to each other, and the relationship of people to the land." -Aldo Leopold

As stewards of the river we work relentlessly to clean thousands of miles of shoreline along the Mississippi, Rock, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, Potomac, and Anacostia Rivers. Thanks, and hats off to all of you who support LL&W's mission. As winter begins to thaw we embrace a new season. Your continued support is much appreciated. In the next issue, read all about Capital River releif 2005. Madeline Luloff, LL&W's newsletter editor

Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacaia) Removal, La Crosse WI

From March 4 through March 10, Living Lands and Waters along with a few hardy volunteers and the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and the St. Paul District Foresters removed approximately seven acres of invasive, non-native black locust trees from Goose Island County Park near La Crosse, WI. This is a continuing project with the La Crescent, MN, based foresters. Approximately 4.5 acres were removed in comparable time in September 2004. The Black Locust trees had formed a single-species canopy and dense root network that would allow no competition. This is a continuing battle to return the river bottom forest to a more diverse, healthy condition. The 15- 45 ft. trees were cut at the stumps, lopped-up into fence posts and firewood sized poles which were piled, while the tops were chipped using an industrial- sized Vermeer C1100xl chipper. Everyone really worked hard and a commendation is due to both Geoff Manis and Dave Andrews for working above and beyond the call of duty. On the third day of chipping, we heard that the bark of Black Locust was used as a purgative by Native Americans, and we were not surprised by this as all of our mouths were numb and our eyes swollen. In closing, I, Woodson Spring, would like to express my utmost pleasure in working with the USACE, especially Jon Sobiech. My only complaint would be a lack of volunteers, which was explained by the nature of the work-- hard labor in the cold. I look forward to our next project with the USACE, Wisconsans and Minnesotans, and to planting trees on the area we just de-nuded. Thank you for your time. Woodson Spring, Riverbottom Forest Coordinator

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Adopt A Mississippi River Mile Project

By adopting a Mississippi mile, you can become part of the project. Helping to maintan the clean-up effort, you make a positive contribution to the life of the river...and to the lives of the people and animals that depend on it.

Living Lands & Waters' Adopt A Mile program is happy to announce two new stewards of the river the Bob Flam family from Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and Scott & Amber Sobiech of Little Falls, MN. We would like to thank them for accepting the responsibility for shoreline cleaning, restoration and beautification in their area. The program currently has a total of 73 groups that clean a total of 138 miles of the Mississippi River shoreline. If you are interested in becoming a steward of the river, link up to receive more information. Madeline Luloff, Adopt A Mile Coordinator. Click here for more information

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April Reader's Digest article features Chad

Check out the April issue of Reader's Digest for a feature article on Chad and LL&W! "Good News About the Earth" by Greg Easterbrook.

I want to let everyone know that there is a television special running on PBS--Chad Pregracke: River Rescuer. Tom Wopat narrates this intimate portrait of Chad, a young man who thought of the Mississippi as his backyard and grew up to become it's champion. Contact your local PBS station for times & dates. If its not already scheduled to air in your viewing area, you can request it. If you are interested in buying a copy of the program, visit WQPT.org, or call 1.800.747.2430.

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Big River Educational Workshops March 2005

For the first time ever, the Big River Educational Workshops focused on a new, big river system--the Ohio. Never have we seen more interest and support of these initiatives. Originally, just one workshop was scheduled in Paducah, Kentucky for March 11, 2005. However, in just a couple of days, the workshop reached maximum capacity with many more inquiring. We decided to put together a second workshop a week later on March 17th. That workshop, too, reached full capacity in just a matter of days. All in all, approximately 60 educators from western Kentucky, southern Illinois, and eastern Missouri braved the cool temperatures and winds to learn more about this awesome river system.

This was accomplished through a fabulous line-up of guest speakers, including author and historian John E.L. Robertson;representatives from the Kentucky Division of Forestry; fisheries biologists from the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Service; river guru himself, Bryan Hopkins with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources;and none other than Brent Pregracke and his fresh catch of fish. Specific activities included touring the Paducah River Heritage Museum and an Ingram Commercial Towboat, testing the water quality of the Ohio River, walking through an island forest, and comparing the fishing techniques and catch of a commercial fisherman and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, just to name a few. All in all, both workshops were a tremendous success. Specifically, we would like to recognize the awesome guest speakers who for NO FEE traveled great distances (Columbia, MO; Cincinnati, OH; etc.), prepared vibrant presentations, took time out of their busy schedules, and remained flexible throughout the workshop. We could not have done it without your experience, support, and generosity. LL&W looks forward to returning to the Ohio River for more workshops in the spring of next year. For more information about the 2005 Summer/Fall workshops, please visit our website: www.livinglandsandwaters.org/EducationalWorkshops/ default.htm

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Students Make A Difference By Cleaning River

Hauling heavy, rusty and frequently waterlogged refrigerators from the Ohio Riverbank was one of the highlights of Kyle Bobek's spring break. "It was hard at times, because some of the refrigerators were so heavy," said the Mass Communication senior, "but throughout the entire trip, whatever you picked up, no matter how big or small I felt happy to be doing it because I honestly felt that we were helping and making a difference." Kyle was one of the twelve Winona State students who traveled to Paducah, Ky to participate in a river clean up on the Ohio River on March 13. The spring break trip was organized by Mass Communication professor Drake Hokanson. Students joined Living Lands & Waters, an environmental organization established in 1998, on a 6-day outing to clean up as much garbage as possible along the banks of the river. Each day the group traveled to different destinations along the river to pick up trash from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon. Armed with rubber boots, warm clothes, and plenty of plastic garbage bags, Winona State student trudged through the mud to pick up plastic and glass bottles, tires, and scraps of metal. At the end of the trip, Winona State students and the Living Lands & Waters staff hauled out 162 tires, 92 bags of trash, 5 propane tanks, 3 refrigerators, 2 recliners, 1 sofa, 1 riding lawn mower and 1 car. Living Lands & Waters was established by Chad Pregracke after he noticed severe river pollution. Seeing a family on a boat enjoying the river next to a pile of garbage only heightened Pregracke's will to create change. "The river is a national symbol," said Pregracke, "and no one was doing anything about it, so I decided to." Living Lands & Waters was born as a one-man project in 1997 and with the help of sponsors, it has grown to employ a full time staff of 10. Along with the river clean up, Living Lands & Waters has expanded to include educational workshops and riverbottom restoration as part of the organization. Winona State students were given the opportunity to participate in the workshops where they were educated on topics such as the history of the river and the effects pollution has on the river. During one part of the workshop Pregracke's brother, Brent Pregracke, spoke about his commercial fishing business. Brent showed the different types of fish that can be caught on mid-western rivers, talking about both the business and his personal experiences. Although Living Lands and Water's land headquarters is based out of East Moline, Ill., Pregracke and his crew live and work on a series of four connected barges that travel mid-west rivers. The barges are equipped with living quarters for the crew, a class room for workshops and space to store the garbage until it can be taken to be recycled. Traveling via barge, Pregracke and his crew travel the mid-west cleaning the Mississippi River, Ohio River, Illinois River, and the Missouri River. While Living Lands & Waters is considered an environmental organization, education coordinator Tammy Becker insists this organization is different. "We're not involved in protests and activism. We're about conserving the river's beauty for recreational purposes," Becker said. Living Lands & Waters receives no governmental funding, but is supported solely by companies. Some of Living Lands & Water's well-known sponsors include 3M, Caterpillar, Cargill, and O'Doul's. "Most of the companies that sponsor us have a vested interest in the river," said Becker, "For example, O'Doul's main headquarters is on the river." To date, Living Lands & Waters has collected two million pounds of trash with the help of 3,000 volunteers. National Geographic, CNN, and Readers Digest have all covered Pregracke and given Living Lands & Waters national attention. Living Lands & Water's next project in Washington D.C. will focus on cleaning the Anacostia River and the Potomac River. While the crew works 7 days a week and up to 10 hours a day, the crew's attitude at Living Lands & Waters remain positive. Safety coordinator Dave Andrews sums it up, "The best part about my job is the immediate gratification and seeing the results of my work." Written by, Winona State University student Stephanie Magnuson.

Contact Information
email: madeline@livinglandsandwaters.org
web: http://www.livinglandsandwaters.org

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