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Week of July 14, 2008 |
| World News |
| National |
| General |
| Lake Michigan |
| Lake Erie |
| Illinois |
| Indiana |
| Michigan |
| Words to Ponder |
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World
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Experts Reject Notion Global Warming Is Causing More Floods The Heartland Institute reports The National Wildlife Federation on July 1 released a statement claiming global warming is to blame for the current and recent flooding along the northern Mississippi River. Climate experts contacted by The Heartland Institute refuted those unsubstantiated assertions. Their comments below may be quoted or you may contact them directly.
"North American flooding tends to become both less frequent and less severe when the planet warms, although there have been some exceptions to this general rule. Hence, although there could also be exceptions to this rule in the case of future warming, on average we would expect that any further warming of the globe would tend to further reduce both the frequency and severity of flooding in North America -- which, of course, is just the opposite of what the world's climate alarmists continue to claim would occur." Craig Idso, Ph.D. Chairman Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change
"Alarmists have adopted the can't-lose position that all extremes of weather -- cold, warm, wet, or dry -- are all due to global warming. They blamed the frequent tornadoes of the late winter and spring on global warming, even though the number was not at all atypical of a La Niqa year. Southern Wisconsin and much of the Midwest have had a rough winter and spring, but it has been the antithesis of global warming. "The record snows, severe weather, and heavy rainfall have been the result of rapid cooling in the northern tier of the United States and Canada, not global warming. The flooding exceeded the floods of 1993 following the eruption of Pinatubo, which produced a similar cooling with a strong suppressed jet stream that brought a steady stream of storms and flooding. |
"Rapid warming, such as took place in the 1930s and again around 1980, leads to drought and record heat. The alarmist movement is reeling after the warming stopped in 1998 and cooling began in 2002, accelerating in the last year. Their claims have now morphed from warming to focusing on the extremes typical of La Niqa and the colder decades to try to keep their hoax alive." Joseph D'Aleo, Ph.D. Executive Director International Climate and Environmental Change Assessment Project
"There has been no 'global warming' for the last 10 years, so the floods can't be caused by it. "The IPCC has repeatedly said (rightly, for once) that it is not possible to attribute individual extreme-weather events such as the Mississippi flooding to 'global warming'; and it is well known that the main reason for the flooding is the attempt to confine very long stretches of our continent's largest river between levees rather than allowing it to spill out onto the flood-plain.
"There is no indication that flooding here or elsewhere has increased beyond natural variability. In the UK, for example, where similar noises were made during last year's summer floods, it transpired that far worse floods were recorded as having occurred in various parts of England since the Middle Ages." Bob Ferguson President Science and Public Policy Institute
Courtesy: Heartland Institute
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National
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Coast Guard, TSA set TWIC Compliance Dates WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration announced Wednesday that Oct. 31, 2008, is the Transportation Worker Identification Credential program compliance date for owners and operators of facilities located within the U.S. Coast Guard Captain of the Port Zones of Buffalo, N.Y., Duluth, Minn., Detroit, Sault Ste. Marie, Wis., and Lake Michigan. The newly announced compliance date is in addition to the Oct. 15, 2008, compliance date previously set for the U.S. Coast Guard Captain of the Port Zones of Boston, Northern New England and Southeastern New England.
The Coast Guard plans to announce those additional ports scheduled for the compliance phase of the TWIC program in coming weeks. Compliance will be phased in by Captain of the Port Zones between Oct. 15, 2008 and April 15, 2009, after which all ports must be in compliance and all credentialed mariners must be in possession of a TWIC.
"Ensuring that only a vetted, credentialed population of workers has unescorted access to secure areas of our Nation's ports marks another major milestone for this important security program," said Maurine Fanguy, TWIC program director for TSA. A framework showing expected compliance dates by Captain of the Port Zone is available on the U.S. Coast Guard's Homeport Website at http://homeport.uscg.mil/twic. |
Workers are encouraged to enroll as soon as possible and can pre-enroll for their TWIC online at www.tsa.gov/twic. The Coast Guard adds, Pre-enrollment speeds up the process by allowing workers to provide biographic information and to schedule a time to complete the application process in person. The pre-enrollment process reduces the time it takes to fully enroll in the TWIC program and eliminates waiting at enrollment centers.
"We need people to enroll now so this important port security initiative can be implemented and disruptions to maritime operations can be avoided as TWIC compliance begins across the country," said Capt. Mark. P. O'Malley, Chief of the U.S. Coast Guard's Office of Port and Facility Activities.
TWIC was established in the Maritime Transportation Security Act and the Security and Accountability for Every Port Act to serve as an identification program for all Coast Guard credentialed mariners and personnel requiring unescorted access to secure areas within a port. The program is progressing steadily and has opened more than 130 fixed enrollment centers and dozens of mobile sites nationwide. more than 350,000 workers have enrolled to date and thousands more are processed each week. Additional information can be found at http://homeport.uscg.mil/twic and www.tsa.gov/twic.
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Regional
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Weekly Great Lakes Water Levels for July 11, 2008 Weather Conditions A few rounds of showers and thunderstorms pushed through the Great Lakes basin this week. The heaviest rain fell across the southern lakes on Tuesday. Another slow moving storm system is expected to bring more thunderstorms Thursday evening through Saturday. Severe weather is possible with torrential downpours and strong winds. Cooler and less humid air is expected Sunday and into the workweek. Lake Level Conditions Presently, all of the Great Lakes are higher than they were at this time last year. Lake Superior is 16 inches above last year's level. Lakes Michigan-Huron, St. Clair, Erie and Ontario are 7 to 9 inches higher than they were a year ago. Lake Superior is projected to rise 2 inches over the next 30 days, while Lake Michigan-Huron is predicted to remain at around the same level. Lakes St. Clair, Erie and Ontario, however, are forecasted to fall 3 to 5 inches during the next month. All of the Great Lakes are expected to remain above their water levels of a year ago over the next few months. Current Outflows/Channel Conditions In June, outflow through the St. Mary's, St. Clair, and Detroit |
Rivers was below average. Niagara River's outflow was near average, while outflow from the St. Lawrence River was above average. Alerts Users of the Great Lakes, connecting channels and St. Lawrence River should keep informed of current conditions before undertaking any activities that could be affected by changing water levels. Mariners should utilize navigation charts and refer to current water level readings.
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General
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High Fuel Prices Crimp Fishing Trips Record high fuel prices are causing anglers to cut back on their fishing plans, according to a recent survey. And the impact of fuel prices among anglers appears to have escalated sharply since last summer. In a June survey by AnglerSurvey.com, only 22% of anglers said that higher fuel prices would not affect their fishing activities this summer, |
compared to 35% who responded �no effect� to the same question in 2007. Likewise, 32% of anglers in 2008 said that high prices would affect their fishing plans, up sharply from the 22% who felt this way a year ago. The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States has risen about 39% compared to year ago�to $4.10 on July 2, 2008, according to the American Automobile Association. |
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Researchers say popular fish contains potentially dangerous fatty acid combination Wake Forest University School of Medicine says food source potentially dangerous for some patients with heart disease, arthritis, asthma and other allergic and auto-immune diseases Farm-raised tilapia, one of the most highly consumed fish in America, has very low levels of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and, perhaps worse, very high levels of omega-6 fatty acids, according to new research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
The researchers say the combination could be a potentially dangerous food source for some patients with heart disease, arthritis, asthma and other allergic and auto-immune diseases that are particularly vulnerable to an "exaggerated inflammatory response." Inflammation is known to cause damage to blood vessels, the heart, lung and joint tissues, skin, and the digestive tract.
In the United States, tilapia has shown the biggest gains in popularity among seafood, and this trend is expected to continue as consumption is projected to increase from 1.5 million tons in 2003 to 2.5 million tons by 2010," write the Wake Forest researchers in an article published this month in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
They say their research revealed that farm-raised tilapia, as well as farmed catfish, "have several fatty acid characteristics that would generally be considered by the scientific community as detrimental." Tilapia has higher levels of potentially detrimental long-chain omega-6 fatty acids than 80-percent-lean hamburger, doughnuts and even pork bacon, the article says.
"For individuals who are eating fish as a method to control inflammatory diseases such as heart disease, it is clear from these numbers that tilapia is not a good choice," the article says. "All other nutritional content aside, the inflammatory potential of hamburger and pork bacon is lower than the average serving of farmed tilapia."
The article notes that the health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids, known scientifically as "long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids" (PUFAs), have been well documented. The American Heart Association now recommends that everyone eat at least two servings of fish per week, and that heart patients consume at least 1 gram a day of the two most critical omega-3 fatty acids, known as EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid).
But, the article says, the recommendation by the medical community for people to eat more fish has resulted in consumption of increasing quantities of fish such as tilapia that may do more harm than good, because they contain high levels of omega-6 fatty acids, also called n-6 PUFAs, such as arachidonic acid.
"The ratio of arachidonic acid (AA) to very long-chain n-3 PUFAs (EPA and DHA) in diets of human beings appears to be an important factor that dictates the anti-inflammatory effects of fish oils," the researchers write. They cite numerous studies, including a recent one that predicts "that changes in arachidonic acid to EPA or DHA ratios shift the balance from pro-inflammatory [agents] to protective chemical mediators �� which are proposed to play a pivotal role in resolving inflammatory response" in the body. |
For their study, the authors obtained a variety of fish from several sources, including seafood distributors that supply restaurants and supermarkets, two South American companies, fish farms in several countries, and supermarkets in four states. All samples were snap-frozen for preservation pending analysis, which was performed with gas chromatography. The researchers found that farmed tilapia contained only modest amounts of omega-3 fatty acids � less than half a gram per 100 grams of fish, similar to flounder and swordfish. Farmed salmon and trout, by contrast, had nearly 3 and 4 grams, respectively.
At the same time, the tilapia had much higher amounts of omega-6 acids generally and AA specifically than both salmon and trout. Ratios of long-chain omega-6 to long-chain omega-3, AA to EPA respectively, in tilapia averaged about 11:1, compared to much less than 1:1 (indicating more EPA than AA) in both salmon and trout. The article notes that "there is a controversy among scientists in this field as to the importance of arachidonic acid or omega-6:omega-3 ratios vs. the concentration of long-chain omega-3 alone with regard to their effects in human biology." Those issues are raised in an editorial in the same issue of the Journal.
The Wake Forest article anticipates that criticism and notes that one human study involving AA showed a probable gene-nutrient connection to coronary heart disease in a specific group of heart disease patients. In another study, four subjects were removed after consumption of high amounts of AA due to concerns about the effect of the acid on their blood platelets.
Floyd H. "Ski" Chilton, Ph.D., professor of physiology and pharmacology and director of the Wake Forest Center for Botanical Lipids, is the senior author of the Journal article. He said that in next month's Journal, he will publish a rebuttal to this month's editorial. "We have known for three decades that arachidonic acid is the substrate for all pro-inflammatory lipid mediators," Chilton said in an interview. "The animal studies say unequivocally that if you feed arachidonic acid, the animals show signs of inflammation and get sick.
"A New England Journal of Medicine article three years ago said if you had heart disease and had a certain genetic makeup, and you ate arachidonic acid, the diameter of your coronary artery was smaller, a major risk factor for a heart attack," said Chilton. "My point is that it's likely not worth the risk in this or other vulnerable populations."
Chilton said tilapia is easily farmed using inexpensive corn-based feeds, which contain short chain omega-6s that the fish very efficiently convert to AA and place in their tissues. This ability to feed the fish inexpensive foods, together with their capacity to grow under almost any condition, keeps the market price for the fish so low that it is rapidly becoming a staple in low-income diets.
"We are all familiar with the classical Hippocratic admonition, Primum no nocere, 'First, do no harm.' I think it behooves us to consider this critical directive when making dietary prescriptions for the sake of health," Chilton said. "Cardiologists are telling their patients to go home and eat fish, and if the patients are poor, they're eating tilapia. And that could translate into a dangerous situation." www.enn.com/top_stories/article/37592
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Grand American Amateur Shooting Event The World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta will host the annual Amateur Trapshooting Association Grand American, Aug. 6-16. The event is expected to attract 7,000 |
participants and 100,000 spectators. For more information on this major shooting sports event, go to the web site at www.shootata.com |
Lake Michigan
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Ruffe expand territory in Lake Michigan Another Ruffe was captured in Green Bay, Lake Michigan. The latest reported range expansion of Eurasian Ruffe was in southern Green Bay near Peshtigo Harbor, WI. Commercial fisherman, Jim Benson captured the Ruffe on May 28 in a commercial fish net set at a depth of 40 ft. Benson showed the specimen to Mike Kitt, Wisconsin DNR Law Enforcement based in Peshtigo. Kitt verified the specimen as a Ruffe, & then reported the capture to Mike Donofrio, DNR area fish manager based in Peshtigo, who reported the capture to USFWS.
In June 2007, a suspected Ruffe was captured by another commercial fisherman in Green Bay near Marinette, Wisconsin. The fish was sent to the Green Bay Fishery Resources Office where the Ruffe identification was confirmed.
Invasive Ruffe arrived in the Great Lakes through ballast water and were first identified from western Lake Superior in 1986. |
They had spread to northern Green Bay (Little Bay de Noc) by 2002 and this latest confirmation shows the invasive Ruffe are expanding their range in Lake Michigan.
Biologists Dale Hanson and Ted Eggebraaten conducted a follow-up survey in August, 2007 to evaluate whether Ruffe were present in the southern portion of Green Bay near the industrial commercial port at the mouth of the Fox River.
Bottom trawling was used to sample the fish community. No Ruffe were encountered in the trawl catches but non-natives including round gobies and white perch were captured.
As Ruffe continue to expand they will become yet another established exotic species that will disrupt the native community balance and create more stress in Lake Michigan fishery. The most serious impacts of Ruffe may be on yellow perch populations where competitive interactions between the species may have adverse affects on perch recruitment and growth. |
Lake Erie
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Middle Bass Island marina under construction One of the most significant Lake Erie boating-access points under development is the marina at Middle Bass Island State Park. A master plan for a $4 million redevelopment of the area includes an expanded and reconfigured harbor with up to 340 boat slips, a boat launch ramp, a new entrance channel from the lake and other amenities. About 250 docks are expected to be in operation by the start of the 2009 recreational season. Once completed, the marina will provide much-needed dockage for visiting boaters in the Western Basin, contributing |
significantly to tourism in the area.
Nearly 20-acres of land at the mouth of the Huron River were purchased in 2006 by the Ohio DNR for $3.25 million. The state will build a four-lane boat ramp and courtesy docks on southern half of the property, filling a void in public access between Sandusky and Vermilion. The northern half of the property was deeded to the City of Huron for economic development that could include greenspace, restaurants, shops and more. |
Illinois
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ILL Squirrel Season opens August 1 The Illinois squirrel hunting season opens Aug. 1 and continues through next Feb. 15 (except closed during firearm deer hunting season Nov. 16-18 and Nov. 29-Dec. 2). Hunting |
hours are one-half hour
before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. The daily limit is five
squirrels with a possession limit of 10. |
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The IDNR and partnering organizations are hosting a series of wingshooting clinics for beginning shooters and for more experienced hunters this summer. Youth/Women�s clinics are free. Saturday sessions generally provide instruction for girls and boys ages 10 - 15, while Sunday sessions are generally used to provide instruction for girls and women ages 10 and older. (Youth participants must be at least 4 feet 6 inches tall and weigh at least 75 pounds). Instructors are certified by the National Sporting Clays Association. Hunter clinics are designed to enhance the wingshooting skills of those ages 16 and older. Hunters with wingshooting skill levels from beginner to advanced are encouraged to attend. A small fee is assessed each hunter clinic participant to cover the cost of clay targets and refreshments.
Upcoming Youth/Women�s clinics (and contact phone |
numbers) include: � Aug. 16-17 - Shabonna Lake State Park, Shabonna (DeKalb Co.); phone 815/758-2773 � Aug. 30-31 - Cender Conservation Camp, Fisher (Champaign Co.); 217/935-6860 � Sept. 6-7 - Stephen A. Forbes State Park (Marion Co.); phone 618/547-3381 � Sept. 13-14 - Johnson-Sauk Trail State Park (Henry Co.); phone 309/853-5589
Upcoming Hunter Wingshooting Clinics include: � Aug. 23-24 - Cender Conservation Camp, Fisher (Champaign Co.); phone 217/935-6860 � Sept. 20-21 - Des Plaines Conservation Area (Will Co.); phone 217/785-8129
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Indiana
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22-year-old Hoosier bald eagle encountered in Tennessee An injured bald eagle found in late June in Tennessee was one of the birds released at Lake Monroe in 1986 in the early stages of Indiana's eagle restoration project. At 22 years old, the eagle is believed to have lived the longest of any of the eagles released in Indiana during the project, which ran from 1985-89.
Identification of the bird, dubbed C-07 (its color band number), was possible because of its leg band, which showed that it had been acquired for the project from a nest in Burnett County, Wis., at age 6 weeks. The eagle was one of seven released in Indiana in 1986 and one of 73 released during the five-year project. �This bird had never been re-sighted in Indiana after it dispersed and it has probably been nesting in Tennessee all these years," said John Castrale, the DNR's non-game bird biologist. "Of the approximately 25 released eagles that survived to breeding age, all but three nested in Indiana."
According to the Bird Banding Lab office in Maryland, the longevity record for a wild, banded bald eagle is 30 years, 9 |
months. After the eagle dispersed from Lake Monroe in mid-September 1986, its radio transmitter was detected in January 1987 on the shoreline of the Tennessee portion of Kentucky Lake. It was detected again in Tennessee in 2004 when it was treated for an unknown injury.
This June 27, the injured eagle was found on the side of a road in Perry County, Tenn., near Lobelville. The bird was recovered by a Perry County Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) agent and delivered to Memphis veterinarian David Hannon the next day. Initial examination showed a badly broken wing (compound fracture). Since there was no evidence of gunshot, Hannon theorized the bird probably had been hit by a car. After stabilizing the bird, Hannon pinned the wing, then the eagle was taken to the Mid-South Raptor Center.
Knox Martin, director of the raptor center, contacted the Bird Banding office, whose representative revealed the bird's Hoosier heritage. In April, Castrale found that, for the first time since their reintroduction Indiana, bald eagles had achieved 100 pairs in the state. The bald eagle has been officially removed from Indiana's Endangered Species list. |
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Paddlefish poacher loses hunting, fishing privileges for 5 years BOONVILLE � Randall L. Voorhees Jr., 29, of Evansville lost his fishing and hunting privileges and a lot more when he was sentenced recently in Warrick Superior Court II on a charge of attempted illegal sale of protected wildlife, a Class D felony.
The sentence stems from a guilty plea entered by Voorhees for illegal fishing activity involving paddlefish. Voorhees also received a suspended 18-month jail sentence, 18 months supervised probation and a $10,000 fine. The court suspended his hunting and fishing privileges for a period of five years. In addition, the court ordered Voorhees� 1991 GMC truck, boat and boat trailer and all fishing gear seized as evidence forfeited to the Department of Natural Resources.
He was one of 22 people arrested during �Operation Skid |
Roe� on violations linked to the illegal marketing of protected paddlefish in Indiana waters. Voorhees was charged after an investigation conducted by Indiana Conservation Officers and Detectives along with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents.
�Operation Skid Roe� was an investigation into the poaching and illegal sale of paddlefish and the valuable eggs carried by pregnant females. Paddlefish are protected in Indiana waters, which led to the stiff penalty levied against Voorhees. This is a clear indication of the court system�s view that poaching is a serious crime, and that the penalties levied by a court can be severe,� DNR Director of Law Enforcement Col. Michael Crider said.
Criminal charges for attempted sale of protected wildlife are pending against Voorhees in Posey County. |
Michigan
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Governor Signs Important Pro-Gun Package On Thursday July 10, Governor Jennifer Granholm signed into law the Post-Purchase "Safety Inspection" Repeal Package. These important bills, Senate Bill 370 and House Bills 4490 and 4491, will remove the cumbersome post-purchase �safety |
inspection� on handguns and will go into immediate effect. The requirement of a safety inspection was a burdensome waste of time for law-abiding gun owners and these bills will address that inconvenience. |
Words to Ponder
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�A government big enough to give you everything you want, is |
strong enough to take everything you have� Thomas Jefferson |
The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the GLSFC, its officers or staff.
Reproduction of any material by paid-up members of the GLSFC is encouraged but appropriate credit must be given.
Reproduction by others without written permission is prohibited.
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