september 1994 audubon log northeastern wisconsin audubon society

8/9/2019 September 1994 Audubon Log Northeastern Wisconsin Audubon Society

1/4

. ' . Bimonthly Newsletterof the.ort the astern Wiscons~nAudubon Society

September - October 1994What's ~ o i n ~n In The Green Bay RemedialThe East River Action Plan At Work

Wednesday, September 14, 1994 Wednesday, October 12, 19947:00p.m. 7:00 p.m.Bay Beach w ild life Sanctuary Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary

It's that time of year again, and to start our program series we You may occasionally read about the Remedial Action Plan.will feature Jon Bechle. Jon will tell us "What's Going On In The Th e organization meets on the avera ge of about once a month inEast River." Jon is Watershed Ma nager for Brown County and Green Bay, Appleton, Oshkosh, Waupaca and other locations.has been a crucial figure in the ~ a s t iver Redemption for years. Th e group is work ing its activities upstream. On e of the keyAs the entire world undoubtedly know s, the East River was activitists is Bill Hafs, the Brow n Coun ty Conservationist.called "Spirit" or "Manitou" by the Native Americans inhabiting Bill will def ine the scope of the Rem edial Action Plan's'this region. White man crudely translated that to "Devil" River. activities with the heip of slides, cha;ts a nd maps. Bill will tell usLater, the local powers though t that a bit too sinister so the how this business got started, wha t the hot spots are in the Foxbenign appelative "East" wa s applied to this long suffering River system , what projects are in the works, and how thestream. organization is trying to get the upstream commun ities involved.And suffer it indeed did. We old timers can remember its It took abou t 150 years of neg lect and a buse to turn the watershedreeking body of putrGcense sloshing up and downstream in a . nto its current sad state of affairs, but the past several years havegagging waltz with the tides. Toda y it almost sparkles and brought impro vem ents. It's a real challenge to keep mak inggurgles in comparison. Naturally it took a lot of time and work progress during times of increased usage.to mak e this clean up happen. Federal and local regulatioris, . As with everything in the conservation/environmental field,cooperation of miles of riverback landowners and dedicated good things do not just hap pen. It takes the efforts of a lot ofindividualsen the federal, local, industrial and agriculatural dedicated people. May be things do not happen as rapidly as we

,levels all had a hand in this metam orphos is. Jon Bechle follows a hope, but with groups like the Remedial ~ c t ? o n lan who keepfine of people who coordinated the clean up and now he is on the plugging aw ay, eventually things fall into place.cutting edge. Having worked w ith him on several projects, I can Our me eting will start at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium at theattest that we could not wish for a sharper blade. Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary. After the meeting, the current

The prograrh will s tart at the Bay Beach ~ i i d l i f e anctuary will carry us down to .the Estuary Room where w e will do moreAuditorium at 7:00 p.m. After the progra m, we will ebb or flow bottom fe edin gpn cookies,.bars, etc.down to the Estuary Room for refreshments. Onc e again, those 4two Grande Dames, Lavonne Galbraith and Carmella Blecha,will keep us properly refreshed. The Public Is InvitedHope To See You There..


2/4


3/4

The Medicinal Uses of"Wild Species

Man y people ask, "Do we really need to save all species?Wha t good is that weed, anywa y?" In fact, "that weed " --,ormold or fungus -- might save your life or that of someone youdearly love.Currently, about 25 percent of prescription medicines sold inthe United States contain at least one compound originallyderived from a plant. The value o f such medicines was estimatedin 19 84 to be more than $2 0 billion. Som e are famous -- taxol. rom the Pacific yew tree and vincristine and cinblastine from theMadagascar periwinkle, but the list of medicines derived froinNa tur i is far longer.In the future. the diseases we cu re with the help of chemicalsderived from plants, molds, marine inv ertebrates and otherobscure wild species will be eve n longer if w e db not obliteratethose species first. [ n testimony before the Subcommittee onEnvironment and Natural ~ es 6 u rc es f the House Committee onMerchant M arine and Fisheries, Dr. Tho mas Eisner, D irector ofthe Comell institute for Research and Ch emical E cology, said"The chemical treasury of nature is literally disappearing beforewe have had a chance to assess it. ...We cannot afford, in yearsahead, to be deprived of the inventions of nature. Chemicalssuch as taxol and FK 50 6 could not have been designed byhuman ingenuity -- both comp oun ds were totally unforeseen inchemical structures an d therapeutic action."Dr. Eisner proceeded t o point out that in order to protect&hemselvesfrom~ompetition in natural habitats, .plants produce.defense mechanisms, s u ~ hs poisonous or repellent components.It is these repellents that botanical garden plants often lack thatmakes the difference when considering the chemical propertiesfor medicinal purpo ses.

Mr. Steve Brewer, manager o f Bioproducts Chem istry at,Monsanto-Searle, repo rted that his an alysis of the twenty best-selling drugs in the United States shows that most tienefittedfrom natural products research.Dr. Michael Grever, Associate Director, Developmen talTherapeutics Program of the National Cancer Institute, saidrecent improvements in screening technology will significantlyexpand the potential for finding m edically useful substances.Dr. Linda McM ahan,E xecut ive Director of the BerryBotanic Garden in Portland, Oregon, called plants "little chemicalwarfare factories." She reported that 34 9 of 55 6 rare or endemicplants found in Oregon, Washingtop, an d Idaho were related toplants of known value for food ,medic ine, poisons, or other uses.

Endangered Species CoalitionTaking Action

The Endangered Species Aet is up for reauthorization and is facingthe toughest fight in its 21-year his tory . Those concerned with thefuture of this act are invited to attend a conference put onby t@ Endangered Species Coalition.Date: Saturday , September 24,1994 .Time: 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.Place: Memorial Union, UW-Madison CampusCost: $30 registration fe eThe conference is co-sponsored by the Wisconsin ~udubbn ounciland Madison Audubon Society. For more information call(608) 257-4501.

I 1994-95Chapter Leaders 1

I Name: II Addres : II city- State: Zip: II Sendlhis ormlo: Ron Eichhorn, Membership Chau, I1020 S.IrwinAve., Green Bay, Wl54301 II Checkspnyableo: National Audubon Society IL--- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -J .

Co-Presiden ts Tenie Howe2479 Vagabond, GB 54302 465-8263Charles Frisk275 1 S. LeCapilaineCir.,GB 54302 468-7304

Tm asurer Robert Mead2561 Woodridge Ln. GB 54304 4%-2312Secretary M W Gallagher5701 Quarry Dr., Pulaski 54162 822-1017Co n. Seeretary Lavonne Galbraih1145Loch Dr.. GB 54304 498-2248Baard Members Gary Fewless716 S t Joseph, GB 54301 435-5563- John Jambs2373 Libal, GB 54301 432-2438

Sand Kallunki895dubbard St. GB 54303 494-9280Carl Scholz a3892 Cheny Rd., Sturgeon Bay 54235 743-3417DoroIhy Summers2428 Bay Settlement, GB 5431 1 4654729B m o Zagar827 Manltowish Place, DePere 541 15 3374 822

Membership Ron Eichhom1020 S.IrwinAve., GB 54301 435-5756Education Charles Frisk2751 S. LeCapilaine Cir., GB 54302 468-7304Conservation UnfilledNewletter M Novotny88% ubbard St.. GB 54303 498-%63Publicity CarlHujet1217 Gmss Ave., GB 54304 497-7954WF Calendar& DennisPrusikEndowment 1701 Ninth St., GB 54304 499-%89Historian :go;hy$4sariape1 St., GB 54303 435-84!%Programs& Gerald LememndField Tr ips 1368 Westem Ave.. GB 54303 494-1424Social& Lavonne GalbraiIhRefreshments 1145 Loch Dr., GB 54304.. 498-2248~a nn ell a lecha2766 Northwood Rd., GB 54313 434-1807Past President Terrie Howe2479 Vagabond GB 5 4 0 2 465-8263

r------------------- 1I

.

/M E M B E R S H IP F O R M II - es. wantto join Audubon and receivesix issuesofAudubonmagwne and six issues ofthe localAudubon Log mually. II Enclosed is my inodunocy 1620 mmkrship fee. II - I

I - lew new my ~ u d u b o n embe;shiP,$30 renewal fee. I


4/4

Gi ps with a MessageIt is never too early to start thinking abo ut holiday gifts for'special people. How about the following books which can beordered from most bookstores:Clean an d Gre en by Annie Berthold Bond ($8.95).A complete guide to nontoxic and environmentally safe .

housekeeping.Noah's G ar de n by Sara Stein ($21.95). Learn how torestore the ecology of your own backyard.Requiem For a Lawnmower by Sallf Wasowski ($15.95).A look at easy gardening with native plants. .T h e N a tu ra l L w n & Altern atives by Margaret Roach($6.95). Ms. Roach says we spend $ 16.9 billion to raise "livingastroturf' with the aid of 70 million pounds of pesticides a year.She says chemical-free lawn care is touted as being t o the 90 'swhat recycling was to the 80's. There are many new breeds ofgrass that resist insects without pesticides, as w elf as m osses,ground lovers and prairie wildflowers. It's probably a lot lesswork, less expensive and not so boring t o try some of these ideas.L. Galbraith

Any News?Is there something you would l i e o share with Log readers?. Please send it to Mary Novotny, clo Audubon Log, 882 ~ u b b a r b .St., Green Bay, WI 54303. The deadline for the next issue(Nov.-Dec.) is October 1, 1994.

- -- - - ~~ ~ .~ -~= -.--

N.E.W. Audubon Society2561 Woodridge LaneGreen Bay, WI 54304

A Closer Look .forLatin ~m er ic an sThe Fairfax ~ u d u b o n ociety in Virginia is collecting usedbinoculars for financially-strapped conservation and educationgroups and institutes in Latin America. Th e goal of this projec tisto offer Latin Americans a closer look at the wond ers of their

countries and help conserve their treasures.Conservationists in the tropics desperately need binocularsfor environmen tal education. Even an old pair of binoculars caneasily cost more than a month's salary in L atin America, farbeyond the reach @ mo st students and groups.So far the pro ject,has donated over 150 binoculars, severaltelescopes and copies of Bir ds of Colombia books to needyconservationleducation groups in Columbia, Costa Rica. Chileand Mexico. Over 100 requests remain unfilled for additionalbinoculars and reference books.Volunteers from the FairfaX Audubon Socie ty have a localoptics expert check and repair'the donated binoculars. Thenrecruit responsible travelers to hand-deliver the binoculars todonor recipients in Latin America. All recipients are recognizeduniversities' and respected con servation groups.To help out, local Audubon chapter members can send oldan do r used binoculars to Fairfax Audubon Society, c/o GaryFilerman, 1322 Banquo Court, McLean, VA 22102.Muchas Graciml

NON-PROFIT ORG .U.S. Pmtage

Perm it No. 227Green Bay, WI.Fonvarding and Return Postage Guaranteed -

Th e Audubon Log isbublished bimonthly bythe Northeastern Wisconsin Audubon Society,Co-Presidents: Terrie How e &Charlie FriskEditor: Mary NovotnyPrinter: Sir SpeedyPrinted on 106% recycled paper.The paper is not ink edo r bleached.

' 1

september 1994 audubon log northeastern wisconsin audubon society

Documents