Why is it, that after billions and billions of years of human evolution that homosexuality is only recently finding acceptance? Has homosexuality been around as long as some form of man has busted his knuckles on the earth? Or is that an irrelevant opinion and question?

So those cave paintings of everyone dancing in a circle are really a recording of a homosexual orgy? A ceremonial bonding kind of activity that the whole of the tribe participated in? Or only a factional element that managed to survive in the artistic and culturally-repressed expression of an enlightened caveman's avant garde statement on the rock wall? (oops, I should have typed cave-person) What the L is so beneficial about only a male and a female of the species being able to propagate the species? What part does homosexuality play in the continuance of the species? Or is it only an effect of civilization? And can civilization have, then, an opinion on whether or not the individual's opinion, as part of the whole of civilization, wants to accept the opinion of another part? Has homosexuality been around as long as man? I don't know. I don't believe it has. That is my opinion, and I am surely entitled to it, whether or not you agree with it or not.

I've learned of "Stone Age" tribes living in various and scattered parts of the globe. Surely, if homosexuality is a natural state, and not a sinful state of mind, then one would expect to find evidence of that in these stone age tribes--they haven't been affected by nasty old Christianity, the whipping boy of modern, enlightened science who has sent Christianity to the corner to stand all alone. Or maybe the cave painting of Mishupishu is actually the free speech expression of a bold Neanderthal telling posterity of the mean old Christian Right preaching to fellow Neanderthals? Do members of Stone Age tribes in the world today exhibit any homosexual lifestyles? If they don't, do we argue that that is because the tribe is more patriarchal, more inclined to eliminate any tribe-member that attempts to come out of the closet? And if homosexuality is a given, a natural element of human evolution, why is it the case that the record of man is overflowing with an avalanche of records indicating that homosexuality has been present in every society since the dawn of civilization? Surely, over the billions and billions of years of man's presence on earth, homosexuality would be as accepted as apple pie and baseball. Or how about we hear of the evidence of homosexuality in matriarchal Stone Age tribes--I heard of one in the Pacific Islands and I believe there are other more matriarchal cultures around. If homosexuality isn't present there, what say then?
The matriarch of the tribe wouldn't allow it?

No, my opinion is that homosexuality is learned, a state-of-mind, rather than a natural product of human evolution. It is politics, as Peter Pinguid pointed out, with his question about media coverage of the Matthew Shepard and Jesse Dirkhising murders, it’s a product of civilization and culture.

Okay, I'll go put on my flame-retardant spacesuit now or should I just lament that you won't say "hi" to me when we pass, so open-minded, accepting, and loving, in the hallway? I think Peter's posting here as an "unreal" person says more about today's opinions of homosexuality than his legitimate and sincere questions do. Or is it a case that Peter's opinion is one form of diversity that will not be accepted? The fact that homosexuality has argued that it is a "natural" state suggests that the "fossil record" so to speak, would be
jam-packed full of evidence to prove this. That two men cannot create another life, that two women cannot create another life, suggests to me that homosexuality is a learned experience.
Moreover, that it hasn't been widely accepted suggests clearly that it is not a natural state, or one would think that if it has been around as long as man, then it would be widely accepted. Or at a minimum, the record should indicate its presence in ancient civilizations.
All ancient civilizations.


Imagine the outrage had Peter said he was a Christian! Cain killed Abel a long time ago because of his feelings toward his brother. Does that make it right? Simply because one is able to boldly go where no man has gone before, does that make it right?

Peter Pinguid wrote on Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 12:28 pm:
>Constance,
>You failed to mention why you believe my posts
>should be made in anonymous. Because you
>believe "Peter" is not a real person?

If memory serves, "Peter Pinguid" has posted previously, stating that he/she is not posting under his/her real name. The rules of this message board state: "Each time you post a message on this page, use your real name and take responsibility for your opinion. If you don't wish to identify yourself, choose the current month's Anonymous Rantings."

>What's your opinion, then, of the post By Tommy
>Boy on Friday, March 2, 2001 - 02:37 am.

My opinion is that people should post in this message board only if they have the courage to use their real names and to take responsibility for their opinions.

>For that matter, how can anyone be sure that any
>poster here in "responsible" is real?

Unfortunately, given the design of this message board, one cannot be sure of that.

>So would I be correct in assuming you object to
>the opinion of the message, rather than the
>issue of who authored it?

"Rather than"? No, certainly not rather than.

Constance Petersen

Billions and Billions of years ago, during a meeting of the 131st International Neanderthal Academy of Sciences, one conference investigated the possible reasons for the disappearance of homosexual Neanderthals from society. Neanderthal scientists were baffled by the declining links of homosexuals that would contribute to the diversity of Neanderthal civilization. One group of Neanderthal scientists postulated that perhaps sexual diversity was no longer needed for survival of the species, since the male and the female of the species seemed to be doing fine continuing the species, had in fact, evolved some rather beneficial traits over the Billions and Billions of years of human evolution. Another group of Neanderthal scientists suggested that the disappearance of homosexual Neanderthals was due, in fact, to their inability to pass on their genes--until a scientist from the first group pointed out that the homosexual Neanderthals could pass their genes on through a willing female recipient of the species. The 131st International Neanderthal Academy of Sciences concluded that there would be no need for action to assist the continuance of the homosexual Neanderthals as they believed that over the next Billions and Billions of years of evolution and civilization that homosexual Neanderthals would continue to find an accepted place in civilization. After all, they concluded, homosexuality is as natural and as instinctual as childbirth, crushing conflicting Neanderthal civilizations (and opinions), shedding tears, and suckling at the teat.

Recently, a Neanderthal scientist materialized on the scene. Apparently, they had perfected a time machine. This Neanderthal scientist, Oog-oog, son of Oo-U-Lug!, was surprised to discover that after Billions and Billions of years of evolution of man and society, that homosexual Neanderthals back home in the Stone Age, would be flagellating themselves for staying hunkered down in their rock closets.

Constance,
You failed to mention why you believe my posts should be made in anonymous. Because you believe "Peter" is not a real person? What's your opinion, then, of the post By Tommy Boy on Friday, March 2, 2001 - 02:37 am. For that matter, how can anyone be sure that any poster here in "responsible" is real?

So would I be correct in assuming you object to the opinion of the message, rather than the issue of who authored it?

Is Peter Pinguid someone's real name? If memory serves, it is not.

"Peter", I would appreciate it if you would post your comments in the anonymous rantings sections, where they will find a more appropriate audience.

Constance Petersen

For that matter, how much has the media broadcast the cases of Jeffrey Curley, Eddie Werner, and Stanley Edwards? But then the goal is diversity, not just sexual orientation diversity. Look at the amazing diversity of the world! Just imagine how diverse the world will be when NAMBLA's wishes become reality! Look at how long it has taken for the USA to accept the idea of a black man marrying a white woman. Imagine how much more quickly that idea would have been accepted had black on white, white on black crimes not been reported!

Shortly after the murder of Matthew Shepard, Katie Couric asked the governor of Wyoming if Christians were responsible for Shepard's death because of their intolerance of homosexuality. Why didn't she ask the governor of Arkansas if all homosexuals are responsible for Dirkhising's death because of their sex practices-which frequently includes sado-masochism?

Why has the media ignored the case involving Jesse Dirkhising while we have heard time and again about Matthew Shepard? For instance, the Times has published 195, or 436,973 stories about Matthew Shepard, while they have yet to publish a single story about Jese Dirkhising.

I always wanted to try a totally hopeless, shot in the dark. So here goes.

MR. GARY KOHS:

I was just wondering how much longer we should wait for your promised E-commerce for the Keweenaw so that it's residents would not have to rely on tourist income from nasty ski hills. I was also wondering about your promised terminal in every home, so that everyone could read your unbiased newspaper. Wasn't the unvailing supposed to be last July 4th? I know that I will not get a response to this but I am losing my bids on e-bay and needed something to do. If you are ever in town again stop in and say hi. Rich

Dear Charles Buck, I would be interested in those reports. The truth and nothing but the facts, then the messinger will not be blamed for the message.

Dan, Paul, Concerned:
I am kicking around the idea of collecting and publishing all the state Bureau of Safety files, Canadian files, and other engineering reports on Mt. Bohemia's lifts for the Keweenaw Liberty Library. Are you interested in reading the raw documents? If there is sufficient public interest in the documents, I will press ahead.

To Walt and anyone else interested in the Torch Lake Superfund issue:
I found a very interesting story concerning the Anaconda Copper Mine superfund in and around Butte Montana, and the creative approach this city has taken to dealing with the various mineral "enrichments" that threaten their community health.
I'll post a short excerpt then the link:

The Profits of Doom
One of the most polluted cities in America learns to capitalize on its contamination
by William Langewiesche
The Atlantic Monthly April 2001

Butte, Montana, lives on its toxic waste. It is a filthy brick city of 33,000, built on a steep hill among the remains of dead copper mines. Montanans elsewhere call it "Butte, America" in a disparaging way, as if it were somehow a separate and alien place. One can see why by hiking up the hill, past Butte's decrepit central district, past mines and union halls and a bar called Pisser's, through proletarian neighborhoods of bungalows nestled among waste heaps laced with lead and arsenic, to the Granite Mountain overlook, a memorial to 168 miners killed in 1917 in an underground fire.
Eighty years ago it had a population three times as large as today's, predominantly of Irish Catholics, but also of Serbs, Scandinavians, Italians, Chinese, and French. The immigrants, who formed labor unions that were willing to fight, infused Butte with an old-fashioned left-wing sensibility that remains a part of its character to this day. The workers' enemy was also their patron—the voracious Anaconda Mining Company, which was founded in 1891 and soon absorbed Butte's independent mines. Over the years, Anaconda sent perhaps 2,500 local men to their deaths underground in pursuit of copper ore, but it employed a far greater number of people and gave Butte its life. Because the company was so important to the community, when Anaconda said it needed to begin open-pit mining, in 1955, it was allowed to consume long-standing neighborhoods with barely an objection.
Quarrying was the way of the future, and it was safer than tunneling. But it required less labor, which weakened the unions and meant that layoffs, once cyclical, became permanent. It was also physically destructive: over the years the open pit, known as the Berkeley, grew into a crater 1.5 miles across and 1,800 feet deep—a giant hole in the heart of town.
The sight from Granite Mountain today is of an industrial battlefield with smoke still hanging in the air. The city spills into the flats of the valley below with a sprawl of new houses and a shopping strip that extends to the airport. But the soul of Butte remains on the hill, in the tattered and cosmopolitan center—a red-brick commercial district, scarred by vacant lots and shuttered storefronts, but resilient and defiantly urban. This is the core that refuses to die.Higher on the hill stand the miners' modest wooden houses, snaking upward in bands among the wood-and-steel hulks of the abandoned mine yards. A dozen main shafts are straddled by black steel elevator derricks, called gallows frames, which dominate the city's skyline. From them the miners were lowered as much as a mile into a labyrinth of now unreachable destinations—the most heavily mined ground in the world. It is said that the hill contains 7,000 miles of wood-framed horizontal tunnels and untold numbers of vertical shafts. Most of the shafts are closed over and forgotten, but every year a few of them suddenly open up—sometimes in people's back yards or basements. No one knows why dogs fall in and children do not.
Butte has bigger problems anyway. This hill, once called the richest on earth, is known now as one of the dirtiest in America. Its soils and waters are filled with lead and other toxic metals, and the creek called the Silver Bow, which flows at its base, was until recently so contaminated by runoff that it was poisoned at least 140 miles downstream, creating a plume of death that reached into the picturesque Clark Fork River and on toward the Columbia.
In 1983 the Environmental Protection Agency declared that Butte was a high-priority Superfund site—and by the way, that ARCO would have to pay for most of the cleanup. ARCO was taken by surprise. The Superfund laws had been passed in 1980, decades after most of the mess had been made and three years after ARCO bought Anaconda's liabilities. The retroactive application of the laws, though apparently constitutional, seemed unfair. Nonetheless, when threatened with triple damages by the EPA, ARCO did not go to court, as other companies have, but began grudgingly to cooperate. Eighteen years later it remains entangled in what has grown into one of the largest Superfund sites in the United States. The costs of the cleanup have been huge. The site is especially complex because it remains inhabited. The health consequences of the pollution have been only partially studied, but they are widely assumed to be serious—lead poisoning in particular is a concern.
Meanwhile, in Butte's vast underground the shafts and tunnels, full of residual heavy metals and arsenic, have flooded—and the tainted waters have risen within the hill to a level precariously close to that of the rivers and stream-beds on the surface.

Dan, try as we may no response is common when good points are made. The facts aren't even out yet and the story is being laid on a bed of nails. I have talked to 90% of the business owners around here. Their story is one in the same, added business. I think that was the bottom line on the debate. I also talked to 50 or so students and they all said the hill was (awesum, extreme, cool, challangeing, something to do, great time in general. Not one complained about the fees or the lifts. I hope the sewer(lagoon) grant money can be found this year which in turn would allow Crosswinds to think about snow making equipment in a few spots that get wind blown and the base is thin. This year the problem isn't a issue but in years with less snow may be. I want this hill to be the best it can be!!!!! I still have a few sons, daughters, and young relatives that will use this hill for winter fun. I gotta go now and shovel off my garden. May first is right around the bend and dem rudeabeggers ain't going to plant themselves!!!!

I agree with Paul. You know your best bet would be to check with the state on the facts. You'd think if Bohemia was in so many violations they wouldn't be open. Did you know that Michigan has the strictest safety laws in the ski business? I'm sure the state wouldn't approve any ski hills with inadequate equipment, especially a new operation.
Sounds like a slanted, one sided article planned by the opposition to me.
What do you think?

Being that there are a number of CFR owners in the area, I thought this op-ed by Jimmy Carter might prove interesting to some. The difference in federal policy and controls over forest lands in America and Canada seems to have tilted lumber sales profits in NAFTA's new free market toward Canada's favor.

March 24, 2001 NY Times
A Flawed Timber Market
By JIMMY CARTER
ATLANTA -- Along with all the other former presidents, I was a strong supporter of the North America Free Trade Agreement when it was initiated in 1994. Free trade among the United States, Mexico and Canada has, in general, been good for the people and the economies of all three nations.
However, we are now facing a crisis in the marketing of lumber that could be devastating to 10 million American landowners, 20,000 sawmill owners and more than 700,000 workers, and also to the environment. This problem has aroused the concern of labor, industry and environmentalists. There are many facets to this complicated issue, but they can be summarized in relatively simple terms.
In Canada, the national and provincial governments own 95 percent of the timberland. In the United States, private investors own the overwhelming portion of woodlands. In Georgia, for instance, 70 percent of all forest land belongs to about 600,000 private nonindustrial owners, most of whom are also involved in farming. Timber companies like Weyerhaeuser, Georgia-Pacific and International Paper own another 20 percent, while the remaining 10 percent is in public ownership, as in parks and military bases.
Rosalynn and I are typical family landowners. On our relatively small woodland tracts, some of which our family has owned for seven generations, we maintain a proper mix of hardwood and softwood trees for optimum wildlife habitat, and we market our timber selectively when it reaches full maturity. We cut relatively small areas at a time and replant as quickly as possible after harvesting. Within 10 years, we begin periodic thinning, always providing the best conditions for optimum growth of the next generation of full-grown trees.
When we sell some mature trees, we obtain bids from sawmill owners, who are under contract to cut under strict conditions that protect the permanent value and productivity of the farm. It is an almost universal practice of families like ours to protect the land from erosion and to replant another crop immediately after harvest. Our sawmills must pay full market price for standing timber, saw and dress the lumber as efficiently as possible, and sell it on the retail market.
Canada has no equivalent free market for the overwhelming portion of its timber. Provincial governments grant an annual allowable cut to sawmill owners at whatever low price is necessary to maintain full employment in the timber industry. These sawmills usually pay a fraction of the price that American sawmill owners pay, creating a great disparity that is beginning to wreak havoc with the timber industry in the United States, from the farm family that owns some woodland to the small or large sawmill owners who cannot compete on the retail market with the heavily subsidized lumber being imported from Canada.
These disparities between the American and Canadian timber industries have existed for more than 25 years. In 1996, the United States and Canada signed a five-year pact, which expires this month, that tried to limit the problem by restricting Canadian exports of lumber into the United States. But quotas are not the answer. What we need is a permanent agreement that ensures free trade but ends the artificial price restrictions that the Canadian government has put on timber. This will allow both Canadian and American lumber interests to compete on equal footing.
Without a dependable timber market in the United States, many landowners cannot afford to invest in reforestation and forest maintenance, and the consequence will be land that is barren or converted to other uses. The cost to society is great — less carbon dioxide sequestered in the trees, a loss of air and water filtration, less green space and wildlife, and more soil erosion and urbanization.
Our family has other personal income and can survive even if our nation's timber industry is crippled, but hundreds of thousands of American families depend on a fair and stable market for their livelihood. Their interests must be protected.
Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the Carter Center in Atlanta

Jean, any mention of wrong doings by anyone? Seems to me that the lifts were state inspected. I wonder if it was a freak accident or was it a lack of a good inspection. Don't try to make Crosswinds out to be the badguy here. I doubt that Lonnie refused to kick in another 500 bucks and risk injury. •••• they must have 5 million into it so whats another grand or two. You seem to jump at any chance to downgrade the hill. If you boo birds would have shut your mouths up a long time ago maybe there would have been more time to check and recheck the chairs. As it stands no one was hurt. Maybe the rider was swinging the chair, maybe the iron pin was made in some other country (poor grade of steel), maybe the treehuggers screwed with the chair, maybe the state inspector was rushed by time or had bad weather conditions to do a good check!!!! Just for a change of things why don't you talk about the added business the hill brought this year, or the great skiing enjoyed, or the first year of a good showing, or the the style of good taste Lonnie had in putting the hill together, or the fun had by all who skied, or the 34 inch base people have to ski on now!!!! Quit your ••••••• and moaning just for awhile!!! Put your hot air to a better use and melt some of this white ••••!!! I got patatoes to plant, rudabeggers, onions with dem dam stems on dem. I got so much stuff to do dat I am a munth behind on last springs chores. Just tink if I don't get dis stuff in da ground what the •••• is Charlie going to put in dem pasties!!!! Hey you got any last years carrots in da basement I can borrow. If you do I need to feed the deer cause dar eating the bark off the cedar trees in da park. Looks like mr. chainsaw man is going to have to go cut some trees in da swamp today!!!! see ya don't wanna be ya!!!!!!!! Yours truly Paul

Jean,
Don't believe everything the media reports, especially media from a college with inexperienced writers. Obviously if this was such a huge concern, it would've been reported by larger organizations.

Please check out the piece in the MTU paper on the age and condition of the chair-lifts at Mt. Bohemia. http://www.mtulode.com/
Is this the kind of first-class operation that was sold to the residents of the Keweenaw? I would not be using these lifts to take people to the top of the mountain in the summer,when there is no snow to cushion a fall. Used, 30 year-old equipment, sounds like a accident waiting to happen.

The snowmobile controversy has subsided for now. However a valuable lesson has been learned. Steve Brimm,William Bryan and Jason Cooper who E-Mailed me with warnings to stay off their land have every right to want to keep snowmobilers off their properties. But that is not what they and others like them really want. What they want is snowmobiling and four wheeling to cease in the Copper Country. These "transplants" now want their own private county. Those of us born here must find our recreation elsewhere in their minds. The outrageous pollution claims made by one of them sound like the rantings of someone coming off of a bad acid trip. They want tourists to also take their snowmobiles elsewhere. I'm sure the business community appreciates this attitude.
All I can say is "Obey the law" "don't trespass onto private property" but enjoy your sport despite these foreigners.

Well here we go again. Snow up the kazoo. I suppose the four inches predicted may turn to eight. I really hope not. This last week was one of the finest I've had in a long time. The weather was a warm 45 or so!!!! Whooo Weeee- it was a blast. I am sure to be as happy when we get our next week of warmth. I hear the skiing has been the best at Bohemia, last weekend I said I was going to try the hill but something came up and I missed the beaded event. I was bummed out by that turn of events. I think the base was reduced to about 34 inches or so. That sounds like plenty for me to use.
On the stamp sand issue, I believe that a lot of all that is said is true, buttttt so what??? What can be done now but what is being done. Cover it up and go on with our waysw of life. I do think that more harm would come from total removal(TO WHERE) than to just do the best with a cover up!!!! I think I am more concerned about barrels of guuk in the water. Birdbrain what do you think about those barrels? Cowboy Bob, how do we move them from the bottom?

If one seeks to attack the legitimacy of the TLPAC with the MDNR and EPA, the postings on this page have presented a reasonable means to do just that. I encourage you to review and comment specifically on the "risk assessment" completed for the area. It should be available via FOIA of the MDEQ or the U.S. EPA. The risk assessment should describe an "exposure scenario" for windborne contaminants whereby people living at residences are exposed to large quantities of windborne dust from the acres of unvegetated stamp sand tailings that are present in the area over the non-winter portions of their lifetimes. If it presents anything less than actual conditions (i.e., exposures that might be more typical to the vegetated, restricted wastes that might be encountered in Chicago or Detroit), the risk assessment would underestimate human health risks associated with the stamp sand. As a result of such a flaw, it should be revised. The risk assessment is the motivation for the proposed remedy. If you can effectively critique it, the MDEQ/U.S. EPA little choice but to reconsider their selected remedy to assure that it is truly protective of human health and the environment. It also should accurately describe the actual cancer and non-cancer health risks associated with exposure to this material under the actual conditions at this site.

To answer Steve's question from the Pasty Cam Snowmobile controversy: Why has the industry not developed 4-stroke technology? The industry has attempted to in the past but the consumer didn't want them. Artic Cat had a 4-stroke years ago,But it fizzled out. There have even been attempts at building snowmobiles with rotary engines. Currently Artic Cat and Polaris are developing 4-stroke sleds in responce to the closing of Nat'l Parks. Personally If the present administration gives up on closing Yellowstone etc. I bet their attemps at 4-strokes will fizzle again. 4-stroke engines are simply too heavy and too expensive.
By the way the statistics released by the environmentalists is totally misleading 1 snowmobile to 14000 cars give me a break.

Walt:
Seeing as you mentioned arsenic as one of the Torch Lake "enrichments", the following article on a recent Bush administration decision concerning the definition of safe arsenic levels may be relevant:

March 22, 2001
Arsenic and Old Laws
By CHUCK FOX
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Bush administration said this week that it intends to withdraw new drinking water standards designed to protect the public from arsenic pollution. This rash move could threaten the health of 13 million Americans whose drinking water has elevated levels of arsenic.
The administration now says "scientific indicators are unclear," implying that the new standard was not justified. I was in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency office that developed these new standards under rigorous scientific review. Arsenic exposure is closely linked to lung and bladder cancer and many other adverse health effects. The Environmental Protection Agency approved the new permissible standard for arsenic in drinking water of 10 parts per billion in January, after a decade's worth of work and a lengthy public process. The old standard of 50 parts per billion was established in 1942, long before new research on arsenic's effects.
The National Academy of Sciences completed the most recent analysis of arsenic in 1999, concluding that the old standard was more than 100 times less protective than other drinking water standards. The academy did not recommend a new number. But it urged the federal government to move quickly to revise the World War II-era rule to protect public health. Even Congress expressed frustration with the slow pace of revising the arsenic standard, and in 1997, Congress directed the E.P.A. to set a new arsenic standard.

I submit this as a question, rather than as an opinion.

It has always been my understanding that if the public has been allowed access across private property for a certain number of years, and it is evident that this access has been utilized (road, pathway), that a public easement has been created and the property owner cannot legally block that easement.

Certainly all of the trails across the Keweenaw Peninsula that are frequently travelled by all sorts of vehicles would by now have become public easements.

Is there someone who knows the law that can answer this question?

As a property owner in Keweenaw County, I am interested in learning the facts regarding this question.

Thank you.

Walt,
One possible solution you could advance against the corrupt Torch Lake PAC is to organize honest local folks into an alternative PAC (always better not to go it alone) and attack the legitimacy of the TLPAC with the MDNR and EPA. Start a letter writing campaign to the TLPAC's overseerers in the MDNR and EPA raising questions about what the TLPAC is doing at its meetings - ESPECIALLY RAISE THE ISSUE OF TLPAC HOLDING SECRET "EXECUTIVE SESSIONS" TO DISCUSS ISSUES, the issue of TLPAC not taking sufficient concern for public safety and the issue of the spending of public monies on TLPAC. Those are hot buttons in Lansing and Chicago. Send copies of the letters to some downstate newspaper reporters - they like to investigate stuff about the UP when they go on vacation during the summer. A downstate newspaper article can put more pressure on the MDNR and EPA to clean up the TLPAC stable. Start driving the steel bit in blow by blow and eventually the rock will give.

Welcome to those web visitors who followed the link from the Pasty Cam to this page, from the March 20 Cam Notes. Remember, this page welcomes controversial subjects, for which the Pasty Cam is not well suited, partially because of high traffic from school children. (Pasty Central was recently cited in USA TODAY as a "Kid's Safe" website, partially because of the navigational experience of a regional "virtual tour" and pleasant commentary from viewers.

Some of the March 20 coments were not so pleasant.

I'm not referring to the friendly exchange between Steve and Jim - (we have ordered them each a gift certificate from www.boxing-gloves.com) But my biggest problem this week has been the need to delete several anonymous threats by a few who abused that area, apparently to inflict emotional damage on those who held a different point of view.

In the future, if any of our Pasty Cam pictures raise issues that inspire opposing points of view which become hostile or inflammatory, we will simply close the discussion with that picture, and direct folks to express their viewpoint here, or in Anonymous Rantings.

Thanks to all who frequent the Pasty Central website, which now receives almost 3 million hits per month. And, hey... while you're here, why not order some pasties.

Lynn,
As to the motivation of the PAC, who knows. Prior to the last meeting, I hadn't gone to any of the meetings. I said earlier, before I discovered the Torch Lake Public Action Council Web--site I had faith in the people of this area to do something about the pollution of Torch Lake. Articles in the Gazette last year were the first inkling that something didn't seem right--seemed like they were in an awful hurry to become de-listed. Even though the PAC said they thought private owners would have covered the sands, eventually. Yeah, like we heard that every time the wind blew in Tamarack. And now I find out that some of that •••• flying through the air might have contained carcinogens. Comforting. They put up some wind fences and made some grids out of hay bales in the '70s. The Tamarack lagoon was supposed to spray the sands with the stuff from the lagoon--with the pipes and sprinkler system that was already in place, the sprinkler system they tickled the dust with when the sands blew. I'm beginning to wonder what happens with all the crap and TP that finds its way to the lagoons in Tamarack and Lake Linden. Dad was on the Torch Lake Water and Sewage Authority board for many years. I know he expressed some kind of guilty surprise that they wouldn't have to spray, and spend money on that cost. Either one or both of the lagoons simply leaks out through the bottom to the lake. Go figure. Hey, we didn't want to care for septics, either.

Maybe the motivation that you wonder about lies in the casual ties, or serious ties, some of the PAC members have to the land around Torch Lake. These people were elected, to begin the PAC, but they have since re-elected themselves. During the meeting I attended, one of the PAC members resigned and he said something about other PAC members doing some sort of investigative work on him--it is there in the minutes. Maybe something in their concern with the language, Superfund Site, Area of Concern, is a key to their motivation. Or maybe they're simply trying to put future buyers of their property at ease, make 'em feel better about spending a hundred grand on a lakeshore lot.

The Torch Lake pollution problem has been researched for decades and if you want a lot more information than you can really digest, just send a "Freedom of Information Act" request to review those files at the nearest MDEQ office.

Unfortunately, the Keewanaw is subject to a problem that is prevalent out west, what to do with Mine Tailings? Typically the tailings from a metals mine contain leachable metals at concentrations that make them classified as a hazardous waste. The problem arises from the sheer volume of material present in tailings piles. Usually they are like those in the UP, they cover many square miles. Since it is not smart or possible to excavate all of those tailings piles and place them in hazardous waste landfills, the EPA has "delisted" most mine tailings piles from a hazardous waste classification.

That does not mean that the problem goes away though. The most common Remedial Action Plan (RAP) for Superfund sites these days is to cap them with clay and leave them. Maybe put in some extraction wells in particualarly sensitive areas to protect aquifers. But other than that, the technology and funding leaves few alternatives.

Having said that, it is completely misleading and immoral to suggest that the problem is not really there.

Walt if you are interested, there are tables of "clean" soil chemical analysis from areas around Michigan. You can also get that from the MDEQ orfrom a book by Dr. James Dragun that shows typical chemical concentrations in clean soil for each state. It might be interesting to get a chemical analysis of the soil used to cover the stamp sand and compare it to some clean soil analysis.

Walt,

No, that certainly does not seem right. Maybe the carcinogens are no longer present in amounts sufficient to pose a serious health threat, but maybe they are. It sure would be helpful to get all the objective information possible about that situation.

In your attendance at the TLPAC meetings, have you gotten a feel for what the motivations might be for resisting the area of concern classification and for attempting to control the flow of information about the very real problems that exist?

While driving around this spring, as the roadways begin to dry out, and the stampsand is exposed, take the time to look in the rear-view mirror, and see how much dust you create in your wake.

And then wonder, wonder if that dust contains any of the chemicals leftover from the copper reclamation days.

And know that the Torch Lake Public Action Council is doing its utmost to get the area de-listed as an Area of Concern. In fact, they have already de-listed the area in their minutes, as in their last meeeting they have changed the name to Area of Recovery. I know. I was there.

Too bad they don't take an active interest in knowing what the •••• is being spread on the roadways. You'd think that even with one report that says the sands contain carcinogens, that they, as the public's voice, would be screaming for studies, dollars, any •••• thing to set things right.

But that remains to be seen. I know the minutes record on instance of them seeming to take offense at word that the DEQ would be conducting a study in the area. We thought they were going to let us know when they were going to do a study," I recall reading.

Alarmist thinking? Does that make the other extreme exhibited by the TLPAC right?

From the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/19/health/19SCHO.html

Study Cites Illness in Alumni of Schools on Industrial Sites
By JACQUES STEINBERG

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Quote:

Tests have revealed elevated levels of benzo(a)pyrene, a carcinogen similar to the tar in cigarettes, and tricholorethylene, a widely used solvent that might be carcinogenic, in the soil around the school. But state health and environmental officials have said there is no way for students to ingest or inhale those chemicals, particularly with the ball fields closed as a precaution.

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Let me preface this by saying that I was born and raised in Tamarack Mills, on Torch Lake, the depository of 20 million tons of tailings and chemicals from the smoke-stack spewing days of industrial copper mining. The blowing sands from the lifeless desert of tailings of Torch Lake plagued the summers of my youth in Tamarack Mills, a small town that hasn't seen more than five new houses built in the last 40 years. We were as much at the mercy of the dust of summer as we were to the snows of winter.

When the wind blew and the windows of the house were open, it was common to see, feel, and clean a layer of stampsand dust from every surface in the house. On laundry day, clothing was hung on the line to dry and that saved energy the dryer used. The wind would dry wet clothing quickly, but with the stampsand dust in the air, more than one load was washed again. It was common to see tall columns of dust rising from the stampsands, common to see the water near the shore discolored with the fallout from the wind-blown sand. I recall more than one day when we weren't allowed outside, as it was too dusty, so we stayed inside, the windows closed, and waited for the wind to cease.

So I take a dim view of some of the comments I have read on-line of the minutes of the Torch Lake Area Public Action Council. The minutes I have read are from January 2000 to February 2001. The PAC was formed in 1997. Two of the words that I read are particularly piercing, fraud and bunk, words spoken to convey a feeling that seems shared by the Council in regard to the issue of whether or not there was ever a safety or health hazard associated with the stamp-sands. This offense is allied with science, or the lack thereof, to question the designation of Superfund Site, attacked again with the word of another PAC member when he said that the area was brandeda Superfund site.
Is there any scienceout there that would qualify the meaning of fraud and bunk? Yes, there is.

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Quote:

In August 1997, the MDEQ collected a total of 50 surface soil samples from 11 locations in the Torch Lake area. These were all analyzed for metals, and a selected 9 samples were split for analysis for semi-volatile organic chemicals. The arsenic concentration in one sample, from the Quincy Smelter area, and the lead concentration in another sample, from the Tamarack/Mason Dredge area, exceeded the MDEQ Generic Clean-Up Criteria for Industrial, Commercial or Residential Use. Many other samples contained arsenic, benzo(a)pyrene, beryllium, or copper concentrations above the MDEQ Residential Use Criteria. The sample with the benzo(a)pyrene concentration above the Residential Criteria was collected from the Tamarack/Mason Dredge area (area C), those with beryllium above the Residential Criteria were collected from the Hubbell Slag area (area B) .[available at: http://cisat1.isciii.es/HAC/PHA/torch/tol_p2.html#discussion]

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Quote:

No one is likely to ingest enough beryllium from the soils within the study areas to experience any non-cancer adverse health effects. Some laboratory animals who inhaled or ate beryllium compounds developed lung cancer more often than did animals who were not exposed to the metal.

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Quote:

The concentrations of PAHs found in the soils of the study areas are within the range of concentrations typically found in urban areas. Benzo(a)pyrene and several other PAHs have been linked to cancer in workers who were exposed to them on the job and in laboratory animals who had the chemicals applied to the
skin.

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Quote:

Based on the available information and data, the tailings piles pose no urgent
public health hazard. Several of the piles contain concentrations of metals
that would be of public health concern if the piles were developed for
residential use, and two of those parcels are under consideration for such
development. Those specific parcels should be further evaluated before any
residential development goes forward.

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Hi Walt, the short answer to the question, what are Benthos is that they are the clams, snails and insects that live at the bottom of the lake. The next question is why are they important as a measure of the healty of the lake? Here are a few of the answers to this question.

they are reliable and sensible indicators of habitat quality in aquatic environments,
respond to multiple types of environmental stress,
reflect environmental conditions that vary over time,
live in bottom sediments where exposure to contaminants and oxygen stress are most
frequent, and
indicate local conditions because they have limited mobility and cannot migrate to avoid
stressful situations.
I hope this helps.

I promised more late or more later, but I didn't realize I'd be back this quick. In the September, 2000 minutes of the Torch Lake Public Action Council, or the Torch Lake Area of Concern Public Action Council (I'm not sure, but I think the more politically correct name change happened before September):

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Quote:

SEPTEMBER, 2000:
Technical Committee Report – Laurence Stevens reported the RAP was revised per suggestions received since the August Meeting.

Technical Committee Report – Laurence Stevens reported the RAP was revised per suggestions received since the August Meeting. Comments from John Kappler and Dan Lorenzetti were received on the draft letter regarding De-listing. Dr. Baillod recommended the PAC Directors review the Draft Letter. Dr. Baillod then distributed resumes on Martin T. Auer and wife, Nancy A. Auer. Both individuals are experts in fishery biology and are capable of providing a technical review of the Remedial Action Plan (RAP) for the October Meeting. Dr. Baillod suggested a draft letter of proposal be prepared by the Technical Committee listing what the TLAPAC wants done in the review, whether or not the conclusions are justified by the evidence as presented. John Kappler stated this letter should be confidential and discussed with the Technical Committee only.
Based on Trisia Beaver’s recommendation, Dan Lorenzetti supported by William Yrjana made a motion to authorize the Technical Committee to enter into letter of agreement with Martin and Nancy Auer with a cost cap of $5,000 and have their report back to the Technical Committee for the October Meeting. Yes, 19, No, 0. Motion carried.

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Enrichments! That's truly priceless. I guess the stakeholders intend to hold on to their share of the enrichments by hook or by crook.

Before some muddy-water sauger comes to spawn on my last post, allow me to down-load again:

I just said:Curious, and with a soil survey in hand, I compared the soils used to cover the two areas covered. I'm not a scientist, but I'd hazard a guess that the cover used in Lake Linden was better than the cover used in Tamarack. And if they take the "cover" from near the airport where a like soil exists, as was used on Lake Linden stamp sands, then my uneducated and scientific logic may be correct.

Here, I am talking about the future work on the Mason stamp sands, that are scheduled to be covered this year.

I will add that in the minutes there was a curious vote of the "directors" as I believe they are called. The "by-laws" of this coporation, the Torch Lake Public Action Council, state that members serve a "X" amount of time. Recently, the time was ending for many directors. But they voted to stay in the organization. Perhaps this is okay, as was stated in the minutes, they have experience with what has been happening. So sue me. I had a chuckle about it, anyway.

Jeff,
Reading the minutes of the Torch Lake Pac is like a slap in the face. On the one hand, they use the science argument to say there is no harm there. Then, we read that there has been harm done to the benthos. No science available in the minutes to document this. And a curious "executive session" whenever the RAP, that mysterious document is concerned. I've yet to read a definitive answer as to why that has taken place, considering the almighty, science, and what it can tell us.

(Yeah, okay, so I don't hold science in as high esteem as some do--maybe because time and again that new guru in the sky is like the great OZ.)

The sands are being covered and the hope is that this will eliminate the erosion of some gawd-awful amount of sands entering the lake.

Curious, and with a soil survey in hand, I compared the soils used to cover the two areas covered. I'm not a scientist, but I'd hazard a guess that the cover used in Lake Linden was better than the cover used in Tamarack. And if they take the "cover" from near the airport where a like soil exists, as was used on Lake Linden stamp sands, then my uneducated and scientific logic may be correct.

But as I said,somewhere, having grown up in Tamarack Mills, that small Finnish ghetto on the Superfund Shoreline that I left two weeks after graduating high school, what I've read pi&&es me off. More, and I promise, late.

There certainly do appear to be some Orwellian(or optimistic?) nuances in the vocabulary of the PAC from whom you quote, Walt. Do you know what particular "enrichments" the Superfund operation has been targeting for reduction(if any)?
A cursory glance at the plastic bottle which holds my daily dose of vitamins and minerals lists the following "heavy metals" contained therein:

copper 2 mg
manganese 2.5 mg
chromium 25 mcg
iron 19 mg
zinc 15 mg
selenium 20 mcg
molybdenum 25 mcg

No lead or arsenic though(thank you FDA).

On another front, I see from Keweenaw Today that the Northwoods Conservancy is hoping to purchase 7 Mile Point from LSLC for conservation purposes with a little funding help from its friends. I always thought that spot would make a great little public park for family and friend get-togethers. Sure wish I could contribute financially to this purchase but, poor sod that I am, this is not an option.
Well...at least I didn't pour my life-savings into NASDAQ(ouch!)

You know, before I discovered the Torch Lake Public Action Council website, (the appellation: Area of Concern, formerly situated between Lake, and Public, was dropped from usage)I had faith in the people of this area to do something about the pollution of Torch Lake. But after reading some of the minutes contained therein, along with some of the other writing, I'm inclined to believe these concerned citizens, as some have called them, have less concern than I believed they had.

On their web-page insert url here:_____________, I read:

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Quote:

The Torch Lake PAC consists of representatives of community "Stakeholders' who will work and coordinate with the US Environmental Protection Agency, the State of Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality and the International Joint Commission to plan and execute remediation of the Torch Lake Area of Concern through a capacity building process.

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Quote:

The poor rock and stamp sand deposits contain elevated levels of copper, while the slag and associated sediments contain significant enrichments of not only copper but also arsenic, lead, chromium, and other heavy metals.

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Quote:

Today, these sands or mine tailings are simply an unfortunate by product of the mining era.

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Quote:

There are no contaminated deposits of up to seventy feet thick as has been claimed. Yes, some of the sands have accumulated over time and may be up to seventy feet thick. However, these sands are inert materials, contain no heavy or other metals in dangerous quantities.

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Quote:

While the benthos of Torch Lake is not as healthy as it should be due to the decades of deposition of fine mine tailings, it is in a state of steady improvement and it is good enough condition to support a healthy and growing fish population.

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Quote:

The USEPA has provided funds for the revegetation to take place.

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Quote:

The shallow groundwater associated with OU II which has come into contact with stampsands (waste from copper ore milling) exhibits inorganic contamination which results in unacceptable potential future risks, however, these risks are only applicable if, in the future, the stampsands are developed for residential use and drinking water is taken from the shallow groundwater. The practice in the region is to drill drinking water wells into the sandstone aquifer which underlies the stampsands. Since the sandstone aquifer has been found to be unaffected by stampsand contamination, any future risk from contaminated groundwater is
unlikely

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The following message was just posted on the Enviro-Mich list.

Enviro-Mich message from "TONY DEFALCO"
--------------------------------------------------

Sprawl on the Keweenaw Peninsula? If that sounds pretty horrific to you, it should.
There is a proposal for a vacation home subdivision to be built on 270 acres between
the Devils' Washtub area and the village of Copper Harbor. An option is held by MJO
construction to buy the property. The proposal would subdivide and build 100
vacation homes (with 65 being waterfront lots) on land being sold by the Lake
Superior Land Company (a subsidiary of International Paper.

This 1.5 mile stretch of Lake Superior and Copper Harbor shoreline is listed as a
Conservation Priority Area by The Michigan DNR because of it's five species of rare
plants, spectacular scenic beauty, and public access history. MJO has indicated that
they will allow public access only to the very narrow rocky point at the end of
Hunter's Point. The existing trail from the Marina will be open this summer but will
then be closed permanently.

Such development on the Keweenaw will have numerous negative impacts. Loss of public access; impacts to local streams and Lake Superior from increased sedimentation and erosion and other non-point sources of erosion; disruption of various shoreline,
wetland, and upland habitats, direct and indirect impacts to flora and fauna there;
these are just of few of the impacts to this rare place in Michigan and on Lake
Superior.

Before the developer exercises its purchase option, which expires at the end of this
month, they want approval for sewage disposal from Grant Township. They have asked
Grant Township to extend sewer services. At the very least, the township should
require a complete assessment of the direct, indirect and cumulative impacts if the
township were to extend the line. Such a process is taking place in Minnesota on the
North Shore of Lake Superior. The folks there are taking a pro-active approach to
detailing ALL the cultural, environmental and social impacts that sewer extensions
can bring to an area.

What you can do:
1. Write Grant Twp. Supervisor Ken Korhorn at kbkorhorn@aol.com and tell him how you feel about this issue. Tell him that the township at the very least should require an environmental assessment before granting a sewer line extension.

2. Sign up to receive updates about this proposed development and what you can do.
Send me an e-mail at defalco@nwf.org


Tony DeFalco
Lake Superior Project Organizer
National Wildlife Federation
506 E. Liberty Street, 2nd Floor
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
(734) 769-3351
Fax (734) 769-1449
defalco@nwf.org
nwf.org/greatlakes


==============================================================
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Postings to: enviro-mich@great-lakes.net For info, send email to
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A special Copper Harbor Utility Board meeting will be held at 9 a.m. on Friday, March 16, at the Community Building in Copper Harbor. Township Supervisor Ken Korhorn said the Utility Board plans to exchange information with contractor MJO concerning their request for extension of sewer services to MJO's proposed purchase and development of 270 acres at Hunter's Point. While two of the board members are out of town, Korhorn expects a quorum and representation by the DNR and The Nature Conservancy. The state (DNR) is reportedly interested purchasing the west end of the bay and Hunter's Point to preserve the natural view from the marina and keep the established trail intact. The meeting is open to the public. See March 10, 2001, article on www.keweenawtoday.com

I received the email alert from the Public Access group yesterday as well. It will be interesting to see how Grant Township officials and concerned citizens react to this proposed Hunter's Point development project by MJO.
As I understand it, Walt, Bete Gris North is the beachfront north of the entry channel into Lac La Belle and Bete Gris South is the beachfront south of the channel(another coastal area recently contested over by developers--I wonder how that appeals court process by LSLC is progressing? Anyone hear?)

I wonder if it would be possible to see a map of the Copper Harbor/Devil's Washtub/Hunter's Point area of Keweenaw County here?
It would also be interesting to see a map of the proposed development there and the location of the proposed 100 vacation home sites and where these sites would be located. If this residential home development comes about, it would be a good time to see how it would happen in relation to the idea of conservation development. And if the area attracts many visitors to Copper Harbor, it would be a shame if the public access were eliminated completely.

Walt if you go to Mt. Hougton from the Mandan road you will see the signs posted by the landowner. Heartland forest products. This was not a rumor. The ski runs were cut, still there and the suspected individuals denied there involvement when questioned by the DNR.

Where are Bete Gris North and Bete Gris South located on this map?

I forgot to add that the MNA trail(mistakenly labeled "Bare" Bluff) to Bear Bluff is about 1/8th of a mile past the point where Smith Fisheries road crosses over Bear Creek. You'll find a small parking area on the right just before the road veers left. There a 3/4 mile walk in to the loop trailhead. Take the clockwise route from the trailhead as there is a lot less chance of losing the path.

Bear Bluff is two miles directly south of Breakfast Lake, Charlie. About 100 yards north of the Lake Superior shoreline. It's the high area about 4 miles NE from the blacktop highway to Bete Gris that the Smith Fisheries Road curves north around in order to reach its destination.

Jeff and Anthony -

Where is Bear Bluff in relation to Mt. Houghton? Maybe you could help me mark it on the following map:

Anthony Wayne is right about the Bear Bluff shot. I took a very similar picture of Keweenaw Point last fall while standing upon the very same shelf of red rhyolite this happy couple is seen smiling. I recommend a visit to this Michigan Nature Association site for anyone without a heart condition.
Charlie is right about Mt. Houghton. The south slope has been treeless for as long as I can remember. I did however glass in on the north-facing slope of Mt. Houghton from the NE end of Brockway Mtn drive last fall and could clearly see the ski-run cuts made by some enterprising sawyers last summer. Maybe if you drove up Brockway on a weekend this time of year with a pair of binoculars, you might even be able to see some backwoods teleskiers using them.

Charlie,

Judging by the shape of the coast and the lining up of the points, the second photo actually shows two people standing on Bear Bluff, not Mount Houghton. This notwithstanding, Mount Houghton does have relatively treeless cliffs on both the north and south sides. Walt is going to have to do some stomping around with a camera to settle the issue, but I'd pay to see someone ski off the cliffs - as long as Dr. Rowe was around to pick up their pieces.

Walt,

I think the area of white in the photo is actually too steep to support trees.

Did anyone else see the photo of Mount Houghton on the Pasty Cam? Who can explain that large white crescent of treeless mountain? I heard something over the summer about some cutting that had happened there on Mount Houghton. Is that crescent moon on Mount Houghton the result of what we heard about last summer?

Funny thing is, judging by the view, anyone out and about on the shoreline where the photo was taken must have been able to see the trees falling?

Why haven't we heard anything more about that? Or was that a rumor, as well?

ONE HECK OF A JOB COPPER KINGS !!!!!!!! GREAT WIN OVER HANCOCK 5-2. GOOD LUCK IN THE REGIONALS. REALLY PROUD OF ALL THE PLAYERS.

For a before-and-after view of Saturday's game, see this Pasty Cam page

Robin Niemi here is a limk that might help find info about your grandmother.

http://www.rootsweb.com/~mikeween/index.html

Hi Robin,
Hope you get a response,you also should post it on the Pasty email link too.And the Houghton rootsweb site.
Your partner in geneology,
Alicia

Tommy Boy,

We do need conservation and we do need to pay off the national debt while we're still in a position to do it.

On the other hand, I have to say that I approve very much of the first couple of steps that President Bush has taken regarding the military: the pay raise and the mission review. If he can continue to boost the pay of the people who are in uniform to defend our country and if he can get rid of the •••• fool weapons systems that do nothing to advance the mission of the military, but exist only to buy votes for congressional seats where the systems are built, then President Bush will have done us a great service.

Any one up there have a book about the history of the Area that was made for a centenial celebration of some kind.I was told there is a picture in a book like this of My Grandmother Wilma Fraki.She was a school teacher in a one room school in either painesdale or south range.The picture would have been from the late 1910s early 1920s.The picture is supposed to be of her standing in a school room with the caption Miss Fraki under it.I would love to have a copy of this picture.Can anyone help!

Hey Lynn, where ya been?
Welcome to March everyone!
And just for provocation's sake:

March 2, 2001
Drilling in the Cathedral
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Listening to President Bush's speech about his budget the other night, you could hear the theme song for his administration: "Don't Start Thinkin' About Tomorrow."
The short translation of the Bush speech is: Hey, it's not the government's money, it's your money. It's not your children's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, it's your refuge, and you can drill for oil there if you want. It's not your national debt, it's your grandchildren's national debt.
Geez, and they said the Clintonites were self-absorbed — me-me, I-I, now-now, yuppies. What about this crowd?
I'll let the experts point out the irresponsibility built into the Bush budget. As my colleague Paul Krugman, a real economist, has deftly explained, there is no way Mr. Bush's budget numbers can work without making wildly optimistic surplus projections, or stealing from future generations, or taking risks no serious person would take with his family's budget.
Having just visited Alaska, though, I'm troubled by what such thinking can do to the environment. What happened to the word "conservation"? Has it gone the way of "liberal"? Are we no longer allowed to call for conservation without engendering catcalls? America has 5 percent of the world's population, but consumes nearly 25 percent of world oil supplies. Yes, some speechwriter did slip one reference to conservation into Mr. Bush's speech, but only after he first emphasized his favored approach to our energy deficit — more "production."
I could understand, if we were down to our last barrels of oil and our very lifestyle were threatened, that we might risk believing the oil companies that they can drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, in northern Alaska, without damage. But we are so far away from that. We have not even begun to explore how just a little conservation, or a small, painless increase in energy efficiency, could relieve us from even thinking about risking one of the earth's most pristine environments.
Check out the Web site of the Natural Resources Defense Council (www.NRDC.org). It notes that the most credible estimates indicate that the Arctic Refuge contains about 3.2 billion barrels of economically recoverable crude oil — less than America consumes in six months. Risking the Arctic Refuge to extract that pittance of oil is nuts, when it could be painlessly extracted through better conservation and efficiency. As the Defense Council points out, by simply increasing average fuel efficiency on new cars, S.U.V.'s and light trucks from 24 to 39 miles per gallon over the next decade, we would save 51 billion barrels of oil — more than 15 times the likely yield from the Arctic. At the same time, if we just required replacement tires for cars and light trucks to be as fuel- efficient as the original tires on new vehicles (which have lower rolling resistance), we would save 5.4 billion barrels of oil over the next 50 years, far more than in the Arctic Refuge.
The Arctic Refuge is a unique environmental cathedral — a 19-million- acre expanse where mountains meet ocean, where grizzly bears meet polar bears, where 130,000 caribou migrate each spring to give birth on the coastal plain, where an entire ecosystem is preserved and where Mother Nature is totally in charge. This is not Yellowstone Park, with campsites and R.V.'s. The original idea behind the refuge's creation was to save an area of pure wilderness, in which there would be no maps, virtually no roads and no development. When the Bush team says it can drill in such wilderness without harming it, it's like saying you can do online trading in church on your Palm Pilot without disturbing anyone. It violates the very ethic of the place.
"Wilderness as a concept is immutable," explains Richard Fineberg, an Anchorage-based environmental consultant. "It is like perfection — there are no degrees to it. Oil development in a wilderness, no matter how sensitive, changes the very nature of it. It means it's no longer wilderness. If the drill worshipers prevail in the Arctic Refuge, then there will be no place on this continent where a unique environment will be safe from greed and short-term interests."
What will you tell your grandchildren when they ask: How could you destroy a unique wilderness area to buy six months' supply of gasoline? Why didn't you just improve gas mileage a little each year? Why didn't you lift just a tiny finger for conservation? Weren't you thinking about tomorrow at all?