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Summer 2013Defender

Also in this issue Focus on Energy Update Waukesha’s Diversion Application: Action Coming Soon!The President’s Climate Action Plan ... and how you can help

On June 30, Governor Walker signed the 2013-2015 biennial budget into law. The budget signing represents the culmination of months of work on what is generally regard-ed as the most sweeping piece of legislation that gets decided every legislative session. The budget determines how state resources will be spent for the next two years and is the one bill the Legislature must sign into law every ses-sion.

Clean Wisconsin monitored and evaluated all environmental policies in the budget, com-municating with you and with legislators at every step of the process. Your efforts helped deliver almost 18,000 messages to legislators and the Governor about environmental bud-get priorities and it certainly had an impact. Overall, this budget is pretty disappointing for protection of our water resources and the special places that we love. Here are some out-comes of the notable environmental issues in this budget:

� Preserves funding for county land and water conservation staff that support implementing agri-culture practices that reduce polluted runoff.

� Preserves mass transit funding in the transportation fund, rather than making it compete with other state programs like prisons and schools in the general fund.

� Adds two staff to DNR for monitoring frac sand mines. The DNR had identified a need for 10 new staff to deal with the number operations springing up across Wisconsin’s landscape, a number that has doubled in just the last year.

� Cuts funding for the land conservation Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund by 20%, requires DNR to sell 10,000 acres it has already purchased and puts numerous restrictions on how future purchases can be made. The cuts will have a crippling effect on the state’s efforts to protect land for future generations, especially since the program was slashed by 30% just two years ago.

� Removes local government’s ability to enact stronger stormwater standards than the state to control water quality. Some communities enact stronger standards to address their specific water quality situations, and they may have to change those to conform with less-strin-gent state standards.

� Bars neighbors from challenging a high-capacity well based on cumulative environmental impacts for any withdrawal applications after July 2014. This provision will limit property owners’ ability to ensure they have a safe, adequate supply of drinking water and is especially disastrous for people who live in those areas of the state where water resources are already strained by large farms and frac sand operations.

� Eliminates the grazing initiative, which supports sustainable agricultural practices, an im-portant part of controlling phosphorus runoff.

There is still a lot of work to be done to prevent additional environmental rollbacks, and Clean Wisconsin will continue our work to keep you informed and engaged on our issues as the session moves forward.

2013 Budget BillA disappointment for ourstate’s natural resources

Devil’s LakeBy Alexis Fam Photography | Flickr

What Didn’t Happen in the Budget (But we’re watching for the future)

• Senator Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) had introduced a budget amendment that would have cut $13 million from the program that assists low-income families in paying energy bills and improving efficiency to cut their energy needs. The amend-ment was tabled and did not receive a vote — a very good thing for the 23,000 Wis-consin families that have used this benefit.

• Republicans in the Assembly announced and then withdrew a provision that would have closed off land surrounding the Gogebic Taconite iron mine site to the public. These legislators were trying to limit access to the land to block protesters.

Your efforts helped deliver about

18,000 messages to legislators and the

Governor about these environmental priorities during the

budget debate}

2 Summer 2013

Executive Director Mark Redsten

Development Director Angela Cao

Staff Scientist Tyson Cook

Chief Financial Officer Nick Curran, CPA

Membership & Development Coordinator

Jake Immel

Organizing Hub Coordinator Melissa Gavin

Water Program Coordinator/Grant Manager

Emily Jones

Water Program Director Melissa Malott

Director of Programs & Government Relations

Amber Meyer Smith

Water Resources Specialist Ezra Meyer

General Counsel Katie Nekola

Senior Policy Director Keith Reopelle

Midwest Clean Energy Coordinator Sarah Shanahan

Clean Energy Specialist Katy Walter

Creative Director Amanda Wegner

Staff Attorney Elizabeth Wheeler

Office Manager David Vitse

Chair Margi Kindig, MadisonVice Chair Chuck McGinnis, MiddletonTreasurer Gof Thomson, New Glarus Secretary Gary Goyke, Madison Belle Bergner, Milwaukee Shari Eggleson, Washburn Luke Fairborn, Whitefish Bay Scott Froehlke, Montello Lucia Petrie, Milwaukee Karen Sands, Whitefish BayCarl Sinderbrand, MadisonBoard Emeritus Kate Gordon, San FranciscoThe Defender is owned and published quarterly by Clean Wisconsin, 634 W. Main St., #300,

Madison, WI 53703, 608-251-7020. A one-year subscription membership is $35. Please direct correspondence to the address above. Volume 43, No. 3 Issue date: July 2013 ©2013 Clean Wisconsin. All rights reserved. ISSN # 1549-8107

Clean Wisconsin protects Wisconsin’s clean water and air and advocates for clean energy by being

an effective voice in the State Capitol and holding elected officals and polluters accountable.

Founded in 1970 as Wisconsin’s Environmental Decade, Clean Wisconsin exposes corporate pol-

luters, makes sure existing environmental laws are enforced, and educates citizens and businesses. On behalf of its 10,000 members, supporters and coalition partners, Clean Wisconsin protects the special places that make Wisconsin a wonderful

place to live, work and play.

634 W. Main St., #300 • Madison WI 53703 Phone: 608-251-7020 www.cleanwisconsin.org

Actions you can take for clean water, clean air and clean energy

TAKING ACTIONTaking Charge&

STAFF

BOARD

Printed with soy ink on unbleached, recycled paper.

Letter-Writing CampaignsMany elected leaders read the editorial page of their local newspapers to get the pulse of

the public and gauge what they think of current issues. As such, we’d love to work with you to write a letter to the editor on our issues. Whether you’re passionate about clean air, clean water or more clean energy in Wisconsin, or any other issue you see in the following pages, we want you on board. We are particularly looking for people who are passionate about climate change to write letters regarding President Obama’s new climate action plan (see page 5). If you are interested in writing letters to the editor (it’s easy, we promise), please contact Katy at 608-251-7020 x28 or kwalter@cleanwisconsin.org to get started.

And the Envelope Please...Something as simple as a little reply envelope can make a huge difference. Really. It

seems like such a small gesture, but the impact on our work can be enormous.We all agree that we want and deserve clean water and clean air. We want and deserve

clean energy alternatives. We need to protect the special places that make Wisconsin won-derful. And that is what Clean Wisconsin, along with all our members, is doing.

Here is where the envelope comes in. The little envelope tucked inside this newsletter makes it easy for you to help Clean Wisconsin be a strong and effective voice for Wiscon-sin’s environment. Our work is possible thanks to simple gestures like these. Simply write a check for whatever amount you chose, slip it inside the envelope, stamp it and drop it in the mail. If you prefer, you can donate via credit card or make a secure, online donation at www.cleanwisconsin.org/defenderdonate. That’s how easy it is. Perhaps it took you a minute, maybe two. But the act of making a contribution to Clean Wisconsin has a huge impact. You are helping support clean water, clean air and clean energy for Wisconsin. Thank you!

Share Your Story with Clean WisconsinBecause we couldn’t continue to advocate for Wisconsin’s environment without your

support, we want to know why you care enough to support us with your hard-earned money. Did you learn your conservation ethic from your grandparents? Do you take a daily hike through the woods near your house? Are you worried about the impacts of cli-mate change? We want to learn about the places you love in Wisconsin, why they’re worth protecting, and why you support us. To share your story, contact Jake at 608-251-7020 x23 or jimmel@cleanwisconsin.org. And, thank you again for your support of our work!

Become a Business SponsorClean Wisconsin offers several ways to support our mission of protecting Wisconsin’s

clean air, clean water and special places. One way is through our strong Business Sponsor-ship program.

If you own a business and share our mission, please join Clean Wisconsin’s Business Sponsorship program; think of it as an investment in your business! We all have a respon-sibility to protect Wisconsin and our air, water and special places.

All donations to Clean Wisconsin are tax deductible to the full extent of the law. For more information, please contact Angela Cao at 608-251-7020 ext. 17 or acao@

cleanwisconsin.org.In addition, we are always looking for businesses that are willing to donate raffle items

for our events and promotions, including our quarterly Fresh Faces events. To donate an item, please contact Jake at 608-251-7020 x23 or jimmel@cleanwisconsin.org.

• Join our Action Network at cleanwisconsin.org• Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter• Watch legislative floor sessions, committee hearings

and interviews at wisconsineye.org • Sign up to receive notifications about action on bills

you care about at http://notify.legis.state.wi.us • Learn more about your legislators by entering your

address or using the interactive map at http://legis.wisconsin.gov/w3asp/waml/waml.aspx

Stay informed on what’s

happening in our state

government

www.cleanwisconsin.org 3

from the Executive DirectorEvery two years, the staff at Clean

Wisconsin roll up their sleeves and jump headfirst into the budget de-bate. The only bill that the Legisla-ture is required to pass, it’s a critical opportunity to protect our natural resources.

As you read on the front page of Defender, there were few bright spots for Wisconsin’s environment in the 2013-’15 state budget as we came up against some tough losses. The ever-popular Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program took yet another hit when the Legislature agreed to reduce funding for this land conservation program that Wisconsinites love. There was also a non-fiscal policy item snuck into the budget that puts our groundwater at risk and could have grave impacts for our lakes and the owners of pri-vate wells, especially those who live in areas of the state where groundwater resources are already in trouble.

These were tough losses to be sure, but we’ve found a silver lining: More than ever before, you added your voice to the con-versation, sending emails to legislators, the Governor and other decision-makers when it mattered most. In fact, over the course of six weeks, you sent almost 18,000 messages on six budget-related issues! By comparison, you sent 21,000 messages in all of 2011, which was also a budget year.

Over the last 18 months, we’ve worked hard to improve our communications with members like you and to spread the word about Clean Wisconsin’s important work for clean air, clean water and our special places. And our collective work to send nearly 18,000 messages in just six weeks demonstrates that Clean Wisconsin and its members have what it takes to make a difference!

To that end, we’re working hard this summer to continue to leverage our resources, supporters and expertise to build a first-in-class mobilization hub. By maximizing our digital com-munication and organizing efforts while encouraging people to take action on issues of environmental importance when they matter most, we can have real environmental success. This will be especially important going forward, as we work to increase investments in the state’s successful Focus on Energy program, support the President’s national plan to reduce climate change pollution, and build momentum on issues directly affecting Wisconsin, our natural resources and our way of life.

There may always be ebbs and flows to our work protecting Wisconsin’s environment for future generations. But together, we are making amazing strides and building a successful move-ment to stand strong against attacks on our clean air, clean wa-ter and the special places we love.

Thank you for joining us and lending your voice,

Mark Redsten Executive Director

ChangesAs you open our letters and emails in the coming months, you’re sure to find some new names and miss some old ones.

This spring, development director Becky Bains left the organization to stay at home with her three young daughters. Becky joined Clean Wisconsin in 2003, first as your primary membership contact before moving to development director in 2010. With us for 10 years, Becky’s dedication and commitment to the cause is surely missed. However, we are happy to welcome new development director, Angela Cao. Angela and her family recently moved here from Reno, Nev., where Angela worked in fundraising for a public television station. She is excited to be a part of our community and work toward connecting Clean Wisconsin’s important mission and donor desire to impact lives through the power of philanthropy.

This spring we also said goodbye to communications director Sam Weis and grants manager Jenny Lynes, who met here at Clean Wisconsin in 2009, who moved to Alaska. In his tenure, Sam helped improve our communications to bring more awareness to our work and issues as well as usher Clean Wisconsin into the digital age; he is now directing the communications efforts for several campaigns fighting coal mines there. working first as the membership and development coordinator before moving to grants manager, Jenny helped us make great improvement to the systems we used to communicate with you, our members; she is working with an organization to increase the use of renewable energy there. We wish them the best of luck in their new adventure in the Great White North!

Sam Weis Jenny Lynes

Angela CaoBecky Bains

Right To Breathe50 States United for Healthy Air

By Katy Walter, Clean Energy Specialist

This May, I had the great honor to be one of Wisconsin’s clean air ambassadors for the 50 States United for Healthy Air event. I arrived in Washington, D.C. with a fierce army of advocates: physicians, trib-al and labor leaders, clergy, nurses and parents, all ready to bring the message to policymakers that we deserve the right to breathe clean, healthy air.

We took our message to Capitol Hill and the Environmental Pro-tection Agency (EPA). We asked these decision-makers for a few sim-ple things: Set stronger standards to limit coal ash, air pollution and climate change. At the EPA, we met the President’s principal advisor on environmental policy, Nancy Sutley, as well as top EPA officials in charge of solid waste, air and environmental justice. We were briefed on the agency’s plans for each of our issues and had the opportunity to ask questions.

We also spent a day trekking around Capitol Hill, sweltering in our suits and heels, meeting with as many legislators as we could squeeze into the day. I was joined by two other Wisconsin ambassadors: Betty Koepsel, a nurse with scary real-life stories of children suffering from asthma, and Karen Shapiro, an environmental attorney with loads of experience fighting for justice. We asked Wisconsin’s congressional delegation to uphold the EPA’s authority to set limits on coal ash, air pollution and climate change.

In these meetings, I wasn’t just representing Clean Wisconsin. I was representing the many groups of the Cleaner Valley Coalition and took the opportunity to tell the story of all the Milwaukee residents who came out to public hearings to talk about the air pollution mak-ing them sick.

For me, the most powerful part of the event was the stories that we shared. Vickie Simmons of the Moapa Band of Paiutes in Nevada bravely talked about the death of her loved ones and the sickness in her tribe from the coal ash that blows across their land. (You can learn more about this powerful story in the film, “An Ill Wind,” at earthjus-tice.org/illwind.) Hilton Kelly from Port Arthur, Texas, shared his fight to bring justice to the low-income com-munities of color that are located near the city’s many industrial facilities.

These are just a two of the many powerful stories I heard of communities that are be-ing disproportionally burdened with pollu-tion. Honestly, I have a lump in my throat as I write this and think about all the courageous individuals I met who are working to correct these injustices.

It is probably pretty obvious by this point, but I was very moved by the event. I left D.C. with a renewed sense of pur-pose, a little bit of indignation that polluters are not always held responsible for the sickness they cause, and a lot of drive to change this state of affairs. I hope you’ll join me. Katy Walter

4 Summer 2013

Last February, after a long and exhaustive review process, the Public Service Com-mission denied Highland Wind’s applica-tion to build a 102.5-megawatt wind farm in St. Croix County. The PSC thoroughly examined Highland’s proposal, heard the testimony of experts and the public, and concluded that its’ only issue was whether the wind farm would, at times, exceed the limits for audible sound prescribed by PSC 128, which sets the paramaters of siting safe wind farms in Wisconsin.

Highland believes it can comply with PSC 128 using methods the rule explicitly allows and asked the PSC to reconsider its decision; the PSC agreed to reopen the case. Highland has submitted testimony and exhibits that show how it intends to comply with the audible noise standard and other parties will submit testimony from their points of view. Clean Wiscon-sin continues to be involved in this impor-tant case to support clean, renewable en-ergy from the Highland Wind project.

The first full, independent evaluation report of the Focus on Energy program shows that after a year of restructuring, the statewide energy efficiency program is once again saving homeowners and busi-nesses owners lots of money on their ener-gy bills. The evaluation, performed by Cad-mus, was released in mid-May and showed that the program reached the highest level of electric energy savings and the second-highest level of natural gas savings in the program’s 12-year history.

Focus on Energy underwent some major changes when the state’s electric utilities and the Public Service Commission hired a new program administrator in early 2011. Administered for its first 10 years by Wis-consin Energy Conservation Corporation, Focus on Energy had grown over that time to become a nation-leading energy efficien-cy program. The new administrator, Shaw Environmental (which was recently pur-chased by Chicago Bridge & Iron (CB&I)), took over in 2011 and significantly reshuf-fled the Focus deck by hiring a number of new subcontractor program implementers and restructuring many of the programs. Due to the time needed to solicit bids, hire new program implementers and for the new implementers to offer the programs, 2011 was a transition year with a much low-er level of activity and participation in the program. That transition was complete by the end of 2011, and 2012 was the first full year of Focus for CB&I.

The Cadmus evaluation report conclud-ed that 2012’s Focus on Energy programs were cost-effective, experienced growing participation and achieved high degrees of customer satisfaction. Historically, one of

the most important measuring sticks for as-sessing the program’s success has been the cost-benefit ratio. The Cadmus report esti-mated that the benefits and costs of energy savings achieved by the program exceeded

the costs of running and delivering the program by a ratio of 2.89 to 1, one of the largest benefit-to-cost ratios the program has ever achieved. The benefits for busi-

nesses alone exceeded program costs by a ratio of 3.83 to 1.

“More Wisconsinites are participating in, and benefiting from, the Focus on En-ergy portfolio of programs,” said William Haas, Focus on Energy program director. “We specifically designed a variety of pro-grams to provide more opportunities for utility ratepayers to save energy at home and at work.”

Now that the program has proven that it continues to save homeowners and busi-ness owners money, Clean Wisconsin will continue its work to improve and expand the program so more home and businesses owners can reduce their energy bills and more of the dollars we send out of state to import fossil fuels can be kept and invested in Wisconsin’s economy.

We specifically designed a variety of programs to provide more opportuni-

ties for utility ratepayers to save energy at home and

at work.—William Haas, Focus on Energy

program director

Focus on EnergyBack on TrackBy Keith Reopelle, Senior Policy Director

Highland Wind Update

By the Numbers

With Lake Michigan to the east and Lake Superior to the north the Great Lakes shape Wisconsin’s way of life. But they are in danger.

1.6 millionWisconsinites get their

drinking water from the Great Lakes

800

mil

es G

reat

Lak

es c

oast

line

in W

iscon

sin

$7 billion

The value of goods brought into Wisconsin through Great Lakes

harbors

800 toxic contaminantsFound in the Great Lakes water, mostly from polluted runoff

100 poundsThe size of a

Bighead Carp, one invasive

species threating our Great Lakes

4.68 inches

The amount Lake Michigan dropped by from May 2012 to May 2013

October 3, 2008Date the Great Lakes Compact

was signed

34 new invasive species

Currently in the Great Lakes

84%Of America’s surface fresh water

1.5 millionLocal jobs

depend on the Great Lakes

50%Of Wisconsinites live in the Great Lakes Basin

Wisconsin and the Great Lakes

By Brady Loomis, Communications InternLearn more at www.cleanwisconsin.org/

keepgreatlakes great

www.cleanwisconsin.org 5

On June 25, President Obama made a historic speech at Georgetown University where he laid out his climate action plan, a strong, yet very practical set of actions to address the greatest environmental chal-lenge of this century.

The President’s plan includes: 1. Cutting domestic carbon pollution

by deploying clean energy. Includes expanding and modernizing the elec-tric grid, $8 billion in loan guarantees for renewable energy projects, a feder-al quadrennial energy review process, $7.9 billion of additional funding for federal clean energy technology devel-opment, and most importantly, set-ting carbon pollution standards for existing power plants.

2. Building a 21st century transporta-tion sector. Includes increasing fuel economy standards on heavy-duty trucks, buses and vans and develop-ing and deploying advanced biofuels.

3. Cutting energy waste in homes, busi-nesses and factories. Includes estab-lishing new efficiency standards for a number of appliances, creating new efficiency financing mechanisms with a variety of grant and loan guarantees, and expanding the President’s Better Building Challenge to multi-family buildings and public housing.

4. Reducing other greenhouse gas emis-sions. Includes international and national efforts to cut highly potent hydrofluorocarbons (mainly refriger-ants) and methane gases.

5. Leading at the federal level. The President will lead by example by es-tablishing a goal of generating 20% of the federal government’s electric-ity use from renewable energy sources and a variety of energy-efficiency pro-grams in federal buildings.

These actions make up the first of three major areas of the plan In addition, the President’s plan includes 17 strategies to increase the resiliency and preparedness of our communities to reduce the cost of

impacts to our cities and natural resourc-es from droughts, flooding, wildfires and extreme storms. His plan also focuses on working with other countries to take ac-tion to reduce their emissions.

By far, the most important action is di-recting the EPA to regulate carbon pollu-tion from existing power plants, the largest source of carbon pollution in the nation. EPA proposed a draft standard for new power plants in April 2012. If finalized and adopted, this standard would, in effect, pre-vent the construction of new coal plants. But with low natural gas prices, very few coal plants have been proposed in the last year and the proposed standard received relatively little attention. By contrast, the standard for existing plants will receive a great deal of attention.

The President directed EPA to issue a draft proposed standard for existing plants by June 2014 and finalize the regulation by June 2015. States will have an important role to play in how the federal standard can be met. It will be important that the standard and EPA’s guidance to states be flexible enough to allow a wide variety of compliance mechanisms to minimize costs and achieve significant reductions. In the long run, these standards are highly likely to result in great savings by reducing the impacts of climate change. In fact, Natural Resources Defense Council modeled a pro-posed standard that would cut power plant carbon emissions by 26% by 2020, which showed that such a standard would have a relatively small price tag of $4 billion com-pared to savings of anywhere from $25 bil-lion to $60 billion.

The effort required to realize this level of carbon emission reductions and savings in reduced health impacts and mortality and other losses will be enormous. Clean Wis-consin is leading efforts in Wisconsin and across the Midwest to educate the public, opinion leaders and policymakers about how we can best support the President’s climate action plan to see increased eco-nomic growth and investments in Midwest manufacturers, farmers and engineers. But we need your help!

We need citizens of every walk of life to be engaged in this effort —

we need you!There are many different ways to get involved in this effort and if

you are willing, even to lend an hour a month, we can have a significant impact.

Contact Katy Walter at kwalter@cleanwisconsin.org to get started!

Meeting the Challenge

of the Century

Obama’s Climate Change Plan

By Keith Reopelle, Senior Policy Director

Waukesha’s Diversion

ApplicationBy Ezra Meyer, Water Resources Specialist

The slow movement we’ve seen for sev-eral years on Waukesha’s application for Great Lakes water is poised to change this summer. The city and its water utility are finalizing the details of their revised final application for what could, if approved by Wisconsin and then the rest of the Great Lakes states, be the first diversion of Great Lakes water to a community entirely out-side the Basin since the historic passage of the Great Lakes Compact in 2008.

Many significant details of the city’s pro-posal have changed since the DNR held public hearings on it in summer 2011. For example, Waukesha now proposes to buy water from Oak Creek rather than Milwau-kee and to return water to Lake Michigan by discharging treated sewage effluent to the headwaters of the Root River, which flows to Lake Michigan through parts of Waukesha, Milwaukee, and Racine coun-ties and ultimately the City of Racine.

In our view, the major differences in Waukesha’s proposal require public pre-sentations on the application’s details and another opportunity for public comment;

in late June, as part of the Compact Imple-mentation Coalition, we shared those con-cerns with the DNR and Waukesha. The DNR agreed this is a necessary step before they finalize their technical review of the application and their environmental im-pact analysis.

DNR agreed and asked Waukesha to host public informational meetings near Waukesha, Milwaukee and Racine; in ad-dition, DNR has agreed to take comments in writing from the public as part of that process. Please stay tuned for the specific details on these meetings and the com-ment opportunity. If you are not already a member of our Action Network, join to-day at www.cleanwisconsin.org/waukesha and we’ll email you when it’s time to voice support for strong implementation of the Great Lakes Compact.

It remains to be seen whether or not Waukesha has prepared an application that meets the high bar set in the Com-pact. We’re sure you agree that what is most important is that the Compact is fol-lowed properly, yielding the right result for the Great Lakes, whatever that may be.

In our view, the major differences in the latest version of Waukesha’s

proposal require another round of public

presentations on the application’s details and another opportunity for

public comment.

6 Summer 2013

Fishing is a big deal in Wisconsin. In addition to being part of our heritage, our strong angling tradition makes it a $1.4 billion industry here. We are home to 1,000 miles of Great Lakes shoreline, over 15,000 inland lakes, and nearly 3,000 trout streams running over 13,000 miles throughout the state. One fish that lives in all those types of waters and is particularly prized by anglers is the brook trout.

Known to many simply as “brookies,” brook trout are the only spe-cies of trout native to Wisconsin. They are easily recognized by the marble pattern on their backs, and spotted sides that include distinc-tive red spots with blue halos.

Brook trout live and thrive only in very clean and cold water, and have been noted to prefer spawning in areas where groundwater mixes with surface waters. Beyond just being prized as sport fish, these water quality needs of brook trout also make them very useful scientifically, as an “indicator species.” This means that since they are so sensitive to changes in their environment, studying them can give us an early indication of problems that may occur. Some of the most significant are:

Water acidity Brook trout can’t live in waters that have been acidified, for example, by the acid mine drainage that can come from mine sites or the acid rain that can result from coal power plant emissions.

Water clarity Brook trout rely on their sense of sight to feed, so they have trouble when excessive erosion or runoff (caused, for example, by deforestation or bad riverbank control practices) increases turbidity.

Dissolved oxygen Brook trout need high levels of dissolved oxygen in the water, which can be cut down by excessive biologi-cal activity. Since organisms in the water use oxygen both when they grow and when they decompose, brook trout suffer when nutrient pollution like phosphorus causes algal blooms, which drastically reduces dissolved oxygen in the water.

Water temperature Brook trout need very cold water, prefer-ring temperatures less than 66 degrees or so. This is especially important for spawning, when they do best with water between 40 and 50 degrees. Historically, this indicated where deforesta-tion significantly reduced shading levels on a waterway. More re-cently, however, the biggest impact has been the general warming trend from climate change. The Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts predicts that, in a worst-case scenario, brook trout could be completely wiped out in Wisconsin by mid-centu-ry due to warming temperatures.

BEllWETHERBy Tyson Cook, Staff Scientist

Rep. Nick Milroy

73rd Assembly DistrictD-South Range

office phone: 608-266-0640Rep.Milroy@legis.wi.gov

Nick Milroy was first elected to represent the 73rd Assembly District in 2008 and has used his natural resources background to be a leading advocate in the Capitol for environmental protections.

The 73rd Assembly District covers most of Douglas County and the northern portions of Washburn and Burnett counties. Milroy was born and raised in Superior and growing up around such natural beauty gave him a deep appreciation and commitment to natural resources. He spent his youth fishing, canoeing, hiking and camping around northern Wis-consin and the Apostle Islands.

“I try to model my approach to environmental issues in the Legislature on local heroes Gaylord Nelson, former Congressman Dave Obey and local activist Martin Hanson, who realized that the beauty and wonder of what surrounds us in Northern Wisconsin is worth protecting.”

Milroy enlisted in the Navy after high school and served in the Persian Gulf before returning to UW-Superior to pursue a biology degree. He was appointed to a regional board to reduce mercury pollution in the St. Louis River watershed and served as an international representa-tive on the Lake Superior Binational Forum. He has worked as a fish biologist for state, fed-eral and tribal agencies. He currently resides with his wife and three children in South Range.

A member of both the Assembly’s natural resources and environment committees, Milroy is a key voice for water and air protections. “It is my goal is to bring some of my biology experi-ence to the Capitol, help legislators understand how ecosystems work, and how the impacts of legislative actions can have long-lasting environmental impacts.”

He was a leader in the fight against iron mining legislation. Testifying in opposition to the iron mining bill, Milroy reminded legislators “We’ve heard testimony that it’s the DNR’s or EPA’s job to protect the environment – that’s not true. It’s the people’s job to protect the en-vironment and they do that by electing representatives to their government to ensure that we are meeting the tradition in Wisconsin of having environmental standards that people enjoy.”

He adds: “Clean Wisconsin’s presence in the Capitol is critical to advancing natural re-source protections and defending against rollbacks of existing environmental standards.”

legislative leaders

Scientific Name: Salvelinus fontinalisHabitat: Clean, cold water, with some shadeFood: Invertebrates, insects, small fishLifespan: Normally 5 to 6 years, but can survive up to

10+Size: 10 to 20+ inches long in lakes (world record is

over 30 inches), smaller in streamsWeight: 1 to 4 pounds (state record is nearly 10

pounds)Ideal water temperature: 55 to 60 degrees; 40 to 50

degrees for spawning

Under the lens

Brook trout are a useful indicator

species in Wisconsin waters

www.cleanwisconsin.org 7

Photo: Mario Quintana

www.cleanwisconsin.org/ride

On Thursday, May 16, we kicked off the Clean Wisconsin & Friends Bike Club ... thanks to everyone who has joined us over the last two

months! We’re having a blast!

Bike Club runs through Thursday, Sept. 12. Join us and fellow riders every Thursday for a group ride around the greater Madison area! We’ll meet at the

Clean Wisconsin office at 5:30 p.m., head out for an at-your-own-pace ride; each week, we offer a long ride and a shorter route. Afterward, we’ll gather

together for refreshments, food and fun, so bring your wallet!

The Clean Wisconsin & Friends Bike Club is open to anyone and everyone; families are encouraged to join us as well!

Join our bike list, get route maps & learn more at www.cleanwisconsin.org/ride

Rollin' and Ridin'

Schedule for the rest of the summer*

July 25 Long: Cross Plains | Short: Cap City Trail

Aug. 1 Long: Belleville | Short: Fitchrona

Aug. 8 Long: Paoli | Short: Cap City Trail

Aug. 15 Long: Madison East | Short: Arboretum

Aug. 22 Long: Fish Camp | Short: Lake Monona

Aug. 29 Long: Lake Waubesa | Short: Wingra Watershed

Sept. 5 Long: Southside | Short: Lake Monona

Sept. 12 Long: Cap City | Short: University

*Like anything, the schedule is subject to change; check the blog or join the list to stay up to date