“Whiskey is for drinking, water is worth fighting over.” This quote, from an unknown author, speaks the truth of efforts underway to restore the Illinois River, the floodplains, and the backwaters.

By Olivia Dorothy, IWLA Upper Mississippi River Coordinator

Since the glaciers retreated 9,000 years ago, people have called this river home. Native people relied on the river’s seasonal pulses to provide an abundance of resources: fish, birds, water, animals, stone, wood, and the means to travel from Illinois to Canada, from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico, via the vast network of Mississippi River tributaries.

European explorers first arrived in the valley in the 1500s, and then the French explored the Illinois and Mississippi River extensively in the 1600s. They mapped the region, using the river as a highway, and established trading posts along the Great Rivers with the Native Americans. The explorers gained notoriety and wealth from the rivers’ rich resources and live on today in memory as LaSalle County, Pere Marquette State Park, Hennepin Canal, and the city of Joliet.

As America grew as a nation, the European immigrants moved west via the Ohio River. Settlers had a choice to make when they reached the Ohio River’s confluence with the Mississippi: They could move north via the upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, or head South towards New Orleans. Settlers who wanted extra adventure could travel up the Missouri into and the Wild West.

Today, we have changed the Illinois River and its ecosystems on a scale that competes only with glaciers. As soon as Europeans reached the Illinois River and its rich mosaic of resources, they harvested everything from the river’s seemingly inexhaustible supply of assets. Explorers trapped animals for fur to ship back to Europe, almost driving the beaver into extinction to make hats. And Illinois – the prairie state – lost its prairie under the plow to feed growing populations.

Then, in the 1930s, locks and dams were built to facilitate navigation. Inland navigation was promoted to compete with the booming railroad industry, and barge operators needed nine feet of water to float their barges. So dams were built, flooding the meandering Illinois River. And to further ensure adequate water heights, engineers cut off the backwater fish nurseries from the channel. Many of these backwaters, once they were isolated from the river, were drained and plowed.

But as Aldo Leopold observed, this type of strictly economic land relationship entails “privileges but not obligations.” In the name of economic development, we have dammed, polluted, over fished, and over used our Illinois River almost to ruin. But not quite. Like the Mississippi, the Illinois River “will always have its own way; no engineering skill can persuade it to do otherwise,” as Mark Twain famously stated.

By constraining the river, we have exacerbated flooding. The worst flood in Illinois history happened in 1993. This was a clear wake-up call that we need to rethink how the river is managed. So what are our obligations to the river and how do we meet them?

There are groups today that are working to restore the Illinois River and its floodplains. Emiquon – once a leveed, drained, and farmed backwater – is being restored by the Nature Conservancy. When you visit, you can kayak in the tree tops that lined the farm fields just a few years ago. It is projects like this that give me hope for the Illinois River. We have taken so much from the river but as people realize we are obligated to protect it, we begin to give back the habitat through restoration projects like Emiquon.

As restoration projects are implemented and the environment improves, the economic benefits from a healthy river ecosystem will be evident. A 1997 Nature article valued floodplain benefits at almost $8,000 per acre annually because of their ability to reduce flood damage and nutrients, regulate water flows, and provide habitat. So when Emiquon is complete and reconnected to the river, it could produce at least $55 million in economic benefits annually!

We have made many mistakes in our management of the Illinois River, but we are recognizing our errors and working to reconcile our obligation to nature. In the late 1800s, engineers reversed the flow of the Chicago River. Originally, the Chicago River emptied into Lake Michigan, but the lake was the source of drinking water for the city of Chicago. So, in an honorable attempt to reduce the spread of disease in Chicago, engineers separated the Chicago River from Lake Michigan and diverted it into the Illinois River, saving millions of lives in the city by sending disease and pollution ridden water down to Peoria and beyond. This plan also allowed shipping traffic to navigate seamlessly between the Illinois River and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence.

But this path also permitted invasive species to move freely between the Great Lakes and Illinois River. There are currently more than 250 invasive species established in one or both basins, and in the Great Lakes, invasive species cost the region $200 million annually. Because people are concerned about and aware of the ecological problems, a proposal to re-reverse the Chicago Area Waterway System is on the table and being seriously considered.

We are beginning to acknowledge that the uninhibited industrial growth that provides many short-term benefits is not sustainable over the long run. We are seeing more focus on developing green infrastructure instead of grey infrastructure. And I think this is hopeful because people are fighting for the river. The future of the Illinois River is in our hands and I hope you will join us as we continue to fight for restoration funding and smarter management decisions. We fight for the river because, as Canadian pilot Buffalo Joe once said, “The song of the River ends not at her banks but lives in the hearts of those who have loved her.”

2012 is filled with major milestones in conservation. In addition to the League’s 90th anniversary, this year marks the 40th anniversary of passage of the Clean Water Act. By Scott Kovarovics, IWLA Conservation Director Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is kicking off a campaign to celebrate how far the nation has come in tackling water pollution and look ahead to the challenges that remain. Forty years ago, the country was plagued with burning rivers, dead lakes, and industrial pollution that choked waterways large and small. Americans demanded action, and Congress responded with the Clean Water Act. Water quality has improved significantly since then. We’ve made major strides in reducing point source pollution – pollution that comes from a pipe or specific industrial source. Many rivers, lakes, and other waters that were devoid of fish and wildlife or too fouled for boating now support world-class outdoor recreation. And the devastating pace ...continue reading

By Scott Kovarovics, IWLA Conservation Director As the year comes to a close, we have another reason to celebrate. Through a concerted effort by sportsmen and environmental groups – including League members and leaders – we brought down Congressional roadblocks to restoring Clean Water Act protections. Over the course of the year, members of Congress introduced various “riders” that would have blocked the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers from taking any steps to clarify and restore Clean Water Act protections for streams, wetlands, and other waters. But when the House and Senate voted late last week on a final budget package for 2012, that package did NOT include these riders. This is a significant victory in and of itself and absolutely essential to moving forward next year. The League has been a leader on this issue in the sportsmen community since the first damaging Supreme Court decision in 2001. We built on that leadership over ...continue reading

Are renewable energy standards increasing the cost of electricity? Recent reports in Minnesota offer a positive message for the rest of the country. By Izaak Walton League Energy Program Director Nancy Lange and Energy Associate Drew Bennett Twenty-four states have passed renewable energy standards (RES) that require a certain percent of a state’s electricity to be generated by clean energy. From Texas and Montana to California and New York, state legislatures have passed these standards for a wide range of reasons: To develop local economies, reduce energy imports from out-of-state or out-of-country, reduce pollution, and reduce the environmental impact of digging up fossil fuels. These are state-wide benefits that keep money in the state economy and pollution out of citizens’ lives. Their value is obvious. But what about costs? Some policymakers are concerned that utility customers’ bills will rise to achieve these benefits. Are renewable energy standards ...continue reading

By Nancy Lange, IWLA Energy Program Director More than two decades and a few careers ago, I was working with the American Lung Association of Minnesota to strengthen the Clean Air Act. This landmark law, passed with bipartisan support in 1970, is the first line of defense to protect Americans from air pollution that damages our health and costs lives. In 1990, we worked closely with Senator Dave Durenberger, a Republican from Minnesota, who had crafted bipartisan legislation to update and modernize air pollution standards. This amendment to the Clean Air Act was passed with support from 89 senators and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. This spring, Senator Durenberger reflected back on that important victory, calling the Clean Air Act “one of the greatest public-health achievements of American history.” The law prevents deaths and illness from heart and respiratory diseases, so much so that while implementing the requirements of the Clean Air Act will ...continue reading

By Olivia Dorothy, IWLA Upper Mississippi River Regional Conservation Coordinator After just one week on staff at the Izaak Walton League, I had the pleasure of visiting the League’s Will Dilg Chapter in Winona, Minnesota, on Wednesday. We started the day with a trip to the Will Dilg memorial on the banks of the Upper Mississippi. There we met chapter member (and 2011 convention speaker) Barry Drazkowski. Barry showed us his geospatial work on environmental monitoring and took us on a tour of the picturesque Upper Mississippi River Refuge. The Upper Mississippi National Wildlife and Fish Refuge was established in 1924 – largely through the leadership of the Izaak Walton League and its first national president, Will Dilg – and runs 261 miles from Wabasha, Minnesota, to my home in the Quad Cities. At the refuge, Jeff Janvrin (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources) and Sharonne Baylor (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) spoke with us about the Spring Lake Islands ...continue reading

New Report Finds Many Waters at Risk By Scott Kovarovics, IWLA Conservation Director In an August 2011 report  (PDF link) that was just publicly released, the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) finds that 25 states do not have laws in place to protect streams, wetlands, and other waters if the federal Clean Water Act does not apply to those waters. This finding, based on extensive review of thousands of specific local examples, demonstrates if the Clean Water Act does not protect critical waters, those waters are by no means guaranteed protection under state law. Opponents of restoring Clean Water Act protections to streams and wetlands frequently argue there’s no need to because – they contend – states provide a parallel level of protection. Although this may be the case in a handful of states (the ELI report identifies eight states that provide very comprehensive protection for freshwater wetlands), comparable state-level protections are the ...continue reading

By Scott Kovarovics, IWLA Conservation Director Fall signals the start of school and opening day of hunting seasons across the country. It also means crunch time for the federal budget in Washington. And investments that conserve farmland and fish and wildlife habitat and directly benefit hunting, angling, and outdoor recreation are likely to get squeezed. Bob Marshall highlights what’s at risk in his column in the September 2011 issue of Field & Stream . In “What We Could Lose,” Marshall describes how Congress made deep cuts this spring in essential conservation programs – programs ranging from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and North American Wetlands Conservation Act to farm conservation and national wildlife refuges. These cuts total hundreds of millions of dollars and, as Marshall points out, affect programs that “directly benefit land, water, and wildlife.” What Marshall describes was round one. This summer, Congress – or, more ...continue reading

By Karl Brooks, Regional Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency  Over the past decade, interpretations of court rulings have caused confusion about which waters are protected from pollution and development. As a result, many important waters now lack clear protection under the law, and businesses and regulators face uncertainty and delay. On April 27, 2011, proposed guidance by EPA and the Army Corps was released that clarifies where the Clean Water Act applies nationwide. This guidance will help restore protection of critical waters and provide clearer, less burdensome guidelines for determining which water bodies we can keep safe from pollution. EPA believes that protection of Midwest wetlands and streams is more important than ever as we experience more pronounced effects from flooding, climate change, and habitat loss. We are fortunate to have a vast network of wetlands and streams in the Midwest that support the great Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. ...continue reading

By Scott Kovarovics, IWLA Conservation Director Yogi Berra has to be one of the most widely quoted people of all time. If Yogi was working with the Izaak Walton League right now, he’d be saying, “It’s déjà vu all over again.” That sense of déjà vu comes from congressional efforts to derail restoration of Clean Water Act protections for small streams, wetlands, and other critical waters. Yesterday, a subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives approved a budget bill for the Army Corps of Engineers that would bar the Corps from finalizing new clean water guidance or revising its clean water regulations. This past February, the House of Representatives approved a budget bill with similar restrictions. However, strong opposition from the Izaak Walton League as well as other national hunting and angling groups, many Senators, and the Obama administration prevented that bill from becoming law. This latest blocking maneuver is just as misguided. Why do we oppose ...continue reading

by Kevin Proescholdt, IWLA Wilderness and Public Lands Program Director On April 18, Superior National Forest Supervisor Jim Sanders announced a decision that protects the wilderness character of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in Minnesota from proposed increases in motorboat traffic on the so-called Chain of Lakes. His decision brings to a close a lengthy series of efforts made by the League and other wilderness conservationists since 1993. The decision shows both the tenacity of the wilderness advocates and, finally, a good pro-wilderness decision by the agency to end the dispute. The 1.1 million-acre BWCAW, the largest Wilderness east of the Rockies and north of the Everglades, remains the nation’s most heavily-visited Wilderness. Its 1,000+ lakes have attracted anglers for decades, and its protected habitat provides home to a wide range of northern wildlife species, such as moose, black bear, and eastern timber wolf. Although the vast majority of ...continue reading

By Scott Kovarovics, IWLA Conservation Programs Director Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers took a critical first step to begin restoring Clean Water Act protections for streams, wetlands, and other waters. They issued a draft of what will be new instructions – known as “guidance” – to their staff in the field about how to implement the Clean Water Act. Although this might sound like a mundane bureaucratic exercise, it is anything but that – and can make a real difference in protecting waters that are essential to every American. Why is this guidance important? Over the past decade, the U.S. Supreme Court has been chipping away at the Clean Water Act, slowly but surely reducing the types of waters that are protected by this landmark law. Streams that may not flow all year, prairie potholes, and other small wetlands are most at risk. While the Supreme Court decisions are damaging, guidance issued by the last ...continue reading

By Kevin Proescholdt and Greg Seitz The push for a new type of mining in Minnesota  – sulfide or non-ferrous mining  – has become stronger and stronger recently. While new sulfide mines proposed in northeastern Minnesota may produce a few hundred jobs, they would also threaten our lakes, rivers, and streams with centuries of toxic pollution. Recent actions at the Capitol reduce the chance that this mining will be done right in our state. Last winter, PolyMet Mining's draft environmental review predicted water contamination from the mine's waste could last for up to 2,000 years, putting at risk the St. Louis River and rivers that flow into it. Similar mine proposals also threaten such iconic Minnesota treasures as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Lake Superior. And in an area only a couple of miles from the BWCAW where a powerful foreign mining company (Antofagasta PLC) is proposing to develop a new mine, the Friends of the Boundary Waters ...continue reading

By Nancy Lange, IWLA Acting Energy Program Director Last Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the most important actions to clean up air pollution from dirty coal-burning power plants since the Clean Air Act was last updated in 1990. For more than a decade, it has been a goal of Izaak Walton League members and staff to reduce the most toxic air pollutants that are emitted from our nation's coal-fired power plants. EPA’s proposed mercury and air toxics standards for power plants that burn coal and oil are projected to Save as many as 17,000 American lives every year by 2015 Prevent up to 120,000 cases of childhood asthma symptoms every year Prevents 11,000 cases of acute bronchitis among children every year Prevent 12,000 emergency room and hospital visits every year Save 850,000 lost work days every year The proposed standards should reduce mercury emissions from power plants burning coal and oil by 91 ...continue reading

The release of a new federal report and a House-passed budget bill present stark choices. By David Hoskins, IWLA Executive Director On February 19th, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to cut tens of billions from the federal budget this fiscal year. Although many of us might agree that significant reductions in the United States budget are necessary to begin to come to terms with a ballooning federal deficit, the Continuing Resolution would sharply reduce or even zero out funding for key environmental programs. It would also prevent the Obama administration from taking actions to implement and enforce some of our most important environmental laws. These federal laws and programs play a vital role in the conservation of our nation’s natural resources – including fish and wildlife – and in protecting the water we drink and the air we breathe. In addition, many of these initiatives were enacted and sustained thanks, in part, to the hard work and support of ...continue reading

By Leah Miller. The Choose Clean Water Coalition advocates for Chesapeake Bay restoration, and the League has been an active member of coalition since it was formed in 2009. I represented the League at the second annual Choose Clean Water Chesapeake Bay Restoration Conference in Washington, DC, January 10-12. The conference was fabulous – excellent speakers, a lot of passion about cleaning up the Bay and the streams that feed into it, and great networking opportunities. A major theme of the conference was the need to talk about Bay restoration in economic terms. People are concerned with jobs and the economy right now, and we need to let people know that saving the Bay also saves and creates jobs. For example, Diane Cameron of  the Audubon Naturalist Society determined that $1.25 billion in investments to treat rain runoff in the Anacostia watershed would help boost employment by 13,600 job years – full time jobs that last one year. Fracking Marcellus Shale: ...continue reading

By Scott Kovarovics. While most people began the new year with resolutions and college bowl games, many in Washington, DC, started by following the new Congress and preparing their game plans for the coming year. Politics, after all, is the number one sport in the nation’s capital. And there’s much to watch and plan for. When the Congress convened this week, more than 100 new Representatives and Senators – 96 new members in the House of Representatives alone – were sworn in. Control of the House flipped from Democratic to Republican and the Democratic majority in the Senate is significantly smaller than it was over the past two years. There are new committee chairs in the House and hundreds of new staff in Washington and offices across the country. How will these changes affect natural resource, conservation, and outdoor recreation issues important to the League? It’s hard to say less than a week into 2011, but a few things come to mind. The influx of new ...continue reading

Environmental literacy for our children just took one giant step forward! By Roger C. Sears, Chairman, Izaak Walton League Executive Board. With any luck, the future looks bright for this old Earth. Thanks to state Superintendent of Education Nancy S. Grasmick, the Maryland Board of Education has just passed a comprehensive environmental education program that will begin in pre-kindergarten and continue until the student graduates high school. This means all Maryland public school students will have environmental literacy woven into their current curriculums. No special class will be set aside on the environment and students will not be required to take a standardized test for graduation -- the study of ecosystems, natural resources, and health will be woven into their learning experiences. Students will also create and implement a local project that “protects, sustains, or enhances the natural environment.” How committed the ...continue reading

From Scott Kovarovics, IWLA Conservation Director On August 30, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held the first of seven public hearings on proposed rules to regulate the storage and disposal of coal ash. I testified on behalf of the League in support of strong, effective, and uniform federal standards to replace spotty-to-nonexistent state rules.   We burn a lot of coal every year in this country to generate electricity, and that leaves a mountain of ash – more than 130 million tons of coal ash per year, according to EPA estimates. This ash is composed of a host of toxic chemicals and heavy metals, including chromium, arsenic, cadmium, and selenium, that are hazardous to people, fish, and wildlife. Yet in many cases, coal ash is stored in unlined ponds and on the surface at power plants nationwide. Metals and chemicals can leach from these ponds into the groundwater or nearby streams and rivers and pollute drinking water, kill fish, and damage outdoor ...continue reading

At the end of our July convention, Ikes enjoyed workshops that offered an in-depth look at two species that play an integral role in ecosystems across the country: Bats and honey bees. These speakers were dynamic, informed, and clearly framed the issues that put these pollinators – and us – in peril. To Bee or Not To Bee “Honey bee populations are dramatically declining," says Jeremy Barnes, president of the York County Bee Keepers Association. "Over the past 50 years, the number of hives in the United States has declined by 55 percent. In the most dramatic losses, labeled Colony Collapse Disorder, almost all of the bees in a colony disappear overnight, as if they were called or pushed out of the hive and could not find their way back home.” Beekeepers see a direct correlation between what’s happening in the hives and what’s happening with pesticides on crops. "The wax that bees create to store honey and raise bee larvae acts as a filter, ...continue reading

From Scott Kovarovics, IWLA Conservation Director Last Friday, I joined hundreds of people from across the Chesapeake Bay region in Annapolis, Maryland, an America’s Great Outdoors listening session. President Obama launched the initiative in April to spur a nationwide dialogue about the future of conservation in America. Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar kicked off the session by explaining that he sees America’s Great Outdoors as part of a broader movement – “march for conservation,” in his words. He ticked off some of the priority goals for the initiative, which include identifying key corridors connecting wildlife habitat, developing the next generation of urban parks, and creating a new agenda for conserving America’s rivers and waterways. The audience enthusiastically applauded when the Secretary said that “we cannot protect and restore lands if we don’t have the resources to get it done,” which was a direct reference to fully funding the Land and ...continue reading

This week the Izaak Walton League helped launch the Outdoors Alliance for Kids (OAK) , a national strategic partnership of organizations with a common interest in expanding opportunities for children, youth, and families to connect with the outdoors. The members of OAK share the belief that the well-being of our children, the health of our communities, and the future of our economy all depend on personal, life-long relationships with nature and the outdoors. Izaak Walton League chapters offer many opportunities to build those relationships, and the League is working this year to provide additional resources to our chapters to expand our youth programming. Looking for ways to connect families in your community with the great outdoors this summer? Read " 10 Ways To Attract Youth To Your Chapter " and download a few of the League’s “How To” articles to kick things off. Dawn Merritt IWLA Director of Communications ...continue reading

The oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico and onto our coastlines has created an an epic – and unprecedented – environmental crisis. Some of our nation's most productive wetlands are in peril, as are critical fisheries and the livelihoods of thousands of Americans. This week the Izaak Walton League joined a group of national conservation organizations in asking President Obama to improve future oversight of offshore drilling, reduce our country's dependence on oil, and enact comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation. The League is also calling on Congress to provide increased funding for federal and state fish and wildlife agencies to respond to the oil spill. As this story continues to unfold, we'll keep Izaak Walton League members up to date on the impacts on fish and wildlife, water quality, and outdoor America. Dawn Merritt IWLA Director of Communications ...continue reading