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Tonight in Wisconsin, a wildlife mystery has some
suspecting foul play in Wisconsin's wetlands.
When one species like this that was once so common goes
downhill, it really makes you wonder why, what's going on?
Meet the man Milwaukee may call mayor one day and take a
journey across Lake Superior to an island retreat where women
try to heal both body and soul.
That's next in Wisconsin.
Hello everyone and welcome to In Wisconsin.
I'm Patty Low.
Tonight we join you from Cherokee Marsh in Dane County.
The marshland you see on either side of this boardwalk
is part of a wetlands that covers more than 2,000 acres.
Marshlands of course are home to many species of plants,
mammals, and waterfall.
As producer Art Hackett reports, one of those
species is at the heart of a mystery that has state
wildlife biologists asking, what's happening to
Wisconsin's blue wing till?
To understand this story, you have to understand your ducks.
Go to the Hora-Connational Wildlife Refuge and you'll
find all kinds of ducks, mallards, wood ducks,
and redheads among others.
What's important to understand is you will find lots of ducks.
Overall the state's duck population is looking pretty
good. Numbers are on the way up, except for one type
of duck, the blue wing teal.
The blue wing teal is showing a somewhat mysterious decline.
DNR Wildlife Biologist Ron Gotti says the decline is a
mystery because if a rainy day is a good day for ducks,
the past 10 years have been a good decade for ducks.
We've had very wet years in the 90s, so our wetland habitat
has probably improved somewhat.
Some of the key predators of these birds on their nests,
red fox and skunk populations have gone down recently
with the increase in coyotes.
And also hunting regulations have gotten more restrictive,
so we're probably taking some of the hunting
pressure off of these birds.
Mallards responded by the late 80s, increasing their
populations and they maintain high populations.
Blue wing teal, it hasn't worked that way for them
and that's a big question why, what's going on?
They're beautiful birds.
You get sometimes an iridescent
kind of a reddish in there.
The numbers are startling.
According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the
number of blue wing teal in the nation is more than
doubled in the past 30 years.
During that same period of time, Wisconsin's population
of blue wing teal has been cut almost in half.
They're concerned to us because blue wings in
Wisconsin, blue wing teal used to be our number one
most abundant duck in the 70s.
And they aren't now, their number two or three.
So this trap was just said yesterday.
That's usually the best chance of success.
Because nationally the teal population is increasing, Gotti
suspects the problem isn't in the ducks' wintering grounds
in Central and South America.
It's likely something that's happening here in Wisconsin
where the teal come to breed.
To find out what's happening, Gotti has been trying to
perfect a system of using radio tracking devices to
monitor the bird's activity.
She's got feed and a platform there she can be able
to use as teal hens from state game farms as a lure.
Migrating females will try and drive the game farm hens out
of the migrant's territory.
But in what will seem painfully familiar to women, sometimes
all the attracts are unattached males looking for a good time.
What happens is these drakes are looking for mates
because there's a surplus of drakes, a shortage of hens,
whatever you want to say.
They see a hen here and this is an opportunity for them
to get into the gene pool.
So they often what you'll have is a drake forming a pair
of bun with a game farm hen.
And they'll just come and just get trapped day after day.
This drake had already been banded once.
Gotti jots down the number and
then with the help of the landowner releases the bird.
No power lines just throw them up in the air.
But this is what we're after the hens.
The hen goes into a burlap bag and is taken to a nearby
farm where Gotti is set up an operating room in the control
house of a grain elevator.
The DNR has been tracking mallards by radio for some
time. With the teal, Gotti says it's not so simple.
For one thing, teal tend to move around more and tend to
move beyond tracking range.
Last year we put 20 radios out and we only got a nest
from five birds actually.
And the teal are so small it's hard to plant a radio in one.
Going till we can't get a radio powerful enough to fit
inside their little abdominal cavity to attach them
different ways on the back.
Gotti hopes this year's pilot study will show which way
of mounting the radio is most successful in planting the
radio means putting the bird under general anesthesia.
It'll take some a while to get under completely.
And while they're under, they don't
blink so we've been told to put a s having their eyes.
So we'll dry out.
The radio will be positioned right here under the skin.
What we'll do is we'll make an incision on the lower end of
the neck just in front of it.
We'll then separate the skin from underneath the skin from
the back and we'll make an exit hole for the antenna
which then we'll feed it in.
We'll put the antenna first like that and suture it up.
That's fun way after, right?
Sometimes a hen is trapped with two drakes.
The researchers let them go all at once since they
don't know which of the drakes is bonded to that hen.
You have a hen first and then the drakes, right?
Using radio direction finders, crews will locate where a
particular bird is nesting.
This crew is already in the field following mowards
which were tagged with radios earlier in the spring.
She's been using that pond.
Her and the drake that she's paired with have been sitting on
that pond pretty consistently.
We'll track the birds each day, get a location each day until
we get to a point where we think that there might be nesting.
When that happens, we'll try to go out with a handheld
antenna and find the nest.
Once we find the nest, we'll just subsequently monitor the
nest. See how successful it is.
The crews will check each nest daily to determine if a
predator is killing the hens, destroying the nests, or of the
eggs simply aren't hatching.
It's probably that it's something going on in our
breeding grounds, whether it's the mortality of the adult
hens, killed by predators or hay mowers or other egg
operations, or if they're just having their nests
destroyed by various factors.
Gide hopes to be able to put radios in 50 blue-winged teal
next year, although he doesn't have the funding lined up yet.
But he wants to solve the mystery.
We want to know why this little duck is going down.
Why is the teal an important duck?
Well, I guess I'd like to see a diversity in wildlife out there.
And when one species like this that was one so common
goes downhill, it really makes you wonder if something
isn't out of balance.
It's important to me because it's an important element,
a component of the marsh community, the birds.
And I like them.
They're nice little birds.
[Music]
Our next story takes us from the serenity of the marsh to
the most populated area of the state, Milwaukee County.
Producer Jerry Huffman has the story of a politician who
won't join a political party.
He's conservative, outspoken and says what's on his mind.
There's a relatively new sheriff in town and
his name is David Clark.
Dr. Martin Luther King is a role model of mine.
How many have heard of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.?
Meet Milwaukee County Sheriff, David Clark,
arguably one of the rising stars in Wisconsin politics.
And that question that Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
often asks, what are you doing for others?
That's what my inspiration is today.
And I get a lot of satisfaction
out of helping others.
Sheriff Clark is carving out a reputation for speaking from
his heart regardless of who it offends, like on leadership
in the minority communities.
Because there hasn't been any accountability for leadership in
the African American community.
There's been no accountability.
And I'm bringing light to that and that's like a waiterman.
We've never been held accountable before.
Who are you to try to hold us accountable?
Clark is a career law enforcement officer.
His last assignment was his head
of the Milwaukee Police Department's intelligence unit.
But Clark is relatively new, elected to his first full
term in November, both to the challenges of running
the state's second largest police agency and the
politics of being sheriff.
I don't believe in highly standing by while all
around us is falling apart.
People shouldn't have to live in this squalor.
In a profession like politics where access
translates to power, one photo of yourself with the
president could be a fluke.
But Clark has two photos with President Bush and both hang
in his office.
A self-described conservative, Clark cautions
against any easy conclusions about his political loyalties.
So I don't really get into the partisan labels.
You know, I have voted for both parties
in terms of candidates, depending on certain issues.
The sheriff took us to the streets of Milwaukee to see
firsthand examples of his biggest issue.
The grip poverty has on the central city.
Look at this building here.
Tell me this doesn't look like the third world down here.
And from poverty, Clark draws a line to crime.
The violence, the drug activity goes on right here.
And how both ultimately come back to a lack of education.
So for those that say, "one wife's a sheriff talking about
school issues.
It is my issue."
An education system that Clark tells a largely white audience
of business leaders is failing.
Because when our education system and when our
family's structure fails young people, guess where
they end up?
In my jail.
Clark's first months in office have not been easy.
He came under fire for defending an African-American
deputy who was accused but cleared of brutality charges.
Watching his officer run up in the first thing he does flammed
his foot on my son's neck.
The officer did that.
Race is a sensitive issue in Milwaukee.
And Clark says his more conservative opinions are
magnified because he's black.
If there were somebody white seeing, seeing some of the
things that I'm seeing.
Especially when you start talking about strong families
and intact families, the race car would be played and
that shuts down all to be.
And it happened in January, a columnist for the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel, Eugene Cain accused Clark of being the
one to play the race card.
Cain, who declined to be interviewed for this story,
said the sheriff was curing favor with white conservatives
by criticizing blacks for everything from bad
parenting to bad politics.
Cain writes, "Clarke has been using race as his battering
ram and has recently taken to playing the race card
every chance he gets."
Others disagree.
Perfector Rivera is a banker.
Noes Clark and says the sheriff's bluntness is not
as much about what he says as it is "who" he says it to.
You're supposed to be in this box with us because
we're all in this together.
And if anybody dares think outside of that box, outside
of those parameters, suddenly you're not either Hispanic
enough, you're not black enough, you're not one of us.
Really what law enforcement is, it's about helping people.
But is it enough for David Clark to be sheriff?
Next spring, Milwaukee will elect a new mayor
and Clark's name keeps coming up as a potential
candidate, but it's not clear on which ticket he'd run.
Republicans without luck reportedly tried to woo
him at a DC breakfast with heavy weights like Karl
Rove and Paul and Powell.
Democrats can point to the fact that Clark was elected
sheriff on their ticket, but he won't join the party.
"What's up, my name?
What's up, my name is Eric."
"That's my badge, I'm the sheriff."
Sheriff for now, but if you follow David Clark long enough,
you will hear the stump speeches and see him with children.
Signs this political newcomer may have an eye
on the mayor's office.
"When you look at the field of potential candidates, declared
and non-declared at this point, if you put David Clark into
that field, would you win?"
I think so.
"Hi, hi."
"For me it's about what can I do once I get there?"
And that takes some thought and obviously it takes
some planning, that's why.
"I have to be deliberate, and that's some of the advice
that I've got to take my time making that decision,
that there is no rush.
And if you are being rushed and maybe the timing is not right."
"Okay, all you have to do is keep studying, you
have to stay in school."
There is another sign of political power, and that's
what people will say about you both publicly and privately.
Sheriff Clark has made headlines for criticizing
many of Milwaukee's elected officials, especially
those on a statewide level.
But when we ask them to comment on the sheriff, most
wouldn't return our phone calls, and the ones who did
said they simply didn't want to talk about Sheriff Clark.
"You know, somebody said to me this point, I mean
imagine how bad it would be if they hadn't made the
changes from last year."
The Kyoto show host Charlie Sykes says, "It's because
Clark reaches across racial lines, and criticizing
the first year sheriff is too politically risky."
"He doesn't talk like a politician, he's willing to
say things very blunt, very direct, he's willing to take
on these issues, and I think that's part of the appeal.
The phrase that keeps coming up over and over again every
time he comes on my show is what a breath of fresh
air, how refreshing it is to hear somebody who is
saying the kinds of things he's saying, and taking on
some of the sacred cows that he's willing to take on."
"I think I'm the boss."
"I know you're the boss."
And the boss of the sheriff's department says he'll
decide by early summer if he's running for mayor.
"Where's your right hand?"
"We'd be there after me."
If David Clark ultimately takes the oath as mayor,
there is a hint in his past as to what a Clark
administration would be like.
"Go back nearly 30 years to a senior year at Milwaukee's
Marquette High School.
There's a picture of Clark as a basketball star in the
yearbook, and next to his graduation picture, a quote.
"We're going to do it this way until somebody proves we can't.
A motto that was intriguing in high school and could be even
more revealing in the future."
"You're talking."
"Yes." "You're talking like this
way in our hands, different when you're a person."
"You're too of a thing."
[music]
There's a whole and a lot of hearts this week.
And Haney, a longtime advocate for women's health, lost
her battle with cancer.
And founded the breast cancer recovery foundation,
an organization that provided hope to thousands
of women over the years.
In the year 2004 Wisconsin Public Television's Weekend
program, I traveled with Anne to Madeline Island for the
foundation's annual retreat.
It was an amazing three days filled with inspiration,
indomitable spirit, and humor.
With the permission of Anne's family, we want to share
that story with you again.
It's the way many of us would like to remember Anne.
[music]
"You're called here to this healing island to go
on your healing journey."
The journey for nearly all the women in this circle began with
a diagnosis of breast cancer.
Each is undergoing or has undergone standard
treatments, surgery, radiation, chemotherapy,
to heal their bodies.
They've come here to Madeline Island to heal their souls.
[music]
"You know, I lost something.
You know, not just a body part."
"It stopped me in my tracks.
It made me think.
It made me fight for my life."
I left that initial angry stage and then I went through
these other stages and then I found the anger bubble back on.
"You know, I have a strong faith in God and I've been
tried to feel some anger at God for allowing this to
happen, but that's never come."
"And the idea of feeling like as a mother you've just placed
this onus on your daughter.
It's the guilt thing I can."
For three days on an island treasured by Native women for
its traditional medicines, surrounded by a lake revered by
many for its healing qualities, the breast cancer recovery
foundation offers women a safe, peaceful place
to reflect and share.
"It's a big, dark thing.
It can be.
It's very powerful."
For Anhanie, Lake Superior is a metaphor for cancer.
"All the power is on the inside as it is with women
and that as you look across that lake, you don't know
what's on the other side."
Haney founded the breast cancer recovery foundation
four years ago after her own battle with breast cancer.
The centerpiece of the foundation's work is the annual
retreat to Madeleine Island.
"It doesn't sound like much and we need to describe it to
people. They're like, 'Okay, that's what you do.'
Retreat. But truly, I mean, there aren't
any real silver bullets in life.
And here we have found a very peace-giving, a very
healing, a very recovering environment by sharing.
It is very, very simple, but that's
really what it comes down to."
"The emphasis is on healing mind and body.
Activities, always optional, range from low-impact
Tai Chi to kayaking and embrace an array of cultures from East
Indian to American Indian.
Some projects promote conversation
and allow women time to connect with each other."
"It is in carnation?"
"Oh no.
Yes. Don't encourage her, Rita."
"The Birchback Basketmaking, the Native Beating because
we do Native American style beating.
There's something that helps expand us in a
cultural way, multicultural."
For program director Jean Scott, the retreat offers
women the opportunity to explore infinite boundaries.
"Just like this.
See how easy that is?
There's no answer, we'll be the traditional
data, that's what.
Whoops." "You'll find that in all
Indigenous cultures we honor the Earth, honor the
trees, honor the plants."
"Namkaya Yammi, what you say."
"So watch this.
I'm paddling happily along front where it's
I'm going to go backwards.
I'm going to just use this blade,
I'm going to come to the back of the boat and push forward."
"Oh, that's great."
"Why kayaking?"
A diagnosis of cancer can sort of make
people shrink a little bit and feel their world is unsafe.
And to do something that's so different that you can actually
brag about and say, "Guess what I did this weekend, you're
not going to believe it."
"One of the things that we were thinking about calling this
section of the program was, "Oh, where, where did my libido go?"
In the spirit of pushing boundaries, the retreat
includes a frank discussion about sexual boundaries, about
dealing with disfigurement and self-esteem issues.
"Point that many people who haven't had breast cancer say,
"Well, my goodness, you're still alive, should be happy."
"And we are, we're very, very happy.
But we would like to return to that
part of our lives that gave us great joy as well."
"And that's our sexuality and our sexuality, and you have to
work at it to get back to it."
Other sessions deal with excruciating issues.
The women confront on a daily
basis, anger, guilt, and fear.
"I have the fear that, as the pain is taken away, my
ability to relate to people will probably be taken away."
You know, with more pain in all those things, that I won't be in
pain, but I won't be me either.
You have that vision of that tiny little lump that you
found, and it's like, "I know I'm going to feel it again."
And that's really scary.
And when this happened, I was so afraid, because I was
so alone, it was so hard to have the ugly soul far away.
And to even though they tried to be there, and they were there,
my location, I was alone a lot.
You're really digging deeply for your feelings, trying
to get a handle on your feelings, because like most bad
feelings, we tend to stuff them.
But I think it gave us an opportunity in a very sheltered,
protected, okay environment to be able to express those
feelings, and to know that we would be supported and loved.
Over the years, we've learned that the healing that's gone
on this weekend is really sealed with this ceremony.
In this container, the weight of cancer measured
in fear, anger, and sorrow.
In this, the lightness of being of beauty and blessings.
I appreciate all that laughter and the tears to
get to know all of you.
I thank God for this opportunity to have shared this weekend
with such a wonderful woman.
I'll never forget any of them.
For some breast cancer survivors, it takes a lake as
deepest superior to absorb the emotional pain that accompanies
the struggle, and sharing the burden somehow lightens it,
allowing body and soul to heal.
Our thoughts go out to Anne's family and friends.
If you'd like to know more about the breast cancer recovery
foundation or any of the stories you saw on tonight's
program, visit our website at www.wpt.org/inwisconsin.
You'll also find out more information on
the Cherokee Marsh.
We leave you tonight with scenic shots from Door County's
Whitefish Dunes.
For In Wisconsin, I'm Patty Lo.
Thanks for joining us.
Good night.
[Birds chirping]