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- Hello and welcome to In Wisconsin, I'm Patty Low.
Each week we bring you stories about the people,
places and issues in our state.
This week, doing battle with the highly addictive
and destructive drug, methamphetamine,
law enforcement officials struggle to contain this killer.
Experience the expressive art of stone carving,
images of Buddha in the ancient Gandharan style.
And hot on the trail of the farmer's friend
an elusive predator that knows how to hide.
We'll also explore deep ravines, autumn colors
and rushing water in Wisconsin.
- Major funding for In Wisconsin is provided
by the people of a lion's energy who bring safe, reliable and
environmentally friendly energy to keep homes, neighborhoods
and life in Wisconsin running smoothly.
A lion's energy, offering energy saving ideas on the web.
The University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center,
providing cancer research, education and treatment.
UW Comprehensive Cancer Center, comprehensive as designated by
the National Cancer Institute, information
available on the web.
Wisconsin's Technical Colleges, providing local education
for the crucial occupations essential to our communities.
Wisconsin's Technical Colleges, Communities First.
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- The dangerous and highly addictive drug,
methamphetamine is pouring across Wisconsin borders
and into our communities.
The Northwestern part of the state has been
hardest hit so far.
All this month, in Wisconsin has reported on this problem.
Federica Freiberg joins us now with part three of the series.
- That's right, Patty.
Last week, we had a personal look at meth addiction.
This week, a close-up look at the challenges
for law enforcement.
The State Division of Criminal Investigation reports
that criminal gangs operating out of Minneapolis
are shipping multi-pound quantities of methamphetamine
into Northwestern Wisconsin every week.
That has federal, state, county and local drug agents
running offense as well as defense,
doing battle against meth in Wisconsin.
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- You could probably walk on any street
and poke on your finger, and ask for some dope and
you could probably get it.
It's that bad.
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- Jackie Peterson should know how easy
methamphetamine is to get.
She's in jail on a meth conviction
after being arrested in New Richmond.
New Richmond is a city of about 7,000 in St.
Croix County, known as the city beautiful.
Like all of St.
Croix County, it's growing.
A steady population influx spreading from
Minneapolis, St.
Paul. But the landscape surrounding
these growing cities is rural.
If the St.
Croix River marks the state boundary,
its smaller tributaries mark the interior
of these Northwestern counties.
The Apple River defines small towns along its path.
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Towns like Star Prairie, where American flags
lie main street.
But in sweet towns like this, something sour lurks
beneath the surface.
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Danger, violence, addiction.
Drug agents descending on small towns and cities
in an uphill battle against meth andphetamine.
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Child welfare workers taking children out of meth houses,
taking children from their parents,
children who can be contaminated by meth in the air
on their toys in the carpet, children at risk for
abuse and neglect at the hands of caregivers
addicted to a potent paranoia inducing stimulant.
My job is safety.
And so we remove children when we need to
in order to ensure their safety.
Is that an easy thing for myself and my workers to do?
No, it's heartbreaking.
Hard hit counties pay a human toll
and a financial one.
At BOT 60 to 65% of the inmates that we have in jail
are directly related to meth andphetamine.
The St.
Croix County Sheriff says meth has cost
the county nearly $4 million in jail space alone.
The county jail used to make nearly two million a year
renting out extra beds.
By 2003, a jail population explosion caused
by meth andphetamine meant there was no extra space.
Instead, a jail addition had to be built
at a cost of nearly $2 million.
And sentences are longer.
A tough 2003 law made meth possession of felony.
I can fill the jail.
That's not a problem.
If you want to build more prisons, I can fill the prisons.
Are you a native stuff?
Whether you're in the bullfills.
St. Croix County prosecutor Dave McQuillan
goes to court charging meth andphetamine felonies
almost every day.
Often, several cases a day.
That's hundreds a year.
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McQuillan's jurisdiction as special meth prosecutor
covers three counties in Northwestern, Wisconsin.
In these counties bordered by the St.
Croix River, he says it feels like he's
drowning in meth cases.
We've never had anything like this,
where we had to assign one prosecutor to one drug.
St. Croix County District Attorney, Eric Johnson,
assigned the special meth prosecutor in
2003 to wage this war.
That was after domestic violence cases
in the county skyrocketed.
It turned out the cause was meth.
I've been prosecuting for over 23 years.
And this has been by far the worst drug I've ever seen.
What are you, scounders?
The state crime lab handled nearly 600 meth cases
in Wisconsin by the end of 2004.
And is on pace to beat that number by 30%
by the close of 2005.
Yeah, it's metronome narcotics, and you're under arrest.
Do you have the issues of how meth
wreaks havoc on communities, when meth users become abusive?
And so that rate of violence going up in communities?
Our major problem right now is organized crime,
because it's pretty much taken over this whole area.
And I say this whole area, I mean, in
Northwestern, Wisconsin.
We've been removed from the base of the stand.
St. Croix Valley drug task force chief Dan Brahmire
says the landscape here has changed in less than a decade.
Brahmire says it used to be discovering
a marijuana grove like this one would be a big police deal.
But pot or cocaine are no longer at the top of his list.
Methanphetamine now rules, accounting for
95% of his task force caseload.
We still have the person that has the small personal use type
methamphetamine lab at the residence or in back of a car.
Meth labs that can explode or unleash dangerous chemicals
into the soil and water.
Meth cooks so contaminated by their own meth making, agents
have to scrub them down before taking them to jail.
Dan Brahmire points out several former meth labs.
His team is discovered and disassembled.
But Brahmire says in recent months,
the stakes have gotten higher that the meth trade is morphing
into something new.
We've just seen a dramatic change here
in Western Wisconsin.
The amount of methamphetamine that we're seizing
that we never dealt with in the past,
we're getting involved more and more in that.
We're seizing more guns off the street.
Our patrol people are coming across more guns.
Just getting more and more violent.
We're seeing a lot more of what is called the crystal ice,
which is the more pure form of methamphetamine,
much more potent.
Drug agents say meth in Western Wisconsin
now mostly comes from Minneapolis.
And it comes to Minneapolis from super labs south
of the US border.
It's Mexico and the traditional established traffic
and organizations that came out of the interior of Mexico
that have a high quality, high grade methamphetamine
that is available to whoever wants it in the United States.
Mexico has not restricted the sale of one of
meth's key ingredients, Sudafedron.
Many states in the US, including Wisconsin,
have new laws limiting and tracking sales.
The aim is to cut down on local home-based labs.
We have been hit in the last year
with a tremendous amount of methamphetamine
coming in from outside.
I think there's so much on the street
that you don't need to risk making it.
If it's easy to buy, you don't really need to make it.
Easy to get, hard to quit, expensive to combat.
And even steadfast prosecutors and cops say they alone
do not hold the key.
Law enforcement can't win.
We can't defeat methamphetamine.
There's no way we can do that.
Your aim is going to do it as education.
You can't arrest your way out of this situation.
We have to educate.
And maybe we lost maybe the middle generation now,
but if we start earlier on and educate the kids,
maybe at least we save one, two.
Out of each class, that's a step in the right direction.
Next week, we will wrap up our series,
"Meth in Wisconsin," with a report on potential solutions,
including a look at educating the public
from school children to community leaders
about the dangers of methamphetamine.
We will also look at new and proposed laws
to combat methamphetamine in the state.
- Patty.
- Thanks, Fred.
If you'd like to comment on this report
or other stories in our program, we'd like to hear from you.
Here's how to reach us.
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- We turn away now from current issues
and problems to go back in time, way back.
Around the second century AD, an intricate style
of religious stone carving developed
in what was called the Gandhara region.
The region is now part of Pakistan and India.
Gulam Mustafa is a master of the art.
One of the few remaining artists trained
in the Gandharan tradition.
Producer Liz Kurner happened upon one
of his outdoor demonstrations in Madison.
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- Gulam Mustafa is visiting from Pakistan.
He's in Wisconsin with his son, Iftakar Ahmed,
to demonstrate the ancient art of Gandharas stone carving.
The carvings depict the life of Buddha.
Gulam Mustafa explains that every stage of Buddha's life
has been carved in stone.
He says there's no other person in history
who's been carved in his many different images as the Buddha.
The Gandharas style of stone carving is very old,
dating back to around the second century AD.
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The religious sculptures were often dedicated
in memory of family members who had died.
According to UW Archaeologist Mark Canoeir,
the carvings were then placed around burial mounds
called stupas or donated to Buddhist monasteries.
- The people who donated these sculptures
had their name or an inscription put at the bottom,
saying we donate this for our mother or father or family,
and this was a way to gain merit.
Mark Canoeir specializes in the history of ancient civilizations
in Pakistan and India.
He says that when the British conquered this area
in the 19th century, they were surprised by what they found.
- And they found many sites that had been looted in antiquity,
and lots of sculptures were lying on the ground,
sometimes in big piles and courtyards,
and the question is, who did this?
When did this happen?
It turns out that the Huns attacked from Central Asia,
and they destroyed many of the Buddhist monuments.
So when archaeologists came, they were able to just dig
a site, find a whole bunch of sculptures lying there,
ready to be picked up.
- Over the years, large numbers of Gundara sculptures
have been shipped out of Pakistan.
In 1975, the government banned the sale of antiquities,
but the practice of illegal exports continues.
Currently, another illegal practice is causing concern.
- Right now, there's a real concern
by the government of Pakistan and many of the art dealers
that a lot of fraudulent pieces are coming onto the market.
- Kanoyar believes that supporting modern craftsmen
like Gulam Mustafa could help solve some of these problems.
- If people could very easily, without any problem,
get a masterpiece carved by a modern carver, they're
not gonna pay $40 to $100,000 for a broken piece
with a nose smashed.
- In 2002, Gulam Mustafa and his son
came to demonstrate Gundara stone carving
as part of the Silk Road event at the Smithsonian Folk
Festival in Washington, D.C.
The following year, a major commission came their way.
- I was able to get them connected
with the Folk Museum in Islamabad,
the Lok Virsah Folk Heritage Museum,
and they were commissioned to make full-size sculptures
in plaster and also some stone carvings.
- Kanoyar hopes this commission will help build trust in
the work of honest craftsmen like Gulam Mustafa
and Iftikar Ahmed.
He feels that this type of public support is critical.
- It's really important that we support these craftsmen
as they are the last craftsmen of a very important art.
And if we don't support them, this art will not continue.
- Gulam Mustafa and his son returned to Pakistan
after their demonstrations in America.
They continue to create these intricate sculptures
in their homeland.
Here in Wisconsin, we're fortunate that beauty
is all around us, both in artwork as we just saw
and in the natural world.
Wildlife like majestic bald eagles is a good example.
But there's another animal in this state,
an amazing one that never gets more than a few inches
off the ground.
It's big, up to eight feet in size, elusive,
and one man absolutely beautiful.
Joanne Garrett reports.
- Josh coppers looking.
- I usually just come down and flip stuff just to see.
If I find anything.
- Looking hard.
- For snakes.
- It's so hard to resist.
- Copper is a PhD candidate and an instructor
at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
- Oh, come on, snakes.
- And a herpotologist.
- When you're flipping these pieces of tin,
every time you come up to one, there's like such anticipation.
It's like, will this be the one that there's a snake on it?
And then when there's not one, it's like, oh man, skunked.
- Oh.
- I'm out here looking for bull snakes.
- This is my research.
- This is the snake in coppers sites, the bull snake.
And it's the subject of his three year
doctoral research project.
- A bull snake is a large constrictor found in Wisconsin.
The largest snake species in Wisconsin,
this snake can approach eight foot.
The largest individual I have seen out here
has been nearing six foot, which is an impressive snake.
- Six feet.
- Bull snakes are big.
But elusive.
Copfer currently has radio transmitters, like these.
- This is what the transmitters look like.
And this is the whip antenna.
This is what sends out the signal.
- Surgeically implanted in 14 snakes.
The transmitters help, but the bulk of the snakes
in his research are found by eyeballing.
- I shudder to think how many snakes I've just
walked past out here.
- Bull snakes are big and elusive and important.
Important because of what they eat.
Lots of rodents, including rats, which is why the snake is often
called the farmer's friend.
They can save farmers significant sums
in rodent control.
- A single bull snake can save the average farmer $400 a year.
- You frequently find them in agricultural settings.
Agriculture does attract rodents, crops attract rodents,
which attract bull snakes.
- But the bull snakes' numbers are declining.
It's listed as a protected species in Wisconsin,
which means it can't be captured, possessed, or killed
without a special permit from the Department
of Natural Resources.
The bull snake is seldom seen and little studied.
- Virtually nothing has been done on this snake
in the Upper Midwest.
And it's on the decline.
- It's snake number one.
- Coppher's research is critical to gaining basic information
about the bull snake.
It's research that requires a lot of legwork.
- Essentially this is the best way to look for snakes
is to come to an area where you think there might be snakes
and just walk around it.
You're going here and then there and then back here
and then back there.
- The side of Coppher's study is a dry prairie
in the southern part of the state,
much of it owned and managed by the nature conservancy.
- It really looks like prime spot.
- It's a great place for bull snakes,
not so much for humans looking for an easy hike.
- This ticket is actually very tame compared to some
of the vegetation that I have to push through.
It raspberries up to your chest and potentially there could
be a timber rattlesnake in the brush somewhere,
there's deer ticks.
And I'm not trying to complain because, you know,
how could this not be better than sitting
in an office somewhere all day.
But at the same time, there are days when you, you know,
you're up to your chest and raspberries
and your arms are bleeding, you think,
what am I doing this for?
But that's how you see cool stuff,
is by walking around finding things.
- Cool stuff.
- Yeah, we're getting closer now.
- Here's an example.
- Oh look at that.
Look at look at look at look at.
Hey, look at that.
This is a female ornate box turtle.
This is an endangered species in Wisconsin
and incredibly rare and they're just cuter
in heck aren't they?
Look at that.
Look at the face, huh?
This is a huge find.
This is a turtle that has been almost completely extropated
from areas in the state due to poaching.
Habitat destruction is a big deal,
but poaching is a real issue for these turtles.
So such a shame, what a shame to put this in a tank somewhere
and not just let it live in the wild where it belongs.
This animal is so rare, biologists don't know
its actual numbers.
Coppher believes that there are fewer than five places
where it can be found in the state.
- Nice thing about them is they can't get away that quick
so you can sort of do stuff and still keep an eye on them.
- He takes down some data on the turtle.
- They're so cool.
We'll put her down here where there's some cover.
- And then it's back to looking for bull snakes.
- It blended so well.
It would be so great to just have the ability
to lift these rocks and see what's in it.
To be honest with you, 90% of the time you get skunked.
It's where the thrill is, I guess, when
you actually find one.
- Little one.
- Not real big.
- Success.
- You're ready to shed.
- Sort of.
- This is a racer.
- Wrong snake.
But one that may be even rare than bull snakes.
As with the ornate box turtle, there are so few
racers in the state that scientists are unsure
of the actual number.
- But they're very fast.
They've been collected four miles an hour,
which is quick for an animal with no arms and legs.
- Always with copfer, there is that sense of amazement
when it comes to snakes.
- The tongue, everts and picks up scent particles
that are then deposited in an organ
in the roof of the mouth called the Jacobson's organ,
which detects scent particles, just like we would
with our nose, but the snake does
it with his tongue.
My fascination with reptiles stemmed
from being a very young child and loving dinosaurs.
And the next best thing that was still alive
in my young mind was reptiles.
- Copfer gathers data.
And then he's back on the trail for the big cousin,
the bull snake.
- They don't ever make it easy, that's for sure.
- I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm gonna get it, me stumped.
- This is pretty typical.
Most days, this scientist doesn't see any snakes.
So far today, he's found only one underground.
- The transmitters are temperature sensitive.
Recording the body temperature is done by timing,
how long it takes to get a certain number of beeps, 11.
So we didn't see the snake, but we got the data,
which is good.
This is actually not far from where he was last week.
Then, less than 45 minutes later.
- Okay, something different here.
- Woo!
(laughing)
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- What you got here?
- Ha, ha, ha, look at that.
This is the bull snake.
Look at the size, look at the muscles on that thing.
Look at it, oh man, beauty.
- Beauty is, of course, in the eye of the beholder.
The top for the herpetologist is happily bewitched
with the bull snake.
- Look at that.
I mean, this is such an impressive,
see now can anybody, who could you not,
why could this not be your favorite snake species
in the state, look at that thing.
Beautiful. Look at how big it is.
- Big, nearly six feet, and very muscular.
- I mean, you can see him right now,
look at that muscle ridge down along the side up here.
I mean, just look at how muscular that,
they're all muscle.
- Bull snakes are constrictors, but non-venomous,
and no threat to us.
- People tend not to understand snakes,
and fear them through myth and misinformation,
and my grandfather said this, and this and this about snakes.
And so they automatically fear them,
and a lot of times just kill them outright,
which is a huge, huge shame.
All right, buddy, we're careful now.
Let's go, there.
Look at that, just like that, gone.
In the last hours of the day, cop for walks of farm
field, and what do you know?
It's a two snake day.
- They're so large, they're so impressive,
and they're so elusive, be nice.
Tested nothing out with this tongue,
what the heck is that?
There are smells such a thing before.
- Could this not be your favorite snake
species in Wisconsin?
The bull snake.
The farmer's friend, a protected species
that has an ardent champion in her pathologist, Josh Copfer.
- That's him, look at that muskow there.
Look at how you can hold himself in that position
as I'm holding him up.
- As Joanne mentioned in her report,
the bull snake is a protected species in the state.
The two rarest snakes in the state
are the queen snake and the mesosaga.
If we sparked some curiosity about snakes,
check out our website for more information and links.
You can find it at www.org/in-misconson.
Next week on our Thanksgiving edition of In Wisconsin,
we'll be out in the woods.
And on the home front with Crawford County writer, Hunter,
and chef, John Motovilov.
We'll also wrap up our special series on meth in Wisconsin.
And on the lighter side, prove that pumpkins can float.
We hope you join us.
We leave you tonight at a place with mysterious ravines,
quaking leaves and rushing water.
Rustic road number 57 along the Wapaka River.
For In Wisconsin, I'm Patty Lo.
See you next week.
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Major funding for In Wisconsin is provided by the people
of Alliance Energy, who bring safe, reliable,
and environmentally friendly energy
to keep homes, neighborhoods, and life
in Wisconsin running smoothly.
Alliance Energy, offering energy saving ideas on the web.
The University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center,
providing cancer research, education, and treatment.
UW Comprehensive Cancer Center, Comprehensive, has designated by
the National Cancer Institute, information
available on the web.
Wisconsin's Technical Colleges, providing the people
of Wisconsin with the knowledge and skills
they'll need for the economy of tomorrow.
Wisconsin's Technical Colleges, communities first.
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