(upbeat music)
- Hello and welcome to the first in Wisconsin of 2006.
I'm Patty Lowe, happy new year.
This week join Roger and Lorna Wilson.
They're on the lookout for loons.
Check out how more and more of this homegrown crop
could be showing up in your gas tank
and travel in safety with a little help
from some local guardian angels.
That's ahead 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 has 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.
- We begin the year with a status report
on the common loon, the beautiful bird that for many
signifies pristine northern lakes.
But loons are being challenged by lakeshore development
and the sheer number of people out on the lakes.
One group called Loon Watch has been working since the mid-80s
to protect loons and their habitat.
Every five years, volunteers do a loon count
to track the impact of their efforts.
The most recent count was this past summer.
We went along with two volunteers
on their assigned lake in Douglas County.
- Where?
- Right off that grassy point, there's one.
- You can laugh with the right.
- With the laugh.
(laughing)
(whistling)
- Their population is shrinking away
and I think they're kind of the symbol of the wilderness.
They're called their loons.
If a loon is there, you know you're out in the
wilderness somewhere.
(whistling)
- See that floating bog mountain?
- That's right.
- There it is between us and the--
- You're far in the right.
- There's two of them.
- With the right, there's another one.
- Where do you want to go out there?
- No, I don't want to go out.
I want to go out around the right.
(laughing)
- What we're doing today is the five-year loon census.
They just pick certain lakes and it has to be
during certain hours.
(whistling)
It goes from 5am to 10am.
And you survey the entire lake, whatever lake
you've been assigned to.
And they use the same lakes each five-year sequence
so they can sort of monitor what's going on.
- By the counts and the observations that we make.
- Okay, there's another adult mountain out there.
- There's a chick right next to them.
They just dove up.
- Over at them?
- To the right of them.
- Oh, really?
- Oh my gosh.
- You get lucky, you can see them feeding them a fish.
- Then we write it all down.
Fill out forms, pass it on to loon watch.
Then they, you know, they can do their work from that.
- We started here in the two first two we saw
were here in the 182th.
This one adult, she's seen there now out in
front of this island.
So, the mark can down it.
As long as everybody does it the same time, the same date,
then you're pretty well sure.
You can project those numbers.
We work together pretty well.
- Lorna, you sure that one in the center is not a big chick?
- Positive.
- Okay, you're the expert.
- That's just that really, really dark one.
- Okay.
Oh yeah, I see the white there.
(cackling)
We've been involved with loons for about 30 years, I guess.
We did some banding of loons in the, in the boundary
waters back in the late 80s.
What I'm stuck in off?
- They need a quarter of a mile to take off
because they do their running take off because
they're so heavy.
- They need a lot of space.
- Hey guys.
Try to stay a couple of hundred feet away from
the loons, would you?
- That's a regulation.
Don't get too close to them.
They got two chicks here.
- The tremolo, which everybody calls laughing,
and that's really a disturbance.
If they do the tremolo, then you know something's
bothering them.
- They're out there.
Yeah, they're right in front of the boat.
That's why the wings are so strong.
(cackling)
- The chicks were a little ways away from the adults,
and then a motorboat came along.
And it went between the chicks and the adult had
really upset the parents.
They started to do the tremolo, and the higher the pitch on the
tremolo and the faster it goes, the more upset they are.
The wing flapping because they were trying to
warn off the motorboat because it was coming
right for the chicks.
And what can happen in some cases is if they get
separated from their chicks, maybe you don't hurt them or
the boater doesn't hurt them, an eagle could swoop in and
grab a chick then when they're separated from the parents.
- Did you get it?
It's predators and lakeshore development,
which is one of the two of the biggest impacts
on the loon populations.
So that's why we're trying to get people or DNR or forestry.
They're trying to get people to turn their lakeshores
back into a natural habitat.
- Yeah, yeah, there you go.
- There's south in the winter and up here in the summer.
In the winter, they don't have the red eye, the breeding eye.
They don't have the black and white color.
They're just a brown bird that makes no noise.
And I couldn't understand how people in the north
like this bird so much until I came up here and
saw it in his breeding colors and heard it.
It's really a symbol of the wilderness.
Oh, they're talking.
They're hooting.
The breeding population loons keeps moving north
because people are moving further north.
They're beginning to stay where people are like this lake.
This lake can travel very much because there's no water skis
and there's no personal watercraft on this lake so they
don't get harassed as much.
Makes a big difference.
They're adapted for diving.
They don't have a lot of air in their bones like a lot of birds,
so when they dive, they can dive really deep.
He just caught a fish and a fish is still flapping.
It looks like they're playing with the fish.
They're turning them around.
They eat them head first.
So their fans don't get stuck.
That's why I'm straight ahead of them.
This is a job.
It's a pretty good sized fish, as well as got the problem.
Yeah, I think he did.
Are there two of them?
Yeah, oh, they're little ones.
They're just downy.
I would do this every day if I could.
We're just one lake and one section of Wisconsin,
but it all goes together.
Oh, we love them.
I feel like we're helping in some kind of way.
According to the Department of Natural Resources,
the 2005 Loon Count shows that the number of loons has gone up
slightly since the last survey, with 3,373 adults
and 805 chicks.
That figure of 805 chicks is the highest number they've tallied
since the program began in 1985.
[Music]
The rise in fuel prices after Hurricane Katrina
turned the nation's attention once again to the alternative
offered by ethanol.
Over the next six years, the Environmental Protection Agency
aims to double the use of the fuel that's produced
primarily from corn.
In Wisconsin, the legislature is debating whether to
require all regular grade gasoline sold in the state
to contain at least 10 percent ethanol.
There are already a few ethanol gasoline blends on the market,
but as our packet reports, filling your tank
requires paying attention to both the ethanol
percentage and the price.
Ethanol is promoted as a feel-good fuel, because
ethanol is made from corn.
It is seen as a way of helping corn farmers earn
more for their crops.
Many plants where ethanol is produced are located
right here in Wisconsin.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources, about a third of the gasoline sold in
Wisconsin is actually a blend.
90 percent gasoline, 10 percent ethanol.
The Wisconsin Assembly recently passed a bill that would require
all regular grade gasoline sold in the state contain at
least 10 percent ethanol.
Pay attention to the words at least.
Today's 90-10 blend is only the beginning.
Mandating the use of 10 percent ethanol isn't
the only way ethanol producers are trying to get
more of what they make into cars.
They're also opening their own filling stations,
selling a product that is 85 percent ethanol.
The fuel is called E85.
85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline.
You may not have heard about it, but it's nothing new.
Can Noison and Don Piper at the Center for Alternative
Fules at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
have been working with it for years.
The first vehicle I recall was a 1992 Chevy
luminance, I believe.
The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition estimates three
and a half million cars, which can burn E85 or on the
road in the United States today.
Mike Boyle's Dodge Minivan is one of them, but he didn't
realize it until recently.
"Hey, my wife has had this since 2000 and I just took it over
this year and one day I noticed the sticker in the door."
But if Boyle had noticed the label earlier, he
would have had a hard time finding E85.
"Most of the time what's happened is the companies
that make the ethanol have just given into the idea that,
hey, there's all these gas stations out there
all across the country.
We'd better sell it to them and let them dispense it."
"The 10 percent is what all vehicles are warranted for."
Fill younger result, Alternative Fules manager for Utica Energy.
Utica operates an ethanol plant just west of Ichecash.
The company is also in the process of opening a
chain of over 100 ethanol stations across Wisconsin.
"We wanted to see ethanol brought out in the
marketplace in a manner that the public would see
it as a viable option and get to experience it because
typically it's brought out in the marketplace
price the same as gasoline."
E85 can be sold for less.
In November of 2005, Utica Energy Station
near Ichecash was selling E85 for 214 a gallon.
The BP station across the road unleaded regular was
35 cents a gallon higher.
"And I go through about a tank every two days.
So it's actually saving quite a bit of money."
"Do you have any idea how much you've saved with this?"
"Um, per tank.
It's about $8 a tank."
UW-Milwaukee researcher Don Peeper says those savings will
be reduced by a drop in mileage.
"You will notice somewhere between 15 to 25 percent
mileage decrease with E85.
The energy just isn't there."
So at what point does E85 pay off?
Don Peeper says it's hard to tell because cars
from different manufacturers respond to the fuel
in different ways.
"If you go to the different brands and the different models
based on how their computers are calibrated and the sensors
they have on the engine, you will notice some
variation from car to car as far as what sort of mileage
loss you get when you run E85."
So nothing's constant.
It varies quite a bit.
But people are anxious to try E85.
"It's using less foreign oil and it's corn-based
so helping farmers out too.
So I like that idea.
Keep the money in the state.
We're at blogs."
"I don't like the oil companies."
"They're ripping you off bad.
Did you read the paper?"
Some people are so anxious to try E85.
They put it in vehicles that aren't designed for it.
That may be the case with Jim Chapin's 1991 Ford
pickup. He insisted it was running fine on E85.
Don Peeper at the UW-M alternative fuel
centers as Chapin may be headed for trouble.
"There's a significant risk.
One of the things you find with an
ethanol-based fuel is that it is hydroscopic.
It likes water.
So it absorbs water.
You put that into a vehicle
that's not made for it, which doesn't have a
stainless steel fuel system.
And wherever you have the dissimilar metals in the
fuel system contacting each other, you end up with
galvanic action and you'll actually rust through
and destroy the engine parts and the fuel system parts
by using E85 in a vehicle that's not made for E85."
The ethanol station at Ashkash operates with automated pumps.
There's no attendant on duty.
The pumps are labeled to show that E85 is for flexible fuel
vehicles only.
And to confuse things even more, the station
is also selling something called E20 for 20 percent ethanol.
It's also labeled for flexible fuel use only.
"I'm kind of hesitant.
I don't know if I can use
it in my truck or not.
So I just been sticking with
the regular."
"That's a fuel that Minnesota
passed a bill last spring requiring a 20 percent
renewables. It's for some time down the road.
At this point, it's just labeled
as an alternative fuel.
It's the EPA is still doing their emissions testing with
that program."
Minnesota is more proactive on
ethanol policy than Wisconsin.
The 10 percent ethanol requirement
Wisconsin is considering has been the law in Minnesota
for two years.
And Minnesota is trying to push the
standard up to 20 percent.
Younger explained the E20 is being offered in
Wisconsin because some flexible fuel vehicles that
aren't tuned up might run rough on E85.
"I have a 2003 Ford Focus.
It's not an alternative fuel vehicle.
Could I burn that stuff?"
"Well, legally, you can't because we
have to wait for the EPA to do their emissions testing
with it.
So at this point in time, it's just labeled
for the flexible fuel vehicles.
But from a practical standpoint, I
don't think it would cause any problems for you as
long as you were past warranty."
"What do we know about E20?"
"Absolutely nothing."
Don Piper at UWM compares it to the introduction
of the 10 percent plant he was involved in the testing of it.
"There were all kinds of complaints and stories
going back and forth and eventually it was accepted.
The same thing is going to need to be done by E20."
In the meantime, Piper says
the use of E20 and a vehicle not designated for
flexible fuels could cause expensive damage.
"Wait and don't do it even if it
is a nickel or two cheaper.
Just wait until all the studies are
done." But both Piper and Ron Neuysen say the economics
in the long run are an ethanol's favor.
The US Department of Energy
recently predicted crude oil prices will continue
to rise throughout 2006 and won't start the decline
until 2014.
The price spread should continue to grow.
"Now we may be talking a decade or two decades,
something in that range.
But the fact is, is that oil is not a renewable fuel.
Ethanol is a renewable fuel.
If you made it this year, you can make it again next year.
But oil took eons to produce."
At the same time, more and more vehicles are being
designed to burn E85.
Question is whether the ethanol industry can get it to a
station where you can buy it.
The bill mandating at least a 10 percent ethanol blend in
regular grade Wisconsin fuel has already passed in the
assembly and is pending before the state senate.
Governor Jim Doyle says he will sign the bill into
law if it reaches his desk.
We turn now to a story about angels in Wisconsin,
Guardian Angels.
There are a very real group of
volunteers who help fight gang violence in Green Bay.
The group is not without controversy,
but it's had a very positive impact on at least
one young woman's life.
Independent producer Alex Zacharias brings us this report.
"Everywhere you look, Green Bay is booming.
The population has grown by more than 20,000 people
in the last 15 years.
This growth has added diversity
and vitality to the area.
But it has also brought a rise in gang activity and crime."
"I think right now we're dealing with a major drug
problem in Green Bay.
We face a lot of drugs, and most of our crimes have
something tied to drugs into it.
And therefore, and that's one of the things
that's happening with the gang problem in Green Bay.
They're actually becoming more underground now than
they used to be.
You used to be that they were very proud
to show their colors and graffiti.
Well, that's changed.
It's becoming more of a drug culture.
So now we're attacking the problem
just slightly differently."
In an effort to stem the rise in tide of drugs
and gangs, Green Bay has adopted a number of crime
fighting programs.
The most controversial is
the Guardian Angels.
The Guardian Angels is an
international organization of local chapters made
up of volunteers to patrol neighborhoods
and act as visual deterrence to crime.
They don't carry weapons, but they do
undergo months of training including self-defense skills.
They also learn about local laws, first aid, and CPR.
After months of training, Green Bay's first group of Guardian
Angels graduated in 2004 with the support of law
enforcement, business, and community leaders.
"And congratulations to you for taking this step.
You know, the city of Green Bay
we're a proud community here and we're a proud
community. We take a lot of pride in ourselves because
the people that have stepped forward, volunteered
their time, their talent, and their energy to make
this city great."
One person attending was Curtis
Slua. Slua founded the Guardian Angels in 1979
in the crime-ridden streets of New York City.
"The concept of the Guardian Angels is to
dare to care.
Us and we not iron me.
As we have always envisioned it
from 1979, a problem in well-den-north Carolina is a
problem for all Americans.
A problem in Green Bay, Wisconsin,
whether it's related to drugs or violence or growing gangs is
a problem for all Americans."
Difference here is that we've perfected a method
in which we can go into the belly of the beast,
into the gangs themselves, into the violent plague
areas, and compete for the young men and women
that unfortunately too often are conscripted into
the ranks of the gangs.
Alejandra is one of those young women.
She's sifted into gang activity when
she and her family moved to Green Bay.
"Well, I got involved with the gang.
I knew people and I knew a lot of people.
I had met them when I moved here
and I spoke to them and I hanged out a lot with
them. And then, you know, they ended up getting involved
in the gang.
So then I decided, hey, you know, why not?"
Alejandra quickly got involved in gang activities,
abusing drugs and alcohol and getting into fights.
She soon realized she was heading down a dangerous path.
"At the time, when I made the decision that I didn't want
to be in the gang anymore, it was because I have a
little brother and my little sister and then my mom.
I didn't want to hurt them.
So I decided, you know, I need to get out of this.
And that's the time when the guardian angels came,
you know, and it was a great opportunity to get out."
"It's very difficult for the youngster on their
own, whether they're a boy or girl or a young adult,
a teenager, to really fend off that peer pressure.
It can be massive and intense.
And even the best of intentions of
good, strong parents, good, strong, structural
family outreach may find it difficult to keep the
kids safe and secure."
The guardian angels have wide support from neighborhood
watch associations and the Green Bay Police
Department. But not everyone agrees that this is a
good way to fight crime.
"My first impression had been made years before when
I was living in New Jersey
is about the same time that the guardian angels started in New
York City.
And our impression at the time was, oh, here's
a vigilante group.
Here's a group of self-styled
subway protectors."
You know, you always have the concern about what
people from outside of the community coming in
and organizing kids in what looks like a paramilitary
outfit. You really got a wonder about that.
Are they thinking that they are going to be able
to make the laws, make the rules decide who the
good guys and the bad guys are?
"They are not sworn officers.
They are not trained officers.
I have real concerns.
Grave concerns with taking kids, high school age kids,
20-year-old kids, and giving them some degree of training
and then sending them out thinking that they can
make a real difference when we're talking about
situations of violence and people with weapons
and drugs and all the scary kinds of things
that come from that."
"We have the look to walk, to talk, to uniform
presence. We look like a gang, except it's a gang that
espouses good values and works with existing organizations,
whether community elected or involving public safety.
That's obviously what gangs do not do."
"You know, here's an organization
that offers positive reinforcement to kids,
positive, be positive, influence in the city.
It may not be what we want to show that, yeah, the
city of Green Bay is in such bad shape that we
need a guardian angel's program.
But I said, we need to look at them more
on the positive side of what they can bring to the city
of Green Bay and what they can help us to do with our diversity
problems and our gang problem."
"The next graduate is Alejandra SWITCH MAHIA."
Among Green Bay's first group of guardian angels
was former gang member Alejandra, who now goes by
the nickname SWITCH.
"Well, since when I was little
I've always wanted to be a police officer and I
knew that by doing what I was, you know, getting involved in
a gang, that wouldn't help me."
Alejandra is also studying for a career in law
enforcement. "In fact, right now I have an
internship with Green Bay, the police department
and I love it, it's great, it's a great experience.
Joining the guardian angel was the best thing
that could have happened."
Whether or not the guardian angels are good for
Green Bay, they were for at least one young woman
who switched from being a gang member to a
guardian of the streets.
A post-gripped on Alex's report, Alejandra SWITCH
will be graduating this spring from northeast
Wisconsin Technical College with a degree in law enforcement.
We leave you tonight on the frozen
shores of what the Ojibwe call Lake Gichegumi.
It appears on present day
maps as Lake Superior.
Stay warm and enjoy.
[Music]
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.
[Music]