On Sunday, March 10^th, W3 – Working for Whitewater’s Wellness – held their second annual WellFest. Wellfest took place within the Whitewater high school. The event was a huge success; over 15 local businesses, 4 presenters, and 150 participants joined in on the fun. W3 worked extremely hard to implement yet another successful WellFest by providing a multitude of activities promoting Wellness and Sustainability.

Activities conducted included yoga, boot camp, Zumba, Tai Chi, and “Minute to Win It” games.  Presentations on healthy eating, financial planning and cooking were also available to benefit all of those attending. The “Minute to Win It” games were a favorite among the younger generation. Kids from the ages of 6 to 14 loved the various challenges put on by members of Creative Marketing Unlimited.  Even residents of the university residence halls tried to apply their skills to the various mini tasks.

The “Minute to Win It” challenge included 7 activities. The winners would be chosen based on their times; the lower your time, the more competitive your chances for a prize. The first challenge was “balloon juggling” best described as keeping 3 balloons airborne as long as possible. The “balloon challenge” worked conversely to the other activities because the time the balloons were off the ground was deducted from their final score.  The hardest game was the “quarter catch” or rolling a quarter on an uneven table and having it stop in the prongs of a fork. Every person who gave the competition a try found a game they were naturally skilled at as well as one that challenged them.

Along with helping conduct the “Minute to Win It games,” CMU members also manned a UWW Earth Initiative table. The table was a huge success and extended the sustainability initiative to members outside of the college campus.  The main goal of the table was to share what the university was implementing to promote and initiate a sustainable campus. Not only did the table provide information but also hosted a “race to recycle” activity to get the community engaged with recycling. 35 water bottles were also dispensed in exchange for participants using social media to promote the Facebook and Twitter aspects of the initiative.

Overall, WellFest in 2013 grew from last year. There was more involvement and activities compared to the previous year. Everyone in attendance voiced appreciation for the hard work involved with putting on a successful event.  Kids, college students, and the community all found something tailored to their interests during their time at WellFest and look forward to what next year will hold.

In Carrizo Springs, Texas, ranchers are raising questions about the sustainability of hydraulic fracking in the region. Fracking is a technique used to extract natural gas and oil from deep underground. The technique is used to extract oil and natural gas with greater efficiency. This efficiency comes with a cost – massive water usage, dangerous chemical compounds being pumped into the ground, and large risks to our water tables. According to the article, “As Fracking Increases, So Do Fears About Water Supply,” the fracking industry is extremely dangerous for the environment.

Fracking involves pumping millions of gallons of water down a well to extract oil and natural gas from porous rock.  A single well utilizes between 4 million to 6 million gallons of water.  This water comes from the aquifers of the region. In Carrizo Springs, the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer supplies the nearby fracking efforts of Dammit County. A study of the Aquifer shows fracking “reduces the amount of water by the equivalent of one-third the aquifer’s recharge.” Drainage of this magnitude is unsustainable and causes other stockholders that use the aquifer to be pushed aside. Take Hugh Fitzsimons for example. Hugh states that one well from his ranch fell by two-thirds due to fracking.

If the water used in fracking is never recovered. Unfortunately, the water used is contaminated with minerals and other unknown highly toxic chemicals. Contaminated water must be hauled off site to be drained into a disposal well. Disposal wells are highly unregulated and could possibly contaminate nearby wells and aquifers.

All in all the fracking is terrible for the environment. Regulations and laws must be passed in a rapid fashion to prevent irreversible damage.  As a nation we need to learn from our mistakes. We have had devastating oil spills within our nation due to weak regulation and unethical corporate decision-making. Take the Exxon Valdez disaster or the Gulf oil spill for instance. Fracking could have similar effects as far as overall damage in the form of aquifer depletion and well contamination. For Texas being a region that lacks water as a whole, a decision must be made to determine the best allocation for the available water supply. Hopefully the aggregate economy is favored rather that the corporate checkbook.

Check out this person’s kitchen sink water starting on fire from fracking:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LBjSXWQRV8

Thank you for joining the conservation conversation.

A huge debate is raging in our capital today. Many people are fighting over the future of Wisconsin’s mining heritage. There are those who are solely concerned with the economic benefits a potential bill revision would create. Others worry about irreversible damages that could result from the passage of the Wisconsin Mining Bill being voted on at this very moment. One group that wants their voice heard is the Annishinaabe (Ojibwe/Chippewa) tribe residing within the Bad River Indian Reservation.

On February 27^th at 3:45 Matt Dannenburg spoke to the students of University of Wisconsin – Whitewater about the potential risks to the Annishinaabe subsistence way of life that may arise if the Wisconsin Mining Bill gets through the state legislature. Matt represented the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters and made the argument that a passage of the current bill will affect their reservation in some way or another.  After hearing the presentation, it is clear that the passage of the bill would be a loss for all of those concerned about creating a sustainable Wisconsin.

The bill originated through the collaboration with the mining company, Gogebic Taconite, and the state legislature. The bill’s main purpose is to relax mining legislation and speed up the DNR’s approval process in hopes of bringing mining companies and economic development to Wisconsin. The main mine this bill would favor is located in the Penokee Hills. The Penokee hills reside in Ashland county of Northern Wisconsin. The size of this mine will be 22 miles long and will require streams and lakes to be filled in with the overburden, the rock remaining as a result of the mining operations. This use of natural waterways is where Matt and the Annishinaabe Tribe find their fight.

The mining will not take place within the reservation. The problem arises when the rivers containing the mining overburden carry the contaminants north towards Lake Superior and through their reservation.  Possible sulphur and other compounds within the soil could spell disaster for the sloughs, backwaters, of the reservation that the tribe harvests wild rice from. Elevated compounds being introduced into the rivers and streams could ruin entire ecosystems. With the ecosystem will go the entire rice farming way of life of the Annishinaabe tribe.

Matt and the Annishinaabe tribe are not against mining. The tribe is against the way this is being done and that their voices have been suppressed. Matt stated that there was never a hearing held in Ashland county, but only in the surrounding area. The bill would further suppress the voices of those in the mining areas by expediting the hearing process.  Just a little bit ago the mining bill passed the senate and will most likely pass the state assembly.

The Ojibwa saying, “water is life” holds true for everyone in the world. The mining bill will have an effect on the quality of water the in the Bad River watershed in the future.  No matter what the arguments are on either side of the political spectrum, one thing is for certain – the passage of the Wisconsin Mining Bill will change the Bad River Indian reservation for years to come.