River Talk

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/discovering-the-magic-of-the-st-louis-river-estuary/

St. Louis River tourism and new water trail talk

On: April 3, 2021

In: Kris Eilers, Nikky Farmakes, River Talk, River Talks, St. Louis River tourism, St. Louis River Water Trail

Nikky Farmakes, Superior-Douglas County Chamber of Commerce and Travel Superior

The next River Talk will take place via Zoom at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 14. “Discovering the magic of the estuary: Bringing tourists to the St. Louis River,” will feature Nikky Farmakes, director of marketing and social media for the Superior-Douglas County Chamber of Commerce and Travel Superior, and Kris Eilers, executive director of the St. Louis River Alliance. Farmakes will provide an overview of tourism and outdoor recreation in the St. Louis River Estuary followed by Eilers who will talk about the recent St. Louis River Water Trail designation.

Here is the Zoom link and info:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/93108563539?pwd=bzV3OUNaUk8ydFJjKzNmdkxOUmF5UT09

Meeting ID: 931 0856 3539
Passcode: 176009
One tap mobile
+19292056099,93108563539# US (New York)
+13017158592,93108563539# US (Washington DC)

The event will last an hour and will include time for comments and questions. The talk will be recorded and posted afterward on the Reserve’s Facebook page and YouTube. A summary will also be posted on Wisconsin Sea Grant’s blog.

Kris Eilers, St. Louis River Alliance

The remaining River Talk of the season will be held on May 12. For more information, visit the River Talks page: go.wisc.edu/4uz720.

River Talks are sponsored by The Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Wisconsin Sea Grant Program.

The post St. Louis River tourism and new water trail talk first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/st-louis-river-tourism-and-new-water-trail-talk/

River Talk explores life on the soggy side: coastal wetlands

On: February 5, 2021

In: coastal wetlands, Kelly Beaster, Lake Superior Research Institute, Reed Schwarting, River Talk

The January 2021 River Talk featured Kelly Beaster and Reed Schwarting with the Lake Superior Research Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Superior tag-teamed and presented, “Coastal wetlands: Dynamic ecosystems of Lake Superior.”

Kelly Beaster in the field. Image credit: Lake Superior Research Institute

Beaster and Schwarting have spent the past five years monitoring the health of local wetlands along Lake Superior, including those in the St. Louis River Estuary. They described the formation and function of coastal wetlands and how they change over time. They focused on vegetation, covering the more common plant communities and some of their unique species as well as how wetlands have adapted to the short-term and long-term flux of water levels in the Great Lakes.

Schwarting said sediment is key to wetlands formation. “Sediment can come from tributaries along Lake Superior, but it can come from shoreline erosion, as well. Plants eventually start to grow. This stabilizes the sediment and encourages more sediment deposition and plant growth.”

Beaster described the three classifications of coastal wetlands. All three are low in nutrients (oligotrophic) due to the northern climate and cold water in Lake Superior when compared to the other Great Lakes. The first type, lacustrine wetlands, tend to form near large open lakes, such as Lake Superior. The second, riverine, form at and along river mouths. Barrier wetlands are separated from the lake by some type of barrier like a sandbar or a railroad bed.

Schwarting said wetlands function as carbon storage locations, which is helpful with climate change. The cold water, especially in lacustrine wetlands, limits decomposition. Wild cranberry, pitcher plants and bog buckbean are common species they find in their surveys. Although they are not rare, Beaster said these species are among some of the first to disappear from wetlands when nutrient loading occurs or the water level changes. “Some type of disturbance happens and the diversity starts to drop down.”

Reed Schwarting in the field. Image credit: Lake Superior Research Institute

They have found a notable plant in the St. Louis River estuary. “It’s incredible to think we have aquatic ferns floating around. They are no bigger than your fingertip. They’re really common in the estuary,” Beaster said.

Cattails are often the first thing people think about when visualizing an emergent marsh, but Beaster said cattails are often a sign of problems. “Often, they signify nutrient-loading. Cattails also out-compete native plants. There can be toxic chemicals present or heavy metals.” Allouez Bay in the estuary is an example of one such area.

Schwarting said control measures for invasive species like cattails include chemical, mechanical and biological measures. But care must be taken. “It’s not enough to control these species. As soon as you control something, you’re basically creating a disturbance,” he said. “Normally, a lot of invasive species come in through disturbances, so you’re opening them back up to having another species either come in or even the same species being reintroduced from your disturbance. So, we want to do some restoration work on top of any control.” Some plants used in this way are wild rice and seedlings of other native species already at the location.

Schwarting said that wetlands along Lake Superior are doing well. “While there are some negatively impacted sites on Lake Superior, we probably have some of the more diverse and higher-quality wetlands in the Great Lakes region. Especially compared to the more industrial sites,” he said.

Beaster said one of the top five coastal wetlands they’ve been to is on Madeline Island. Bog Lake is a barrier wetland and fen on northern part of island. “Once we’ve boated out there, we have about three hours to do our surveys, but we’d rather spend three days because it’s so cool. This wetland is iconic of what an oligotrophic plant community should be on Lake Superior. We don’t see any invasive species here. It’s pretty stable – easy walking on the ground. Year after year we don’t really see any changes.”

She said Bog Lake isn’t the only high-quality, undisturbed wetland in the area. “This fortunately is here, intact, and it’s very encouraging especially when what we see in the St. Louis Estuary doesn’t always seem like it’s very high quality any longer. However, the estuary contains about 25 different oligotrophic species. Some of them are very common: wire sedge, bog birch and bog buckbean. When we’re out in these habitats and we know we have these remnants of oligotrophic species, it always brings to mind what the estuary used to look like, which is incredibly different from what we see now. But it is encouraging that we still have those oligotrophic species there, and we have done a lot over the years to stop our nutrient loading and to clean up some of the areas of concern. We’ve been controlling invasive species and I believe we’ll continue to control them even further once these areas are cleaned up. Eventually, we will have some semblance of these oligotrophic plant communities back, and they’ll be fairly functional, I hope.”

A video of their talk is available on YouTube here. The next River Talk will be held March 3 in conjunction with the St. Louis River Summit. The topic is “A River of Poems.” Poets from across the country will share their works about rivers.

The post River Talk explores life on the soggy side: coastal wetlands first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/river-talk-explores-life-on-the-soggy-side-coastal-wetlands/

Coastal wetlands: Dynamic ecosystems of Lake Superior

On: December 30, 2020

In: Kelly Beaster, Lake Superior coastal wetlands, Lake Superior Research Institute, Reed Schwarting, River Talk

The next River Talk will take place via Zoom at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13. Kelly Beaster and Reed Schwarting with the Lake Superior Research Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Superior will present, “Coastal wetlands: Dynamic ecosystems of Lake Superior.”

Kelly Beaster in the field. Image credit: Lake Superior Research Institute

Reed Schwarting. Image credit: Lake Superior Research Institute

Beaster and Schwarting have spent the past five years monitoring the health of local wetlands along Lake Superior, including those in the St. Louis River Estuary. Their talk will describe the function of coastal wetlands and how they change over time. They will focus on vegetation, covering the more common plant communities and some of their unique species as well as how wetlands have adapted to the short-term and long-term flux of water levels in the Great Lakes.

Here is the Zoom link and info:
https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/91446157971?pwd=czhnVGxuMTJNWlZveTllanFCVkRsUT09

Meeting ID: 914 4615 7971

Passcode: 163792

The talk will last an hour and will include time for Q&A. The talks will be recorded and posted afterward on the Reserve’s Facebook page. A summary will also be posted on Wisconsin Sea Grant’s blog.

Other River Talks will be held on Feb. 10, March 3, April 14 and May 12. The March talk will be held in conjunction with the St. Louis River Summit. For more information, visit the River Talks page: go.wisc.edu/4uz720.

River Talks are sponsored by The Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Wisconsin Sea Grant Program.

The post Coastal wetlands: Dynamic ecosystems of Lake Superior first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/coastal-wetlands-dynamic-ecosystems-of-lake-superior/

DeLuca Shares Her Journey to Becoming Executive Director of The Duluth Seaway Port Authority

On: January 21, 2020

In: Deb DeLuca, Duluth Seaway Port Authority, River Talk, River Talks

By Elise Ertl, University of Wisconsin-Superior

Deborah DeLuca presented this month’s River Talk on Jan. 8 at the Lake Superior Estuarium. Her talk, “The Duluth Seaway Port Authority – A Career Journey,” offered insight to the Great Lakes’ largest port and how she came to be the first woman to hold the executive director position at Duluth Seaway Port Authority in the 60 years since its establishment.

Deb DeLuca. Image by Marie Zhuikov.

The Duluth Seaway Port Authority’s mission is to bring business to the port of Duluth-Superior, economic development to the region and to advocate for maritime and transportation industries. The port authority also owns one of 20 active terminals – the Clure Public Marine Terminal – which is the only general cargo terminal in the harbor.

DeLuca said one of the challenges about being located in Duluth is how far inland the port is. Ships must travel to the western tip of Lake Superior to reach it.

Some of the primary cargoes shipped from the harbor are iron ore, limestone and coal. Grain is the No. 1 export. However, DeLuca also talked about the increasing wind turbine imports to our area. The wind turbine imports the port is receiving are shipped all across the upper Midwest, including states as far as Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. Wind turbine parts can be immense, with some blades over 200 feet long.

The talk of wind turbine imports added to what has always been a big part of DeLuca’s life, the environment and sustainability. In college, she earned her bachelor’s in molecular biology, and later a master’s in land resources at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She talked about her internship with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and her experience working with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and Braun Intertec, an environmental consulting and testing firm.

During her college career, she worked at a bike shop, adding to the list of DeLuca’s wide interests and capabilities. While there, she purchased a bike and learned from her coworkers how to ride competitively. She quickly progressed and eventually made the U.S. National Cycling Team.

She also worked for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Later, she started her own company, DeLuca Strategies LLC, where she provided services such as funding strategies, grant-writing, project management, public outreach, and government relations to public, private and nonprofit clients.

DeLuca first started working for the Duluth Seaway Port Authority as the government and environmental affairs director for four years and afterward, became executive director.

The River Talks audience was engaged and asked an abundance of questions. One audience member asked whether the port authority has looked into tourism and possible recreational benefits for people who may want to see the ships up close at the port. DeLuca said, “Kayaking and paddleboarding down by the port may be a fun idea, but it is also dangerous because the ships cannot see people down below, and they can’t maneuver quickly or stop.”

DeLuca was also asked questions about the environment and people who may be studying the topic. She offered this advice: “You can have all the passion in the world to make a difference, but without an understanding of economics and finance, it will be difficult to implement change.” She recommended gaining knowledge of finance and economics in addition to environmental sciences.

The next River Talk will be held on Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Lake Superior Estuarium. Nancy Schuldt will be discussing the growth of wild rice in the estuary.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/deluca-shares-her-journey-to-becoming-executive-director-of-the-duluth-seaway-port-authority/

Wisconsin Sea Grant

River Talk explored ballast water research at UWS

On: November 20, 2019

In: ballast water research, Great Waters Research Collaborative, Lake Superior Research Institute UWS, Matt TenEyck, Montreal Pier, River Talk

Matt TenEyck, climbing out of a ballast water tank on a ship. Image by Carol Wolosz.

Matt TenEyck with the University of Wisconsin-Superior Lake Superior Research Institute presented the November River Talk at the Lake Superior Estuarium. His talk, “Influencing Industry and Research: Ballast Water,” offered the latest news in ballast water research.

TenEyck’s institute recently took over management of the ballast water testing facility located on Montreal Pier in the harbor near Barker’s Island. Called the Great Water Research Collaborative, the project provides scientific services to the maritime industry to promote “green shipping.” TenEyck said its focus is to test technologies designed to prevent new ballast water introductions of invasive species in the Great Lakes.

Contrary to popular belief, this does not mean that such systems would kill everything in the discharged ballast water. “The standard these technologies need to meet is fewer than 10 animals alive in 1,000 liters of water.”

Many of the audience members were eating popcorn in liter cardboard containers, and TenEyck pointed out that the standard was the equivalent of 10 organisms alive in about 1,000 popcorn containers.

“This is actually a higher sterility standard than hospitals are held to,” TenEyck said. “It’s a matter of risk management.” Also, such systems need to remove viruses and cannot discharge toxic substances back into the harbor.

The research collaborative solicits ballast water treatment ideas from the public. The staff then tests the ideas to see if they work. This can happen in several different ways: bench-testing, which is done in a lab; land-testing, which is done at the Montreal Pier facility; and/or shipboard testing, which is done on working ships either in the Great Lakes or oceans.

Some of the recent bench-testing they’ve done includes technologies that use sound waves or electric currents.

Land testing makes use of four large white mock ballast tanks that are the major features of the Montreal Pier facility. TenEyck explained that two of the tanks are used for treatment testing and the other two function as scientific controls. They collect data during experiments every 15 seconds.

Shipboard testing involves using a proposed technology on a ship for six months in a variety of water quality conditions.

After testing, the collaborative shares the results with the inventors. TenEyck said that so far, they’ve tested 26 bench-scale systems, of which four had promise. They’ve also tested 15 land-based systems and three shipboard systems. They have used things like chlorine, lye, hydrogen peroxide, ultra-violet light, ultrasound and sonic energy.

Only one other ballast water research facility exists in the U.S.: the Golden Bear Research Center in California.

The search for a workable system continues. “Our job is to be knowledgeable and provide sound science for the process,” TenEyck said. “We have no stake in the outcome. We serve as a third party and provide credible data.”

The next River Talk will take place at 7 p.m. on Jan. 8, 2020, also at the Estuarium. Duluth Seaway Port Authority Director Deb DeLuca will discuss issues that the Duluth-Superior Harbor faces.

River Talks is an informal monthly series about the St. Louis River Estuary hosted by the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Minnesota and Wisconsin Sea Grant programs.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/river-talk-explored-ballast-water-research-at-uws/