May 29, 2003
by Nick Vander Puy
Gaylord Nelson and his canoeing partner, Lac Courte Oreilles tribal member
Buck
Barber, remember 1965. Nelson was a United States Senator from Wisconsin
then, and he paddled down the Namekagon River with Barber's father Bill,
Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale, Hayward visionary Tony Wise, and more
than a hundred other canoes. They were demonstrating to protect the
Namekagon
and the St. Croix. In five years, Nelson would found Earth Day.
Nelson championed the Wild and Scenic River Act, and when it passed the
Namekagon and St. Croix became the first rivers east of the Mississippi to
benefit
from this official protection. The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act exists "to
protect for
posterity, the river's free flowing character, water quality, and the
natural, scenic,
aesthetic, cultural, and recreational values of the river."
But now, the American Transmission Company wants to build a 345-kilovolt
electric line across 230 miles of forests, streams, wetlands, and farms in
northwest
Wisconsin, including the pristine Namekagon River. The line was approved two
years ago under questionable circumstances by the state Public Service
Commission. The line needs National Park Service permission to cross the
federally protected Namekagon.
“I’ll have to be 200 years old before I let that power line cross the
river,” the
86-year-old Nelson says.
It’s May 10, and Nelson is standing at Stinnett Landing on the Namekagon
River.
The Badger drum from Lac Courte Oreilles starts up with a song to honor the
creator, to honor this beautiful place on the Namekagon, and to honor all
the
warriors (ogichidaa) who protect the river.
One of America's leading conservationists,
Nelson still fights tenaciously for the
wild river. "We are losing these gems of nature, such as the
Namekagon and St.
Croix, very rapidly across the country, and if we allow a big transmission
line to
cross the Namekagon it'll create havoc and defile this lovely river," Nelson
tells
more than 200 people on the banks of the river.
"I don't want any corporation or individual to degrade this river,” Nelson
says.
“The Namekagon is my river, and your river, and even those who have never
seen
it and never will. There aren't many rivers left as pure and beautiful as
the
Namekagon. We should leave as it is." His words trail off into applause.
Nelson recognizes the desire to keep the lights on, but says this electric
line is the
wrong line, in the wrong place at the wrong time. "It's preposterous in my
view to
build a new route when a route already exists, the King Weston line. The
King
Weston line goes from a substation west of Eau Claire to Wausau. The Duluth
line
destroys too much for no gain," Nelson says.
Jerry Burnett from the Mole Lake Sokagon Chippewa community dances a
feather, tying it on the women's feather staff to honor Nelson. The Chippewa
women conduct a water ceremony. An eagle flies above the river.
Former DNR Secretary George Meyer steps forward. "The reason the eagle is
alive today is because back in the early 1970s Gaylord Nelson helped ban
DDT,"
Meyer said. "Gaylord Nelson has been a hero to me throughout my career."
Then Barber, his seven-year-old grandson Starman Barber, and Nelson launch
their red canoe in the rolling Namekagon. Nelson gazes out across the water.
They
maneuver down river.
At least 75 canoes string out in the Namekagon behind them.
Nick Vander Puy lives 10 miles from the Namekagon River and is senior
producer for the Superior Broadcast Network.