Conserving Water or Marriage

"Will Lick for Food"

When writing about dishwashers, I am entering a foreign land ruled by my wife Barb.  On Bull Creek with no dishwasher, we do hand-to-hand combat with dried egg yolk and remnants of spaghetti sauce.  There is an even easier way but Barb won't allow it.

David Casaletto wrote an interesting article about the effect of mandated changes in detergents in the February 7th issue of Ozark Waters newsletter.  

"Last year 16 states decided to ban phosphates so the manufacturers figured it would be easier and cheaper to just have one formula nationwide. The change happened on July 1, 2010 and caught many consumers by surprise when their dishwashers no longer performed at previous levels."

He goes on to describe studies, both personal and scientific, on efficacy of low phosphate detergents.  So why address this in a newsletter on Ozark water resources?  Two reasons come to mind: water quality and water waste.
He points out the problem of phosphates in our streams and lakes.  These come not only from detergents but from excessive use of fertilizer and subsequent runoff into our watershed.

Phosphates "get into natural water bodies and act as fertilizer, accelerating plant and algae growth. When the plants and algae die, a feeding frenzy of bacteria consume all the oxygen dissolved in the water, creating an environment inhospitable to fish and other aquatic life. These oxygen-devoid "dead zones" can occur in freshwater or in the ocean. In fact, two of the world's largest dead zones are in the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, the result of fertilizers running off of farmland."

There is lots of evidence that dishwashers use less water than washing dishes by hand.  1Greengeneration.com reviews some of the evidence.  They quote a study showing dishwashers used 3-4.25 gallons of water, while washing dishes by hand used as much as 16.5 gallons.  A University of Bonn (PDF) study of people washing 12 place settings (PDF) showed that "All in all, the dishwashers got the dishes cleaner, in less human time, using less water and energy."

Last year, a major leak in our kitchen sink at Bull Creek provided the opportunity to study our personal water use in washing dishes.  I proposed simply catching the water in buckets which might have led to an interesting scientific study.  Barb's counter-proposal:  "Fix the sink, now!"  Barb-1, Science-0.

*Ozark Waters is the newsletter of Ozarks Water Watch.

Watershed Festival

For those who haven't faced waves of 5th graders flowing off school buses to learn about our watershed, you have really missed a thrill.  (Many reading this are familiar with the Watershed Festival - if so, read no further.)

From the JRBP

 The James River Basin Partnership (JRBP) is hosting the annual Christian County Watershed Festivals at Nixa Community Center on February 8th, 9th, 10th, 16th and 17th.  This is part of an effort to provide educational activities about watersheds to fifth-grade students in Christian, Stone, Taney, and Barry.

Over 2,000 fifth-grade students will attend festivals in participating counties.  Funding for the Christian County festivals is being provided through the Nixa Community Foundation Grant program that was awarded to the JRBP in February of 2011 and through a 319 Nonpoint Source Implementation Grant from the Department of Natural Resources.

The Christian County Watershed Festival will run from 9:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and will provide educational activities to over 1,000 students.

The watershed festivals are designed to teach students about a wide range of water-related topics through the use of five different topical stations.  Students will rotate through learning stations led by volunteer environmental professionals from many local agencies and organizations.  During their trip through the stations students will be introduced to concepts such as the limited amount of fresh water, groundwater flow, the impacts of human activity in watersheds, life in a stream and stream dynamics.

When students have completed all five stations they will assemble for a test to determine if they understand the concepts taught throughout the day.  After the test a fun, magical and comical performance is given by the Fishin’ Magicians who re-enforce key concepts the students have learned throughout the day. Christian County Festivals are hosted by JRBP.  Other partners include City of Ozark, City of Nixa, Christian County Soil & Water Conservation District, University of Missouri Extension, Missouri Department of Conservation, Project Wet, Master Naturalists and local volunteers.

More information on the James River Basin Partnership is available at http://www.jamesriverbasin.com/

Smokey "the" Bear

The current issue of Missouri Conservationist mentions the change in Smokey Bear's message, changing his traditional "Forest Fires" message to "Remember...Only You Can Prevent Wildfires".  The reason for the change is the increasing recognition of the importance of prescribed fire for the management of woodlands, prairies and glades.  The Conservationist article, Prescribed Fire: A Management Tool, is a good overview on its uses and techniques.

Smokey was created as part of a WWII "homeland security" effort.  Early in 1942, the Japanese made multiple attempts to set fires in the Oregon forests using float planes with incendiary bombs launched from submarines.  In 1944 they released up to 9,000 fire balloons into the newly discovered jet stream with around 10% reaching the US. There was no significant fire damage although a teacher and 5 children died when they found a device and were tampering with it, the only war casualties to occur on US soil.  (Wikipedia)

With the lack of available manpower to fight fires due to the war effort, there was a push for increased public awareness of forest fire dangers.  The Forest Service had Smokey Bear created for the purpose, with the first poster above.  Smokey the Bear came along a few years later in a popular song, "the" being added for rhythm purposes.  The "e" in Smokey was a deliberate addition.  The "the" has never been in his official name although the Forest Service have never been able to erase it from the mind of the public.

The lesson today is that fire is a legitimate tool in forest management but must be used with care.  The article in Missouri Conservationist emphasizes safety through prescribed fire training which is available through MDC.

Fungi for Fun and Food

Auricularia auricula 

Sunday afternoon was the organizational meeting of a new Springfield Chapter of the Missouri Mycological Society, (MOMS).  After an enthusiastic presentation by Michael Baird, all 15 attendees signed up as members.

MOMS is an "organization of individuals and families dedicated to the study and enjoyment of mushrooms. There are regular forays, meetings, and education focused on mushrooms."  The founding group includes individuals interested in collecting and cooking, growing, identifying, or photographing mushrooms as well as some just looking for another reason to walk around in the woods.  The skill levels range from very knowledgeable to rank amateurs.

We plan on chapter meetings every two months with education programs and (somewhat) organized group hunts in the woods (called forays).  Since we have selected the initial officers, it is now safe to attend a meeting without being recruited into an office.  If you are not yet a member but are interested in getting on the email list for meeting notifications, send me an email titled MOMS? at rkipfer@sbcglobal.net.

Our next meeting will be at 6:00 PM on Friday, March 18th at the Springfield Nature Center before Maxine Stone's program at 7:00 PM.  Maxine is very active in MOMS in St. Louis and is the author of Missouri's Wild Mushrooms, a great new book on mushrooms and their recipes.  Her book will be available for purchase and autographing.

This night will be a great way to be introduced to "Fungi for Fun and Food."

• An excellent source of mushroom knowledge is http://www.mushroomexpert.com/.
• MOMS information and Membership Applications are available to download and print online at momyco.org
• North American Mycological Association  membership includes receiving the Mycophile, NAMA’s bi-monthly newsletter and McIlvainea: The Journal of Amateur Mycology, NAMA’s annual, juried journal.

Butterfly Art

Peter Sutovsky- MU

Many people create beautiful art by painting or photographing butterflies.  Associate professor Peter Sutovsky of MU's College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources' Division of Animal Sciences takes a different approach.
His research in fertilization uses an epifluorescence microscope that adjusts the specific wavelength of light illuminating sperm and egg specimens to show technical details that otherwise could not be observed.  When he turned it to focus on butterfly wings, he created  unique pictures of nature.
A collection of his pictures and a full description is available at the Mizzouwire.

Thanks to Deb and Dr. Chris Barnhart of MSU for the lead.

Missouri Has Eagles?

Click to enlarge

In spite of Eagle Days announcements on radio and news media, I have had three different people say "You mean there are eagles in Missouri?"  In case you have encountered this question as well, this is a place you can refer them to.
Jeff Cantrell, the conservation education consultant with the MDC in Joplin sent these pictures from the last week Eagle Days at Stella.  Like events at Schell Osage & Springfield, they have plenty of eagles to see in January.  Although it might be a little late to get there now, you might check these spots next January even if you can't make it on the designated Eagle Days.

"Depending on the weather, the area holds 200 - 400 eagles  in the watersheds of Shoal, Indian Creek, Elk and Big Sugar Rivers.  Some great photo opportunities are at Capps Creek Conservation Area and the HWY along Big Sugar State Park (east of Pineville) where you might be at eye level with our national symbol.  The extended area between Neosho and Exeter (HWY 86) / Stella and Wheaton (HWY A) provides excellent opportunities.  Sunday, alone, I had 23 eagles just west of the city limits of Exeter, Capps Creek held several and the sycamores along Indian Creek were loaded."

Click to enlarge

As described in MDC Agent Notes, there were no longer nesting eagles in the state until we started raising and releasing them in the 1980s.  There are now almost 150 nesting pairs. "In addition to the nesting birds, Missouri commonly hosts more wintering bald eagles than any other state. These are birds that migrate south to find open water as winter progresses. The birds need open water so they have access to their main source of food, which is fish. Waterfowl also comprise a portion of their diets."
Yes, Virginia (and all the other states), there are eagles in Missouri. 

Our Mink Invade Scotland

We tend to think of invasive species as a one way trip into the US.  It actually works both ways.

American Mink- Click to enlarge-Wikimedia

A story on the BBC tells of the efforts to eliminate North American mink from the waterways of Scotland.  They were brought to the UK in the 1950's to be farmed for their fur.  They either were released or escaped into the waterways.  There they did what mink do best -  eat voraciously and make babies.  There are "now tens of thousands throughout the UK."

There are two varieties of mink, the American mink (Neovison vison) and the European mink (Mustela lutreola).  The European mink always has a large white patch on its upper lip, a variable feature on the American mink.

The American mink is larger and more adaptable than the European mink according to Wikipedia, and is out-competing its cousin. In addition, the American mink will breed with female European mink before their own males are ready to breed.  There are no offspring from the mating, but the females won't breed again that season, contributing to population decline.

These "predators have had a devastating impact on local river wildlife, affecting birds such as moorhens, coots, widgeon and teal, fish and most markedly water voles, which have declined by more than 95% over the last 50 years.  Conservationists say they are left with a stark choice: either leave the mink alone and allow the UK's native wildlife to continue to decline, or begin the colossal effort to remove them, however difficult this may be."  BBC

Since mink live along water,  authorities have developed an innovative method of trapping and eliminating them.  They use a small raft with a clay plate inside a box on the raft to record foot prints of the curious mink.  Once they have identified footprints, they place a live trap in the box to capture and then eliminate the mink.  The video shows the methodology which is being used by 186 volunteers.

Another BBC story outlines some of their other invasive species.  These include not only our shared threats such as zebra mussels, but also introduced gray squirrels which threaten their native red squirrel populations, and a giant Asian hogweed that has become widespread across the UK and can cause skin burns and blisters if its sap comes into contact with skin.

Another study has shown the "delayed legacy of invasive species."  Most of the invasive species that we confront today were introduced around or before 1900.  Given this time to develop and spread, you can only imagine what the side effects of our current globalized markets and burgeoning imports will have in 2111.