Month: March 2017

As an exercise in comprehension with Trump supporters, I jogged my mind for one thing where I might agree with them. One tiny thing.

It actually wasn’t hard: the first thing that came to mind is environmental protectionism. I don’t know what that term is. I’ve never even googled it and it probably means something unrelated. But I learned two years ago that no lakes in the southwest corner of Minnesota are fishable or swimmable. 40% of the state’s lakes and streams are impaired, according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

There are many reasons detailed in the MPCA’s reports, but farming seems to be central. Farming: our beloved heritage that can do no wrong.

American farmers export almost half their soybean and wheat harvest, mostly to China. Fifteen percent of the US corn crop is exported. Increasingly, meat and dairy is exported, too.

So for an environmental take on the protectionist movement, you could argue that federal and state policy should impose costs on exporting agricultural products that cause such widespread environmental damage. Why allow giant agribusinesses to enrich themselves while we pay dearly to clean up our polluted lakes and streams?

Included: I don’t like when people spoil natural areas with their “art” but I really can’t object to fungus-inspired graffiti.

I visited Frontenac State Park again. I will go again soon because I want to see the landscape undergo more dramatic changes as we accelerate into the warm season.

What I saw was a limestone valley on the cusp of spring, still very cool, with the night dipping a little below freezing and with patches of ice still to break up. The following day approached 45 degF though. I made a point this time of burning nothing and I left only a lot of muddy footprints.

The bald eagles were very actively fishing in Lake Pepin and scavenging along the shore. Some very vocal sandhill cranes flew through. Mergansers and northern pintails were loafing on the small lake in the prairie-like area of the park. I flushed a pheasant and an American woodcock.

None of the spring ephemerals have sprouted yet. The wood-warblers and other tiny spring migrants have not yet arrived. Nonetheless there is color and vibrancy to enjoy in the mosses and lichens and in the constantly weathering limestone rock.

I look forward to returning and picnicking along the River Bluff Trail and hearing chirping all around me. When you sit still to eat your nuts and canned salmon, birds tend to forget about you and go about their lives while you enjoy the show.

Total cost of the trip: $42.

I returned to the Minnesota River trail on the south side and to the east of the Cedar Avenue/Highway 77 bridge. It was cold (around 15 degF) and gray and cloudy, but I enjoyed it. I found the landscape was very accessible and clean because of the lack of snow, the hard frozen ground, and the lightly imprinted trails that off-road cyclists had made throughout the area.

I quickly came across an area of aspen trees where the leaf cover had made a soft place for me to sit and drink water and eat my nuts.

I continued hiking with my binoculars and saw eagles, hawks, geese and some really dirty swans. The wildlife activity was still somewhat muted. In the next two or three weeks though, things will explode as the snow, which fell hard later that night, melts and the temperatures shoot up.

The beavers had felled some very large trees and made a large home for themselves. Around it were smaller muskrat dens.

Funny: as the vegetation grows and the ground gets soft these places will get less and less accessible. That’s why winter is a great time to get in there and enjoy the sights.

I biked along the Minnehaha Creek, to the Minneapolis chain of lakes, and back along the Midtown Greenway and East River Road. Along the way I stopped for a nice little caffeine drink at a Dogwood. What a great way to spend Sunday morning! Much better than church of course.

On a sadder note I stopped by the roadside memorial for Scott Spoo, a 35 year old engineer who was killed by an SUV driver while jogging on East River Parkway in Saint Paul a couple of weeks ago:

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/02/23/suv-driver-kills-pedestrian-in-st-paul

At first it looked like your typical drunk. Now it appears the driver may have had a medical impairment that he did not know about. As long as the blood toxicology comes back negative, I predict he will suffer zero legal consequences.

Whatever the cause of this particular motor killing, it seems like the broader questions are at risk of going unanswered:

– Why is this incident seemingly identical to the one from last fall? (http://www.startribune.com/suv-drives-on-lake-calhoun-path-hits-and-drags-jogger/400411781/). An SUV, a 60-something driver, a medical episode, a young adult jogger on a park path. Fortunately the victim was not killed in that case.

– Why do driver’s licenses in Minnesota last forever, no questions asked, if renewed every four years, with no retesting requirements for anyone?

– In a $50 000 luxury SUV, could some small portion of that price go toward collision avoidance or other pedestrian safety features (not just ones that protect the driver)?

– If those technologies are feasible, why are they not mandated? Backup cameras are mandated in all new vehicles because of 210 backup fatalities per year. Why not mandate more of these systems in response to the other 4 400 pedestrian deaths?

– Medically impaired drivers will only become more common as America ages. If the driver was having a medical episode, why can’t the car sense this and bring the vehicle safely to a halt?

– Considering the heavy foot and bike traffic on the river paths, why is vehicle traffic only a few feet away? Can’t people get a little respite from exhaust fumes and danger when they exercise?

When I hear about another death like this, I feel anger and confusion. I want to see the distracted/enraged/speeding/intoxicated driver go to prison. When it turns out to be due to a heart attack or similar, it’s as if that explains it and there is nothing else to question.

This reminds me of our weekly USA mass shootings where the killer turns out to be deeply disturbed. It’s as if the mental illness is the sole component and since anyone can go nuts, there is nothing we can do about it. Specifics about the hyper-availability of guns fade away and get replaced with detailed coverage of the killer’s mental illness.

But when I see a young, active person die a violent, random death like Scott Spoo’s, I don’t want to see people shrug. I want to help prevent the next one.