WXPR The Stream

Standing at Grand Traverse Harbor on the Keweenaw Peninsula, a look right reveals picturesque yellow-sand beaches and unassuming seasonal homes. A look left includes nothing but a black shoreline on this part of the peninsula, which juts into Lake Superior in Upper Michigan. Jay Parent scooped up a handful of the pebbly black sand, which stretches out of sight on the shoreline. “It was this high stamp sand right here all the way across the harbor,” Parent says, gesturing more than head-high.

From a few yards away, a woman and four small children watch a massive machine rumble to life. They stand, look, and point as a boat is lifted by the Burnt Rollways Boat Hoist, carried over a road and dam, and dropped gently in the water on the other side. “It’s a novelty,” said Scott Blado, who is operating the machine. “It’s just kind of a thing that you go and do. It’s not really a ‘we’ve got to go that way’ kind of thing. It’s more of an event.” This week, operators fired up the hoist, the

As the crow flies, Wildcat Falls near Watersmeet and the Upper Wisconsin River Legacy Forest near Land O’Lakes are only 15 miles apart, on opposite sides of the Michigan-Wisconsin border. But in some ways, these protected places couldn’t be more different. From one, water flows north to Lake Superior. From the other, it flows south, eventually to the Gulf of Mexico. Huge old-growth trees dominate the area near Wildcat Falls, while a young forest supporting threatened species is common near the

Badger Minerals plans to begin drilling in eastern Oneida County in less than a month, according to documents filed with the county . The mining exploration company’s plans were just approved by the DNR, the final hurdle to commence exploratory drilling. The firm told Oneida County 24-hour-a-day drilling near the Wolf River will begin on June 1. Badger Minerals is a Michigan-based subsidiary of a Canadian company. It wants to learn more about what’s underground at the site in the Town of

A WXPR investigation has found over a seven-year period in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the City of Rhinelander spread almost 400 tons of sewage sludge at the Rhinelander-Oneida County Airport. Later, the city built two municipal water wells near the place where some of the sludge was spread. Last year, those wells were found to have high levels of PFAS, a chemical with known health risks. Now, a nationally-recognized expert on PFAS and sludge says the contamination in the city’s water could

More than 150,000 Wisconsin homes, businesses, schools, and daycares get their water through lead pipes, according to data newly compiled by the Environmental Defense Fund. Consuming even small amounts of lead can lead to behavioral, learning, and cognitive problems in children. Furthermore, for 300,000 water lines, Wisconsin cities don’t even know what the pipes are made of. Even so, the Environmental Defense Fund calls the state “ahead of the curve” on identifying and addressing lead piping.

On Wednesday, a mining exploration company got a step closer to drilling into the earth near the Wolf River in Oneida County. The county’s Planning and Development committee unanimously approved a permit for Badger Minerals to drill up to ten exploration holes on a private plot of land. The company wants to find out if the area could be a good place for a metallic mine. But, if it wasn’t clear before, public backlash demonstrated there’s plenty of opposition in the Northwoods. It’s the first

Last year was the wettest year on record in the Wisconsin River basin. That meant reservoirs were full, and challenging spring weather could put stress on the system. But the forecasts are looking better than anticipated. The Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company manages flows on the Wisconsin River and operates five dams on major reservoirs. The company had to aggressively draw down water levels over the winter after last year’s record precipitation. But company vice president of operations

Many Wisconsin State Parks have closed along with National Forest recreation areas, leaving many to seek different ways to enjoy the outdoors during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Wolf River, which starts in Forest County and runs through the entire length of Langlade County, offers opportunities to enjoy the beauty of the Northwoods while practicing social distancing. Bill Kallner has been fishing the Wolf River for decades. Each time he visits the river he enjoys the beauty and solitude. “What you

By the middle of the century, the climate, the waters, and the species of northern Wisconsin could look like today’s southern Wisconsin. That’s according to projections presented at a scientific conference last week. In turn, climate change could force southern Wisconsin to look like states including Kansas and Virginia. The shifts are just a few of the many disruptions we’re facing as the Earth gets warmer and wetter, shifts that were detailed at the Wisconsin Waters 2020 convention. The