Bucks of Crawford County will feature laser shooting gallery

The 12th annual Bucks of Crawford County deer show, hosted by the Prairie du Chien Rod and Gun Club, will be held Saturday, Feb. 21, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Prairie du Chien National Guard Armory, on State Highway 35, on Prairie du Chien’s north side. Hunters from Wisconsin and surrounding states are encouraged to enter their head mounts, antlers and sheds of any species from any geographic region.

Antler registration is from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday evening, Feb. 20 and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Antlers will be released at 8 p.m. Saturday. Head mounts and racks will be scored for free with paid registration and will qualify for the participants’ door prize, a Remington 700 BDL 7MM Remington Magnum, donated by Stark’s Sport Shop. There is a $5 admission; children under 12 are free. Food and beverages will be available. For more information call 608-326-2478.

Of special interest this year will be the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ Laser Shooting Gallery which will be on site for the enjoyment of those attending the show. According to Chuck Horn, DNR conservation warden supervisor, Dodgeville, "the shooting gallery is a laser shot firearms simulator; an electronic training aid that incorporates live video of big game animals, and turkeys.’’ It uses a large video screen wired to a simulated firearm that "shoots’’ a laser signal at the images displayed on the screen.

The laser shooting gallery "is used in hunter education. It projects live action scenes and a student has to make a decision if it’s a safe shot; a shoot or don’t shoot situation. It tries to incorporate the four elements of firearm safety, remembering the acronym TABK. Treat every gun as if it were loaded. Always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction. BE sure of your target and what is beyond it. And, keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot,’’ Horn said.

Another program in the simulator is called shooter’s challenge, a hunting situation more along the lines of video games, "but they are designed to show the student the proper aiming location. They are interactive. There is interaction with the system and the "shooter’’ knows if the shot has been successful.’’ "Both kids and adults will find the shooting gallery really fun,’’ said local Warden Mike Cross.

"The Bucks of Crawford County is a celebration of our deer hunting heritage,’’ said Curt Kramer, president of the Prairie Rod and Gun Club. "It is the club’s only fund raising event, and proceeds are used to support the club’s work in improving and protecting the area’s natural resources and promoting positive outdoor activities.’’

Head mounts and racks will be scored and displayed. Scoring will be done by trained and qualified scorers without charge to paid registrants. Entrants with suitable scores may qualify for the Boone and Crocket, Pope and Young, or Wisconsin Buck and Bear Club record books. Sheds are also welcome and will be scored and displayed but do not qualify for the participants’ door prize. Vendor’s booths are available. Vendors can call 608-326-2718 with inquiries or for space reservation. For lodging and tourist information call 1-800-732-1673. Other raffles will be held throughout the day for guns and more.

The Prairie Rod and Gun Club’s service projects include: trout habitat improvement and stream bank restoration, hunter safety education classes, a kids’ casting contest, raising pheasants and quail for release, waterfowl habitat improvements in Kickapoo Wildlife Area as well as building and placing wood duck houses and goose nesting structures, improvements to boat landings, Mill Coulee gun range, plot master, and other outdoor and community services.

Sponsors include Stark’s Sports Shop, Wal-Mart, Cabela’s, Bridgeport Inn, Design Homes, Whitetail Fanatic Magazine and Country Inn & Suites.

Bighead carp caught near Ferryville

A bighead carp was caught last week in Pool 9 near Ferryville, reconfirming that Asian Carp are in Pools 9 and 10 of the Mississippi River.

The invasive Asian Carp, including grass carp, silver carp and bighead carp, have come upstream from the lower reaches of the river in recent years. Two grass carp, a silver carp and a bighead carp were caught by a commercial fisherman near La Crosse on Dec. 3. The silver carp was the first confirmed above Clinton, Iowa and the first identified in Wisconsin waters.

The bighead carp caught last week in Pool 9 was caught in the seining nets of the Boardman family, who are longtime area commercial fishermen. The carp was 34 inches long and weighed 20-plus pounds, said DNR Fisheries Biologist Patrick Short of Prairie du Chien.

Short said that it is not yet known if Asian carp can reproduce in the Upper Mississippi. They have been extremely successful in other areas, however, including the Illinois River, where Asian carp have become the dominant species in just 10 years. They also account for more than 90 percent of the fish in parts of the Lower Mississippi River, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Short said that if anyone should catch what they believe to be an Asian Carp, they should contact the DNR or the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

Short said that bighead, silver and grass carp eat vegetation, can breed prolifically and have no known predators because they grow large too quickly. They can wipe out large amounts of vegetation, and therefore adversely affect bait fish such as gizzard shad, which also feed on plankton.

When the base of the food chain is reduced dramatically, there is a reduction in the growth of game species such as walleye, bass, northern pike and others. "It cascades up the food web and affects all species of fish," said Short.

Silver carp, also known as head-butting carp, can also be a hazard to boaters. They become excited by the sound and vibrations of boat motors and can leap high out of the water and crash into boats and people. Silver carp can weigh up to 60 pounds.

Paint needs to be cleaned up, says Fish and Wildlife Service

The recently peeled paint that litters the Mississippi River below the Highway 18 Bridge needs to be cleaned up, according to officials from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

"We’re very interested in having it cleaned up," said Tim Yager, district manager of the FWS McGregor District.

Yager said that the FWS has samples of paint chips from under the bridge and that the Ecological Service Branch of the FWS has been contacted. The Ecological Service Branch are contamination specialists and will conduct tests on the samples to help determine if the paint chips are a contaminant.

Yager also said that the FWS has contacted the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to let that agency know that the paint is peeling and also to ask the DOT what products were used in the paint.

"We need to know if these products are environmental hazards," said Yager, who noted that some latex-based paints become inert and don’t pose as much of a risk as other kinds of paint. He said that the FWS hasn’t heard yet what kind of paint was applied this past fall.

"The DOT needed to know that this paint is going on a national wildlife refuge," said Yager. "It could be a source of contamination and the situation needs to be addressed."

Yager said that the FWS has contacted volunteer groups such as the Friends of Pool 10 and the Friends of Pool 9 in order to facilitate the clean-up of the paint chips, which litter the river from one end of the bridge in Prairie du Chien to the other end in Marquette.

"It is certainly a visual contaminant," said Yager, who noted that the FWS would like the chips cleaned up before the ice melts and they sink down into the river.

In recent weeks, thousands of blue paint chips have been noticed by ice fishermen, hovercraft operators and dog walkers. Some of the chips were given to Prairie du Chien Mayor Karl Steiner, who also contacted the DOT.

The DOT is looking into the matter and it has not yet determined if the whole bridge will need to be repainted or if spot repairs can be made. The painting project was completed in October of 2008 at a cost of $3.4 million.

All the paint is falling down, falling down, falling down, all the paint is falling down, in the Mississippi. That parody on the "London Bridge" nursery rhyme might be a slight exaggeration, but there is no doubt that something is wrong with the new paint job on the Highway 18 bridge across the Mississippi, and paint is peeling off and falling into the river.

Bill Schirm, with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT), supervised the repair and painting of the bridge, a project which began in fall of 2007 and ended in October of 2008.

The original project was to be basic maintenance—an inspection and surface coat of paint on the 34-year old structure Following the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, DOT engineers decided to add additional safety measures. Contractors installed steel brackets to strengthen weld joints and added steel beams underneath the bridge deck. It is the paint job, however, that is the problem, and large chunks of paint have fallen onto the ice below the bridge.

Speaking from his La Crosse office, Schirm said he was contacted by Fish and Wildlife authorities about the problem two weeks ago. He said he inspected both bridges Jan. 30 and confirmed there was a paint problem.

The DOT contacted the contractors, who in turn contacted their sub-contractors and the paint supplier, Sherwin Williams. That company is collecting samples and testing them in an attempt to figure out what happened.

Once they have the results of the lab tests, Schirm said, they will have a better idea of how to proceed. He said the DOT has "impeccable" records of the project, so they should be able to identify the problem and then decide how to resolve it. At this point, no one knows if the whole bridge will have to be repainted, or if spot repairs can be made.

The original project, he said, cost about $3.4 million. If the bridge has to be repainted, he said, it appears at this time that either the contractors or the paint supplier will have to foot the bill. Contractors were United Painting and C and L, both Wisconsin companies.

The DOT hopes to have an answer soon.

Clifford Stram of Prairie du Chien had been out walking his dog in the area of the bridge when he noticed numerous paint chips of varying sizes scattered along the railroad tracks and on the ice below the bridge. Stram said that every time he walked his dog there, he noticed more chips, so he decided to gather up a bagful and take them to City Hall. He also notified the DNR.

"They’ve done such a good job of it. I wonder if they could paint my house," said Stram sarcastically. "Somebody should be held responsible for that. I wonder what the welding job is like."

Mayor Steiner said, "It’s going to be more of a hassle," in noting that the bridge will need to be repainted sometime in the near future.

"It’s going to hold us up again," he said, regarding traffic flow across the bridge. "People don’t like to be held up when they are trying to get someplace. It’s also going to affect business."

Steiner questioned the DOT’s methods regarding the application of the paint. He said that he strongly suspects that the paint was not applied properly.

"It’s a shame the state didn’t go by their own specs and allowed the epoxy paint to be applied in too cold of weather," he said. "That paint should have been good for another 30 years yet."

Much of the painting was done in October and Steiner said that there were many days that were 40 degrees or lower. He said that epoxy paint needs to be applied at temperatures higher than that to ensure that the paint will adhere properly.

The City of Prairie du Chien was honored at the 2009 Governor’s Conference on Economic Development Feb. 5 for its efforts in economic development.

The award was made by the Wisconsin Economic Development Association during the conference at the Monona Terrace Convention Center. This award is made every two years for an outstanding contribution to the field of economic development by an organization.

The nomination cited the local organizations which contribute to the city’s economic development program, including the Prairie du Chien Common Council, the Industrial Development Corporation, the Chamber of Commerce, the Redevelopment Authority and Downtown Revitalization, Inc.

The award lists as the two major components to the city’s program a focus on industrial development and job creation, and on downtown revitalization.

The city adopted a Smart Growth Comprehensive Plan and Downtown Master Plan in 2002, and since then, according to the information presented, the city has tied everything back to those plans. The explanation reads: "The Comprehensive Plan resulted in the Downtown Master Plan, which resulted in the Main Street program designation, which resulted in a $1.5 million comprehensive CDBG grant, which resulted in multiple brownfield grants and downtown streetscape efforts."

The literature also mentions the launching of a new industrial development program in 1987 through the efforts of the Industrial Development Corporation and the City.

It also notes that the city has been faced with financial challenges: "In response to a lack of funds, the City could have quit investing in its future. Instead, the City reaffirmed its commitment to economic development and continued to implement their Comprehensive Plan through innovative funding strategies."

City Administrator Jim Gitz said he felt a major factor in the city’s winning the award was that it has been resourceful in finding ways to do complex projects in a difficult economy. "Most of Wisconsin is strapped for resources, especially small towns," said Gitz, "but this city council and both Mayor Mader and Mayor Steiner have a vision of the future and are determined to find a way to get there." He added that in a way it was a modern version of The Little Engine That Could.

The city staff, he said, also deserves credit. "This award owes a great deal to the hard work and determination of Garth Frable." Frable took optimum advantage of available grants, Gitz said, even obtaining one which no other city had ever received.

"The city’s ability to secure goals and put them into action stands us in good stead with both the state and federal government," said Gitz, "because they know that when they give us resources, we will do exactly what we said we would do and we’ll do it on time."

One of the major competitors for the award this year was THRIVE, the economic development organization for Madison. That organization, said Frable, has 11 full time employees who work on economic development. Prairie du Chien has no full time employees working on it.

The award, said Frable, "is recognition of how a relatively small community with a relatively small staff has been able to form partnerships with the Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Commission plus establishing a relationship with state organizations." The state organizations, he said, have been very patient and helpful in working with the city. The City Council, he added, "neither wastes time with daydreaming nor gets lost in chaotic action.

Kurt Muchow of Vierbicher Associates, which does the city’s consulting work, made the nomination. Muchow said he has worked with the city since 1986 or 1987. "They [the group selecting the award recipient] are looking at organizations which have really accomplished something," he said, "and Prairie du Chien has accomplished a lot."