SOME DETECTIVE WORK AT THE BEACH: WE DON'T DEMAND OF THE GOVERNMENT WHAT THE GOVERNMENT DEMANDS OF US.

DIEING WHITE CEDAR AND DEFOLIATED PAPER BIRCH...

...DEFOLIATED TAG ALDERS...

...AHA! THESE PHRAGMITES PLANTS HAVE BEEN SPRAYED WITH AN HERBICIDE!

Monday, 7:30 AM.  51 degrees F at the ferry dock, 48 on the back porch.  Wind NW, very gusty.  The sky has a high overcast, with additional black rain clouds.  The humidity is 78% and there has been a trace of rain.  The barometer is rising, now at 29.76".  It feels like November.
   There was a terrible accident involving three or four vehicles just south of Bayfield Friday, on Hwy. 13 and Weber Road.  A number of persons were taken to hospital and one local man died when his vehicle exploded and burned.  The accident is where a three lane road narrows to two lanes, and there is also a very bad sight line to the south.  It is a stretch of road where people drive to fast.
   Yesterday morning I took Buddy to the Sioux River beach, which is on the end of Friendly Valley Road off of Hwy. 13, for a much needed run, and upon leaving noticed a brown, dead looking white cedar and a defoliated paper birch on the north side of the road.  On the south side was a long row of defoliated tag alder.  I was mystified.  The defoliation of the birch and alder could have been from an infestation of gypsy moth larvae, but the brown cedar foliage was either the result of heat (as from a hot truck exhaust) or an herbicide. No idling trucks likely there.  But why an herbicide?
   As I stood looking for evidence of caterpillars, I noticed a faint but very regular  browning of the leaves of a row of reeds, (Phragmites communis), a "nearly cosmopolitan" (quote from Gray's Manual of Botany, Fernald's1950 edition) Eurasian grass common to ditches, pond margins, etc. throughout much of North America.  It is considered an invasive in Wisconsin and elsewhere.  There is a species, australis, that is considered native (in spite of its name).  I would not be able to  tell them apart without considerable study.
   In any case, someone obviously has identified the reed at the beach as invasive and has taken to spraying it, not being too careful what else gets sprayed.  I would like to know what was used, as this  is almost directly on the lake shore.  I would certainly question the use of Roundup right next to the lake.
   I think any action such as this should require signage indicating what was done and why, and what chemicals were used.  After all, when commercial lawn maintenance companies spray herbicides on lawns they are required to put down warning flags along the perimeter to warn of danger to children and pets.
   Buddy was running through the sprayed area.  Was he exposed to toxic chemicals? I think too much spraying, logging, etc. is done by government agencies or well-meaning volunteers without enough public knowledge or input.
   We don't demand of the government what the government demands of us.
   The Forest Service has a rather exhaustive account of both native and non-native Phragmites and their control, including the use of fire,  on its web site.  Access it via Google.