IWLA-PCC NEWSLETTER
PCC Founded 1958 * JUNE 2019 *60 years of conservation
“From the Dunes in the north, to the Kankakee River in the south”
Izaak Walton League of America - Porter County Chapter
Meetings held every 3rd Saturday, 1-3pm in the
Thomas Library in 2nd floor meeting room
200 W. Indiana Avenue, Chesterton, IN 46304
Next meeting June 8, 2019
NOTE CHANGE FROM 3rd SATURDAY
Email: executivedirectoriwlapcc@gmail.com
Website: NWIconservation.org
Location: 200 West Indiana Avenue, Chesterton, IN, United States
Phone: 219-241-7431
Facebook: facebook.com/PCCIWLA
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President - Gary Brown grbrown57@hotmail.com, 219-464-8882
Vice President - Jim Sweeney jp55biod@att.net, 219-322- 7239
Treasurer/Membership - Liz McCloskey tmconservation@csinet.net, 219-326-0700 Secretary - Susan Swarner susan.swarner@gmail.com, 219-201-5498
Chapter Directors: Don Frame df.nature@outlook.com, 219-331-6136,
Bill Iltzsche biltzsche@hotmail.com 219-464-9850 and
Herb & Charlotte Read candhread@comcast.net, 847-302-8069
IMPORTANT PCC UPCOMING EVENTS
6/1 & 2 IWLA Indiana Division Convention
9a-3p Cass County Chapter
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6/8 June PCC Monthly Meeting *note change from 3rd Sat.
1-3p Thomas Library 2nd floor meeting room
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6/15 Gnomes Day Out
4-7p Frame Family Conservation Area
Set-up starting at 11am
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6/22 Naturepalooza
10-3p Rogers Lakewood Park Big Wheel Pav
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7/13 July PCC Monthly Meeting *note change from 3rd Sat.
1-3p Thomas Library 2nd floor meeting room
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7/16-19 IWLA National Convension
Des Moines, IA
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7/20-27 PCC's Conservation Corner
Noon-5 TSC Family Barnyard Tent at Porter County Fair
To volunteer to help with anything that suits you; contact Annette Hansen executivedirectoriwlapcc@gmail.com 219-241-7431
SUMMER volunteer JOBS
PREP Gnomes Day Out - Help by mowing, weed wacking or spreading straw to prepare the area in front of the barn at Frame Conservation Area. Early June weekends
FROLICKING Gnomes Day Out - Help do a craft, serve a treat, give directions, or play a game with children on June 15, 4-7pm (please dress with a whimsical spirit)
PRESENTING - Tabling during the Porter County Fair in the Tractor Supply Co "Family Barn Tent" 8 days during the fair at selected afternoon-evening hours July 20-27
PLANNING - Working with Annette to plan for a fall Family Hunting Program. Early August.
EDUCATING - Work with Annette to plan curriculum for the
"E-STEM in the Field" (Water Quality theme) Your expertise is appreciated! June, July, August
STEWARDSHIP - Work around the 5 properties keeping up with invasives, plant trees and natives, etc. All summer long.
Be sure to let Annette Hansen know if you are interested in helping with any of these summer events; 219-241-7431 or executivedirectoriwlapcc@gmail.com
Valpo Chain of Lakes Wins Award
A State Award has honored The Valparaiso Chain of Lakes Watershed Group. At a local recognition, a presentation was made at their Porter County lecture series event on May 20th. Featured speaker IUN chemist Ian Taschner, explains dangers, and good of herbicides
Ian Taschner, a synthetic organic chemist who teaches at Indiana University Northwest, talks about the overuse of pesticides Monday in a program sponsored by the Valpo Chain of Lakes Watershed Group. (Amy Lavalley / Post-Tribune)
In his job as a synthetic organic chemist, Ian Taschner said he’s made “a lot of naughty chemicals” that hopefully help people eventually. But Taschner, an associate professor at Indiana University Northwest in Gary, also comes from a family of farmers and hates the overuse of pesticides, so much so that he titled his Monday talk to the Valparaiso Chain of Lakes Watershed Group, “Pesticides and our Watershed: The Act of Killing.”
“That is essentially what we’re doing,” he told members of the watershed group in the commissioners chambers of the Porter County Administration Building.
Though he focused much of his presentation on the herbicide glyphosate, more commonly known as Roundup, he noted others as well, including the insecticide carbaryl.
On Dec. 3, 1984, poisonous gas leaked from a factory in Bhopal, India, making carbaryl.
“This is one of the worst industrial disasters in our lifetime,” Taschner said.
According to a 2014 article in The Atlantic, government estimates put the death toll at as many as 15,000 over the years. He also noted triclopyr, an herbicide and fungicide that’s particularly toxic to birds and lowers testosterone in men, and insecticides made with neonictinoid, which causes colony collapse disorder for bees and also harms bird populations. “We live and breathe chemicals. Not all of them are good,” he said.
Because of its longstanding and widespread use, though, Taschner spent much of his presentation discussing glyphosate, though he noted he doesn’t have a problem with limited use of pesticides. Because of the herbicide’s toxicity to broadleaf plants, he said, farmers have turned to genetically modified crops that can withstand the chemical. Taschner said he’s not opposed to genetically modified crops but they need more scientific study.
The herbicide does have its benefits, he said, including reducing costs for large-scale farming and allowing for greater selection of produce at the store.
While glyphosate decomposes quickly on its own, Taschner said, it could persist in the soil. Small quantities of the herbicide can cause rashes, difficulty swallowing, vomiting and diarrhea. Winds also can cause the herbicide to drift, impacting people and other crops nearby, Taschner said, adding it also can harm the good bacteria in people’s bodies that are crucial for making essential amino acids. People excrete 95.3% of the glyphosate they ingest, he added. “Where is the rest of it? Stored in your body somewhere, probably doing something it shouldn’t be,” he said.
There are solutions to the overuse of pesticides, Taschner said. Those include growing hemp, a plant similar to marijuana without the active ingredient that gives people a high, which draws heavy metals and toxins from the soil. The plants can be incinerated with sewage sludge to produce fertilizer. Other options include crop rotation and the use of “good” bugs to fight bad ones, he said. “Do we want to ban pesticides? I don’t know right now but we don’t want to use a ton of them,” Taschner said, adding that farmers and scientists can work together to come up with solutions.
Additionally, Christian Anderson, treasurer of the Indiana Lake Management Society, said the Valpo Chain of Lakes Watershed Group had received the society’s group of the year award, presented to an organization doing the best work in the state for the preservation and betterment of lakes and watersheds. “Most of the time they are unsung heroes,” said Anderson, who also sits on the board for the watershed group. “I hate to think how bad our lakes and watersheds would be without their help.” Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Indiana Lake Management Society: https://www.indianalakes.org/
IWLA Convention Details
- State Convention--Saturday and Sunday, June 1 & 2, 2019, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, Cass County Chapter, SR 17 North in Logansport Indiana, If you have any questions, contact: Ken Gifford, President, (574) 722-4595 or Beth Holton, Secretary, (574) 722-1267 .
- National Convention--July 16-19, 2019, Des Moines, IA.
- State Division Quarterly Meeting--Saturday, September 2, 2019, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, Miller Chapter