GOVERNOR ATTENDS DNR BOAT DEDICATION AT UWM’S WATER INSTITUTE
By Casey Twanow
MILWAUKEE – As part of Earth Week, on Wednesday afternoon Governor Jim Doyle attended the naming and dedication of a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) research vessel. The ceremony at UWM’s
Great Lakes WATER Institute renamed the vessel Gaylord Nelson, honoring the former Wisconsin governor, state and U.S. senator, and founder of Earth Day. Nelson passed away last summer at the age of 89.
Earth day, credited
as bringing environmental issues into mainstream
U.S. politics, will mark its 36th anniversary this
Saturday. Doyle reminded the crowd that Nelson,
whose picture hangs over his own desk, “gave
us more than a date; he gave us a great vision
and he left us a great legacy.”
Photo: Tom Hansen |
Tia
Nelson, Gaylord Nelson’s daughter, also attended and spoke at the ceremony. Ms. Nelson, who is Executive Secretary of the state’s Board of Commissioners of Public Lands (BCPL), shared anecdotes and inspiring quotes from her father. She said though her father was “always quick to make a joke, he would be very seriously proud that this boat is dedicated in his honor.” She
wished the R/V Gaylord Nelson “safe
travels and good work.”
The crowd’s
attention turned to the Kinnickinnic River where
the 45-foot R/V Gaylord Nelson floated.
The DNR crew on board unveiled the vessel’s newly painted name, and several other boats, including the WATER Institute’s R/V Neeskay sounded a foghorn salute.
Photo: Tom Hansen |
Governor
Doyle concluded the ceremony by signing into law
Assembly Bill 1012. The legislation allows the
transfer of up to $2 million of public lands into
DNR stewardship each year. This will help the BCPL
and DNR acquire land in Wisconsin’s north
woods to protect large tracts of wildlife habitat,
improve logging management, and maintain public
access for hunting and fishing.
Photo: Tom Hansen |
After
the governor’s departure the R/V Gaylord Nelson motored out for an inaugural cruise, leaving ceremony attendees to enjoy salmon chowder prepared by WATER Institute researcher Don Szmania.
The Gaylord Nelson, formerly the R/V PERCA (from the scientific name of yellow perch) was a lobster boat in the Canadian Maritimes until the DNR purchased it in 1999. State fisheries scientists use the vessel to help them monitor and manage the health of Lake Michigan fisheries. From May through September they survey fish populations near Milwaukee and Green Bay with trawls and gillnets. They also sample lake water for the nuisance algae Cladophora.
Brad Eggold,
supervisor of the DNR’s Southern Lake Michigan
Fisheries Work Unit, which is housed at the WATER
Institute, said the vessel was renamed Gaylord Nelson as
a tribute because its mission fits well with Nelson’s
goals and legacy.
The
moral of this legacy was summarized in a quote
Tia Nelson shared from one of her father’s speeches: “We
have finally come to understand that the wealth
of a nation is its air, soil, forests, rivers,
lakes, oceans; its scenic beauty, its wildlife,
and its biodiversity. Take this all away and you
have a wasteland.”
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