Comfort in Solitude

Carly is finishing up her service learning project with one more article for our Sierra Club community and a set of photos from a spring trip which we'll post next week. We thank Carly and Marcus for their work on highlighting Sierra Club nature and environmental issues for our blog and newsletter this semester!

"Comfort in solitude” : UWL community reminds students to seek time in nature

For some students and professors at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, social distancing means staying in, but others have found it has brought them out to nature instead. 

Nature journal - photo by Carly Rundle-Borchert

Environmental studies professor Alysa Remsburg told The Racquet Press that her time in nature has increased since the start of quarantine and online classes. “My mental health is most challenged by the stress of parenting and teaching a very social only child who wants my attention all the time,” said Remsburg. “Heading into nature is a win-win for both me and my kid. He gets to explore new places and new physical challenges. I gain the restorative effects of taking in nature and the satisfaction of sneaking in lessons about trees, insects, birds, and wildflowers.”

Remsburg and her son have been hiking, biking, geocaching, collecting rocks and pine cones for nature art, and exploring along streams. “We’ve also done lots of walks around the neighborhood when my son asked for lessons about plants in order to avoid his other schoolwork,” she said.

Remsburg recommended nature as a coping mechanism, especially during a time of increased isolation and feelings of depression. “Therapists recommend this,” she said, “using our brains and our senses in different ways is great for mental health.”

Kayleigh Colhouer is a political science major with legal studies minor at UWL. Colhouer said, “When I am overwhelmed with emotion I find peace in nature. Whether it’s biking, fishing, or walking, the outdoors calms me. While our current circumstances are not ideal, this time has given me the opportunity to slow down, breathe, and reflect on life. Nature has allowed me to find comfort in solitude.”

UWL student Sierra Wilcox is a Spanish major and recreation management minor. Wilcox walks, hikes, longboards, slacklines, goes boating, and plays frisbee golf. 

“My time in nature has increased because it is still open unlike everything else. It’s also a nice escape and helps to get me moving,” said Wilcox. “Being outside makes me feel happier and more productive at the end of the day, sunlight helps, movement makes us happy, and fresh air is good for the soul.”

If you are still in La Crosse and want to spend time in nature, some places you can check out are Myrick Park, Grandad Bluffs, the La Crosse River Marsh, or Riverside Park. Remember to still practice social distancing, even in nature, if you are spending time with people you do not live with.

May Newsletter

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and state Safer at Home travel and meeting restrictions, all in-person Sierra Club activites are suspended until further notice. We encourage Sierra Club members to keep themselves, their families, and their communities safe by staying home as much as possible. More details at www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/index.htm

THANK YOU TRANSIT WORKERS!  On April 16, National Get on Board/Sound the Horn Day, members of the Coulee Region Sierra Club joined with transit advocates across the country to express support and appreciation for public transportation programs, staff, and drivers. We appreciate public transit programs in our region including the Municipal Transiut Utility in La Crosse and Onalaska, the Onalaska Holmen West Salem  Shared Ride Taxi, and the Scenic Mississippi Regional Transit (SMRT) program. 

THANKS FOR SUPPORTING US!  April’s John Muir Chapter Sierra Club fundraiser has ended. The Coulee Region Sierra Club raised $804 from 16 donors and will keep $402 to help fund our environmental education grants. Thanks to everyone who participated. Even though the formal fundraiser has ended, you are welcome to help fund this important grant any time! Email us to learn how. crsierraclub@gmail.com 

MAY 9 JOIN THE PLAN TO WIN  You're invited to a special virtual event on Saturday, May 9, at 4 p.m. where we'll launch our 2020 strategy to protect our environment by defeating Donald Trump. In the 2020 election, voters will determine whether we act on climate change before it’s too late. In addition to winning a new president, we will focus on electing environmental champions to state and local offices, protecting our House majority, and winning the Senate. The COVID-19 pandemic has only underscored the urgency of our work to unseat Trump. Sign up at tinyurl.com/scplantowin 

FILM - DARK WATERS - MAY 27  John Muir Chapter will host an online virtual screening of the new film DARK WATERS at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 27. Details are still being finalized. We will post the link to the screening and online discussion at sierraclub.org/wisconsin/coulee and cr-sierra.blogspot.com as soon as it’s available.

DARK WATERS tells the shocking and heroic story of an attorney (Mark Ruffalo) who risks his career and family to uncover a dark secret hidden by one of the world’s largest corporations and to bring justice to a community dangerously exposed for decades to deadly chemicals. See the trailer and read more at the film’s web site - www.focusfeatures.com/dark-waters 

SPECIAL ELECTION ON MAY 12  Help Sierra Club-endorsed  candidate Tricia Zunker win the May 12 special election for the 7th Congressional District! Tricia is a Justice on the Supreme Court of the Ho-Chunk Nation and President of the  Wausau School Board. She would be Wisconsin’s first Native American member of Congress. Sign up to make GOTV calls at tinyurl.com/call4tricia. Read more and donate at triciaforwisconsin.com and read the Sierra Club endorsement at tinyurl.com/jmc-zunker. 

HIGH CAPACITY WELL PERMITS  On Friday, May 1, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul sent a letter to DNR Secretary Preston Cole rescinding  an opinion issued by the former Attorney General that prohibited the DNR from considering the envirionmental impacts of high capacity wells in permitting. Read the letter here: tinyurl.com/050120hcwltr

UPPER MISSISSIPPI CRITICAL  The advocacy group American Rivers has named the Upper Mississippi River as the nation’s “most endangered river of 2020.” The group warns that communities along the upper Mississippi are not prepared to deal with more frequent flooding caused by  climate change. “These risks are greatly exacerbated by two centuries of shortsighted floodplain--and watershed--development decisions that are cutting the river off from hundreds of thousands of acres of its floodplain, dangerously constricting the upper Mississippi, and degrading vital fish and wildlife habitat.” More at endangeredrivers.americanrivers.org/upper-mississippi-river-2020 

NEW CAFO PERMIT REQUESTED  Last December, the Crawford County Board of Super-visors passed a one year moratorium on CAFO permits to give time to study possible threats to the water, health, and safety of county residents posed by Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. On March 27, Roth Feeder Pigs applied for a Water Discharge Elimination Permit from the DNR for a planned new Marietta Township (Crawford County) facility for 7,000 hogs. The facility plans to store nearly 7 million gallons of manure.

Meanwhile, coronavirus outbreaks at meat processing facilities have disrupted hog operations and may mean animals will be euthanized. President Trump is now requiring meat processing facilities to remain open even as the number of coronavirus cases among workers continues to rise.

BOOK CLUB REMINDER  Our Coulee Region Sierra Club book club continues ONLINE with Dahr Jamail’s award-winning book, The End of Ice. We’ll continue with this book through May and accept your suggestions for our next book.. Join us at tinyurl.com/crscbookclub 

SWIGG STUDY UPDATE  MADISON — The Southwest Wisconsin Groundwater and Geology Study of Grant, Iowa, and Lafayette Counties is halfway through its second phase to identify fecal sources of contamination in private wells. The study began in late 2018 with the goal of assessing the quality of drinking water sources from private wells in southwest Wisconsin and determining the probable sources of any contamination found.

The latest phase of the study found fecal contamination in 27 of the 34 private wells sampled. In November 2019, these 34 wells were selected at random after earlier sampling in this study found them to be contaminated with coliform bacteria or with levels of nitrate above the drinking water standard.

The three County Conservation Departments are thankful for the continued participation of the area residents in the study.   “Without their permission to access their wells, we wouldn’t be able to continue collecting valuable data for the SWIGG Study.”, said Grant County Conservation, Sanitation, and Zoning Administrator Lynda Schweikert.

The SWIGG scientists analyzed the samples for specific viruses and bacteria that indicate fecal contamination from human wastewater or livestock manure. Not all of these viruses and bacteria are capable of causing illness.

They found evidence of both human and livestock sources for the contamination, including manure from cattle and swine. In 16 of the 34 sampled wells the scientists found pathogens associated with gastrointestinal illness in humans. However, researchers have not calculated the health risk for these results, which vary based on the specific pathogen, its concentration, and the health of the person that drinks the water.

The SWIGG study has been designed to sample water in all four seasons of the year since contaminant abundance can vary seasonally. The percentage of wells that test positive is also expected to differ as weather and land use change over time. Read more at fyi.extension.wisc.edu/news/2020/04/15/swigg-study-update/.



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