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Water Talk At Bayfield Features Rhinelander Area Water Specialist

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A Rhinelander area man is one of the presenters Friday(7-6) at Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua about Wisconsin's waters.

The "Water Talk" includes people doing research on water protection, along with members of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and Wisconsin Green Fire, a group of retired scientists, many from the DNR.

Big Top Chautauqua near Bayfield received a grant to host the program about the state of the environment in Wisconsin. One of the presenters is Bob Martini who worked for years as a water specialist with the DNR and now represents Green Fire:Voices For Conservation. He says they will look at Wisconsin's environmental protections and what state they are in, what can be done and what does the public think about it...

"...I personally believe that environmental protection has been reduced dramatically over the past seven years, more than I've seen in the past 50 years....it's never been this bad before...."

Martini says the public should remember the environmental success of the past, including cleaning up the Wisconsin River. Martini says the river's cleanup didn't have severe economic impacts...

"....For example, the paper industry on the Wisconsin River, we cut back the pollution 93 percent. Not a single paper mill went out of business or moved out of the state. None of them took advantage of the statuatory allowance to prove that they were adversely affected economically to get lower limits. There were no lawsuits. Yet the industry is still the number one paper state in the nation...."

Martini says the industry converted many of the waste that had been dumped into the river into saleable products. He says the environment should not be part of partisan politics, but hopes the public pays attention to the record of legislators regarding the environment.

The facilitator is Terry Daulton of Mercer.

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