Threaded Mode | Linear Mode

tewest · 09-07-2003, 04:35 PM,

Lake Wazee Trash or Treasure:

The following is a post I submitted to mnscuba.com in response to the discussion on the trees and the STUFF in Lake Wazee.

Topic # 1 the trees in Lake Wazee. That is a no brainier. We need to do what we can to preserve them for as long as we can. So instead of just shouting an opinion please take the time to offer some suggestions that we can take to the park department.
Below are a few of mine.

How do we do that?
   #1 We need to form a group of people that are concerned about the lake and the facilities it offers to us the divers that use it. I have started the process of forming a dive club. I am in the process of obtaining a non-profit LLC for âFriends of Lake Wazee Scuba Clubâ. Hopefully there will be enough interest to develop some influence with the County Board. The park department is on our side. My past experience along these lines tells me that there is a lot of talk, but when it comes to dollars and time, those that say the most do little to support what they have preached.
   #2 We all need to talk to or somehow notify people using the lake, before they get in the water. After you witness someone trashing the trees, a considerable amount of damage has been done that never will be replaced no mater how you react to the situation after the dive.
   #3 We need to get every instructor that brings open water students to the lake, to make the trees and there protection a part of every dive briefing they do for there new divers. We also have to extend these same concerns to all of our students every time we do a continuing education course. And from what I have personally witnessed it would not be a bad idea to do the same in the dive briefings for the supposedly more advanced diver doing there training dives for decompression and mixed gas.
   #4 We need to get a handout printed to be handed to divers when they register, the attendant can ask if there is anyone that has not dove at the lake and offer the hand out to them. This is something I think would work well and is relatively inexpensive.
   #5 We need the county to post some signs at the main dive sites, as well as the entrance. I will be calling the man in charge of the county parks tomorrow, to find out if this is possible, and to what extent they may need the users(thatâs us) to participate.
   #6 Caution
We need to exercise caution when we approach anyone from Jackson Counties County board. I have been at the county board meetings for other changes concerning the park such as fees and event use, and a few of them are just looking for a reason to stop diving, as well as other water sports right down to swimming. They feel any use other than fishing will degrade the lake. So before anyone goes too far on any one topic please consider the consequences.

Topic # 2
The stuff in the lake.
This one is a little tougher than the first as to gaining a consensus, but I would wager it is pretty clear cut as a legal issue. In the state of Wisconsin (as I have been led to believe) it is illegal to put any foreign mater in any public body of water. Hat means that any one doing so is breaking a state littering law. Why would a statue be any different than a beer can or a soda bottle?
I personally like to have some places to take students that they can identify and plan around. I am also a big fan of the natural beauty of things. That is why most people dive. Remember one mans trash is another mans gold.
I do not have any solutions on this one other than a total ban sanctioned and enforced by the county or allowing certain items as allowed by the powers to be.
To everyone:
Good diving.

09-08-2003, 05:55 AM,

re: topic 1, the trees

I'm all for helping to preserve the trees. Do I think you are going to have much luck on it though? Probably not....

I know that when I dive Wazee I usually (usually!) try and avoid going directly through the trees or if I have to go through them I try and be very, very gentle. On the other hand, I've watched other divers out of my group pile through 'em like a bulldozer. Me, I've got the opinion that everytime I'm out enjoying nature I should leave it as I found it - doesn't matter if I'm camping, hiking or diving.

re: the "other" stuff...

I can see both points of view on this topic. Yeah, the person that here and there dives to see pristine nature doesn't want to see it ruined by a statue or "artificial seaweed"...

Then again, take that same person and have them make around 50 dives a year in that lake. No matter how beautiful and pristine it is, they are going to want something to look at. It's fun playing with the seaweed. It's fun looking at the gazing ball. I like the little flamingos. Because nowawdays I can identify every rock and tree in that place and tell you what's changed on it since the last time I was there ;D

Anyway...my initial thoughts on the topic!

dfreeman · 09-08-2003, 05:11 PM,

Tim,

Looks like a rip-roaring discussion. This is one where everyone has an opinion. Awareness of the trees is a good thing, just keeping the tree damage down to accidents would help.

Hope you make the clean-up on the 20th.

Doug

09-15-2003, 07:55 AM,

*sigh*

I was a witness to something yesterday at Wazee that kind of ticked me off.

Granted, ticked me off is not quite my first choice of words but this is a family oriented forum.

I came up from our second dive of the day - Great dives by the way, 70+ minute bottom times - to the sight of two people loading the artificial seaweed into the back of their truck and hauling it away!!!

I couldn't believe it. Everyone that i've talked to has really enjoyed seeing that thing in the lake. I've seen tons of fish in that thing...it was pretty unique and really funny. It was fun to play with....and it makes me pretty bummed to see it having been taken out.

Ya know...if someone wants natural underwater scenery...get out of Wazee. It's a man made lake for crying out loud. If you go to any of the other popular large quarries, you'll find a LOT larger objects than just some artificial seaweed and a few statues. If you really want to bring things back to their natural state then lets get some dump trucks and just fill the lake up back to the way it was before they started mining iron. Then it will be nice and natural again.

It's a hopeless battle - the fun things that are hidden in the lake will probably be always taken out by those that find they ruin the "natural" lake. I've always enjoyed finding these things - it's kind of like a treasure hunt....someone tells you about a gargoyle sitting on a ledge and you spend a dive or two looking for it until you finally find him sitting, watching over...it's neat, I enjoy going back and visiting these spots.

If you look at another thread on this board there are a bunch of people joining in the discussion of the cool things to be found and how they want to know where they are.

Some say that we should leave certain items in, such as the gazing ball and the statues (my personal favorites). But...that becomes a hypocritical argument. They are essentially saying "I don't want your trash in the lake, but the stuff I like looking at can stay". Sorry people it's all or nothing. Once you decree that the trash has to go, it ALL has to go - no matter if you think it scenic or not. Either that or you have to look at other things that you may not enjoy.

And then you can get into the arguments of intentional sinking of shipwrecks.....

So there, my true opinion on this subject comes out. Leave the stuff there...we can't be conceited enough to say "lets leave the ball and statue and take the rest out - we only want OUR trash!!". We like looking at the ball...so why shouldn't the new students at 30 feet be able to enjoy something?

And Tim - keep me (us) informed of the Friends of Wazee. While lacking in lots of spare cash I do have the time to help Smile

tewest · 09-22-2003, 05:41 AM,

Wazee clean up day was just that. After Saturday there are none of the attractions of the deep left in place all of them are gone including the gazing ball and accompanying statues. The only things left were the heavy urns at the fish cribs. I will miss them. It looks like the naturalist have prevailed on this one.

09-22-2003, 05:59 AM,

That sucks.

At least I got to see the gazing ball and statues on Saturday.

Heres to hoping whoever took them overexerted themselves and got bent > Sad

I wonder if Jimmy Hoffa and the flags are still in the lake?

This really bothers me Sad

I'm going to miss those things.

***jasondbaker*** · 09-22-2003, 08:06 AM,

Let's remove the platforms and lines while we are at it. The lake should be restored back to what the mining company, er, I mean God meant it to look like.

freediverND · 09-22-2003, 11:06 AM,

Hey, if anyone knows who's got all the stuff from Wazee, there are more than a few lakes up in my area that need some features added to enhance the diving... looking at muck and sand are getting pretty old up here...(I usually drop an anchor or weight belt to look at... along with the line that's attached, but I always bring it back up)
I'd gladly take all the knick-knacks off of their hands... and I don't want to have to be buying it off of e-bay either.
Now I'm really sorry I didn't get to Wazee earlier.
Fred

***jasondbaker*** · 09-22-2003, 05:24 PM,

I can see the headlines now: "North Dakota Man Arrested For Polluting Area Lakes -- EPA Special Investigation".

airdownthere · (This post was last modified: 09-26-2003, 01:10 PM by airdownthere.)

If you choose to enter in to ecological discussions here is a quandry...The same people dedicated to "preservation," "protection" etc... by removing several of the "attractions or trash" whichever you prefer to call it have now destroyed the "natural" habitat of the inhabitants who have adapted to and welcomed the structure and the protection that the items had offered from other predators and weather. Someone has left a whole lot of fish homeless and vulnerable until they develop a new routine. With the same mentality we should now organize to have ALL artificial reefs and any other "foreign materials" regardless of its benefit to either wildlife or divers removed and disposed of in an appropriate manner. Don't get me wrong I am in supporrt of removing cans, bottles, and other forms of trash but here in lies the BIG question, at what point does it quit being trash and become part of the natural landscape or habitat? Keep in mind that fish cribs and dive platforms are also foreign material.