UPWard Update

September 25, 2013

Mission: A collaborative effort of the private and public leaders of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and adjoining Wisconsin counties to align and promote the region's resources, expertise, and creativity in order to sustain and grow the region's economy.

Please take a moment to review these updates from the UPWard Initiative.

Thanks to the many UPWard members along with others that have provided content for these updates. If you have information you would like to share with the group, please email it to me. Holly Peoples

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Natural Resources

Crisp Point natural beauty now protected, open to public

Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

Lake Superior shoreline and sand dunes viewed from the Crisp Point Lighthouse. The existing Crisp Point Lighthouse was built in 1903-04, according to the nonprofit Crisp Point Light Historical Society that maintains it. The Coast Guard decommissioned the lighthouse in 1993.

The $6 million parcel is a "public asset," said Tom Bailey, executive director of the Little Traverse Conservancy, which worked with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and U.S. Forest Service to bring the Crisp Point Project to fruition.

Crisp Point includes steep bluffs, sand dunes and streams, as well as 2.5 miles of snowmobile trails, according to DNR. Public recreational uses include hunting, kayaking, fishing and wildlife viewing. Existing two-tracks will remain open, and DNR has no plans to build any structures or campgrounds there.

It is 14 miles west of Whitefish Point and 17 miles from where the steamer Edmund Fitzgerald - the most famous Great Lakes shipwreck - sank in a legendary November 1975 storm.

"It's an absolutely gorgeous place to be," said Kerry Wieber, the Roscommon-based DNR forest land administrator in charge of the project.

It's home to a number of endangered or threatened plant and animal species including bald eagle, piping plover, spruce grouse, calypso orchid, common loon, Houghton's goldenrod and Lake Huron tansy, Wieber said. There's also potential habitat there for the endangered Kirtland's warbler and the threatened Canada lynx. continue reading->

Natural Resources

A cutting edge event: 68th Logging Congress is a 'success'

The Daily Press

ESCANABA - Organizers of the Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association's 68th Annual Lake States Logging Congress and Equipment Expo in Escanaba are calling the event a success.

Logging Congress was held Friday and Saturday at the Upper Peninsula State Fairgrounds and Ruth Butler Building.

The annual Logging Congress allows professionals from the forest products industry to speak with various industry exhibitors and vendors and see firsthand the latest products and equipment available.

The event typically sees 200 vendors at 350 booths spanning approximately 875,000 square feet and averages between 3,000 and 4,000 attendees per day.

According to GLTPA Executive Director Henry Schienebeck, this year's Logging Congress was a success in just its first day.

"We're doing great," he said. "We think the turnout's up a little bit. The weather is cooperating very well, which is a good thing. You know when you start running out of parking spaces that's a good sign."

The big change to this year's Logging Congress was the transition from the former three-day event to a two-day event with extended hours.

"This event is a good time for members to get out and see what's new and communicate with each other and that's an important part of the business - staying on top of what's going on," said Schienebeck.

He also noted the response from exhibitors and visitors regarding the venue and organization of this year's Logging Congress have been positive.

Though an important event to forestry and logging in the Lake States, Logging Congress is also is a major fundraiser for the GLTPA. continue reading->

Health Care

IM VA Medical Center helps coordinate organ transplants

The Daily News

Local veterans discuss life-changing experience

IRON MOUNTAIN - It doesn't take much effort to sign up to be an organ donor, but the benefits a donation can have for an organ recipient are enormous. Not only can organ transplants save recipients' lives, they can give recipients a whole new outlook on life.

A few years ago, Air Force veteran David Coleman of Iron Mountain was in desperate need of a new liver. He had liver failure and was suffering from hepatic encephalopathy, a condition that causes confusion due to toxins accumulating in the body.

"I didn't know who I was or where I was," said Coleman.

Navy veteran Larry Brown of Crystal Falls was in a similar situation. He was in and out of the hospital with chest pain and cardiac issues before he had his first heart attack in 2008.

After being put on a ventilator and a mechanical Heart Mate II, he was told he needed a new heart.

Both men turned to the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center in Iron Mountain for transplant services. Although the center does not have transplant services on site, it coordinates with VA transplant centers across the country.

Coleman waited seven and a half months for his new liver. He received his transplant on Feb. 10, 2010 in Pittsburgh.

"After waking up from the operation and taking three breaths, I knew that everything was different," said Coleman. "It's that immediate."

Brown waited more than two years for his new heart. Unfortunately, it was a period filled with difficulties.

For example, Brown was pulled off of the transplant list twice: once for 60 days when he was placed on a heart pump and once for three months when he had a stroke.

Then, he was scheduled twice for transplants that ended up being canceled. On one occasion, the donor heart turned out to be too big. On another occasion, the donor's family had second thoughts and decided against the donation. continue reading->

Higher Education

New Satellite Maps Track Harmful Algal Blooms in Great Lakes

Michigan Tech News

Satellites orbit our lives in so many ways. They beam our favorite TV shows to our living rooms, predict tomorrow's weather, and tell us how to get where we want to go.

Now scientists from the Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI) are using satellite data to determine where harmful algal blooms (HABs) are proliferating in the Great Lakes and what threats they may pose to water quality and public health.

The project generates HABs maps of the Western Basin of Lake Erie, Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron and Green Bay on Lake Michigan. The maps show the location and extent of HABs in these waters, as well as areas of water quality and public health concern. Anyone can view the maps, which are updated weekly, by visiting www.mtrihabsmapping.org.

HABs develop when nutrients from agricultural runoff encourage the development of high algae levels that can clog water intake pipes, affect the quality of drinking water, potentially harm pets and make humans sick. Climate change is another factor in the proliferation of HABs. Algae thrive in warmer water, and the water temperature in the Great Lakes has risen significantly in recent years and continues to rise.

"These maps give unprecedented access to real-time data to inform stewardship decisions and promote sustainable ecosystem restoration and protection efforts," said Robert Shuchman, co-director of MTRI and a lead scientist on the HABs satellite mapping project. "We are pleased to be working with the EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO), the Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS), and the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) on this important environmental issue." continue reading->

Health Care

DCHS adds new information line

The Daily News

IRON MOUNTAIN - Dickinson Memorial Hospital now has a local and toll free dedicated information line that is separate from the main switchboard.

The purpose of the dedicated line is to answer questions related to available physicians, programs and healthcare services that are available locally.

The new information line was active Sept. 23 and will be answered by staff in the public relations office Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

People with questions calling outside of those hours will be able to leave a message that will be answered the next business day. The new local number is (906) 776-5900 or toll free from outside the local area 1-855-560-DCHS.

"We are encouraging people to stay local for their healthcare so need to make it as easy as possible for them to do that," explained Sue Killian, public relations manager. "Often people have questions about local physicians or services before they can make that decision. We wanted to establish this phone line to provide an avenue through which the public could get the information they need to help them make an informed choice. Also, if called within the specified hours, the public will be talking to a person not a recording. We encourage anyone with a question about local healthcare services to use this new telephone information line."

The new telephone line has been specifically established for general information regarding the local availability of physicians and services. It is not meant to be used as a second switchboard line because it does not have transfer capabilities. It cannot be used to contact a patient who is hospitalized, a specific clinic, physician, staff member, or specific department within Dickinson Memorial Hospital. The main switchboard is there for these functions, and the number remains (906) 774-1313. continue reading->

Natural Resources

Experts debate how to improve Great Lakes program

Wall Street journal

MILWAUKEE - An Obama administration program that has spent about $1.3 billion to rescue Great Lakes ecosystems on the verge of collapse should be fine-tuned to make sure it's getting the job done, scientists and advocates said Tuesday.

The federal government established the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in 2009, responding to warnings from experts that a combination of ailments - invasive species, toxic and nutrient pollution, wildlife habitat destruction - was wearing down the system's ability to ward off catastrophic breakdown that could turn parts of the waterways into aquatic deserts.

After distributing grants to more than 1,700 projects with more in the pipeline, the administration plans to roll out a second five-year phase next year, said Cameron Davis, a senior adviser with the Environmental Protection Agency. The occasion has ignited a debate over how to measure the program's effectiveness and direct future spending.

During the annual Great Lakes Week conference in Milwaukee, academics including Don Scavia of the University of Michigan called for giving higher priority to projects that would help fix systemic problems harming wide sections of the lakes instead of just local areas. Also needed is more scientific monitoring to measure how well they are working, he said.

The program's first phase has focused on a backlog of shovel-ready tasks such as repairing wetlands, removing dams and cleaning toxic hot spots, Scavia said. What's needed now is to target bigger areas such as the algae-plagued western basin of Lake Erie that are suffering from a variety of ailments, he said.

"What are the critical things that we need to do to restore the western basin, and what projects would actually come together to provide the answer? That kind of up-front thinking I haven't seen," Scavia said. "Are the projects adding up to restoring the systems?" continue reading->

Health Care

Aspirus to open new clinic

The Daily Mining Gazette

18,000-square-foot facility will be located near Walmart in Houghton

HOUGHTON - Aspirus is constructing a new multi-service health care clinic in Houghton which will provide patients easier access to a variety of services in one location. The clinic will bring family medicine, pediatrics, oncology, orthopedics, women's health, outpatient therapies, pharmacy, lab services and diagnostic imaging, including mammography, into one facility. Construction will begin later this month and the clinic will open in June 2014.

"We're increasing the number of doctors and specialists under one roof to save patients time and energy going from one clinic to another for various procedures and tests," Aspirus Keweenaw Medical Director Dr. Jerry Luoma said in an Aspirus news release. "We're going to do more for the patient right here than most free-standing clinics around the country currently offer."

The $5.4 million, 18,389-square-foot clinic will be located near Walmart and Country Inn and Suites. In addition to all of the other services supported, the facility will hold 19 exam rooms dedicated to primary and specialty care.

"While our current Medical Arts clinic has served the community for a number of years, it became apparent that we needed to expand our facility with the addition of services and physicians to our Houghton health care team," Aspirus Keweenaw Chief Operating Officer Mike Hauswirth said. "The new construction design gives us the ability to work around the changing needs of the community. We are consolidating our clinic and therapy services, plus adding space to support the most-needed specialty services." continue reading->