Volume 20, Issue 3, 1995 November/December 1995

The International Joint Commission welcomes new members it has appointed to its boards and extends gratitude to those who have completed their service. Charles J. Power, Environment Canada, was recently appointed as the Canadian member of the International St. Croix River Board of Control. Power succeeds Paul Belliveau. Peter L. Wise, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, was appointed to the Great Lakes Water Quality Board. Wise succeeds Mary A. Gade. The Commission also appointed Colonel James Van Epps, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as chair of the U.S. Sections of the International St. Lawrence River, Niagara and Lake Superior Boards of Control. Colonel Van Epps succeeds Colonel Richard W. Craig in these capacities. Colonel John M. Wonsik, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was appointed chair of the U.S. Sections of the International Lake of the Woods and International Rainy Lake Boards of Control, and as member of the International Souris River Board of Control and International Souris-Red Engineering Board. Colonel Wonsik succeeds Colonel James T. Scott in these positions. Jo Lynn Traub, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has been appointed to chair the U.S. Section of the International Rainy River Water Pollution Board. Traub succeeds Dale Bryson. Gaylen Reetz, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, was appointed as a member of the International Rainy River Water and Red River Pollution Boards. Reetz succeeds Duane Anderson in these capacities. Richard Kellow, Environment Canada, was appointed chair of the Canadian Section, Souris-Red Rivers Engineering Board. Kellow succeeds Robert Halliday. James E. Kircher, U.S. Geological Survey, has been appointed as a member of the International Souris-Red Rivers Engineering Board. Kircher succeeds Dr. Verne R. Schneider.

La Commission mixte internationale accueille les nouveaux membres qu'elle a nommés à ses Conseils et témoigne toute sa gratitude aux membres sortants. Charles J. Power, d'Environnement Canada, a récemment été nommé à titre de membre canadien du Conseil international de contrôle de la rivière Sainte-Croix. Il succède à Paul Belliveau. Peter L. Wise, de l'Illinois Environmental protection Agency, a été nommé au Conseil de la qualité de l'eau des Grands Lacs. Il succède à Mary A. Gade. La Commission a aussi nommé le colonel James Van Epps, du U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, président des sections américaines des Conseils internationaux de contrôle du fleuve Saint-Laurent, de la rivière Niagara et du lac Supérieur. Il succède au colonel Richard W. Craig. Le colonel John M. Wonsik, du U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a été nommé président des sections américaines du Conseil international de contrôle du lac des Bois et du lac à la Pluie, et membre du Conseil international de contrôle de la rivière Souris et du Conseil technique international des rivières Souris et Rouge. Il succède au colonel James T. Scott. Jo Lynn Traub, de la U.S. Environmental protection Agency, a été nommée présidente de la section américaine du Conseil international de lutte contre la pollution de la rivière à la Pluie. Elle succède à Dale Bryson. Gaylen Reetz, de la Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, a été nommée membre du Conseil international de lutte contre la pollution de la rivière à la Pluie et du Conseil international de lutte contre la pollution de la rivière Rouge. Elle succède à Duane Anderson. Richard Kellow, d'Environnement Canada, a été nommé présidente de la section canadienne du Conseil technique international des rivières Souris et Rouge. Il succède à Robert Halliday. James E. Kircher, du U.S. Geological Survey, a été nommé membre du Conseil technique international des rivières Souris et Rouge. Il succède à Verne R. Schneider.

Two Lake Superior parks recently initiated activities to increase international cooperation among protected areas around Lake Superior. Pukaskwa National Park, Ontario and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan shared interpretive staff for several presentations in "park twinning" activities. Twinning includes trading travelling exhibits, literature and videos. These initial efforts will hopefully lead to a more formal agreement to continue and strengthen park twinning. For information on twinning, contact Gregg Bruff, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Munising, MI 49862-0040. (906)387-2607.

The Heritage Resources Centre at the University of Waterloo, in conjunction with Parks Canada, is developing a Lake Erie Parks and Protected Areas Forum. Over 80 parks and protected areas in the Lake Erie watershed are managed by a wide range of governmental and private agencies. A report, based on a 1994 workshop, proposes a strategy for Lake Erie parks and protected areas in the United States and Canada and more activities are planned. Goals for the forum include a communication network, a visitor's guide and a monitoring program for Lake Erie parks and protected areas. For more information contact Patrick L. Lawrence, Heritage Resources Centre, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1. Email PLLawren@WATSERV1.UWaterloo.Ca ; telephone (519)885-1211 ext 2072; fax (519)746-7031.

For the first time, Statistics Canada has recorded a far higher number of deaths among Canadians that it expected, including the first rise in 31 years in the infant mortality rate. The jump in deaths between 1992 and 1993, from 196,535 to 204,912, is the greatest increase from one year to the next since the Second World War.

Statistics Canada analyst Kathryn Wilkins said that some of the unexpected deaths among women were the result of smoking-related diseases. Among men, some stemmed from HIV-AIDS, diabetes, lung disease and stroke. The year 1993 was also a bad year for influenza, which may also have caused the jump in deaths. The agency will not know whether this is a blip or the beginning of a new trend until the data for the next few years are in.

In July 1995, the round goby was found in Duluth-Superior Harbor in Lake Superior. Like the zebra mussel and ruffe, the round goby is native to the Black and Caspian seas. Round gobies were first introduced to the Great Lakes basin in 1990 in the St. Clair River. Gobies eat aquatic insects, mussels and snails. They can grow up to a foot long, but specimens found in the Great Lakes so far have not exceeded seven inches. Gobies are considered undesirable because they compete with native fishes for habitat and change the balance of the ecosystem.

In August, three ruffe were discovered in Thunder Bay on Lake Huron near Alpena, Michigan, more than 300 miles east of their previously known range. The ruffe, a spiny-finned member of the perch family, was first collected in Duluth-Superior Harbor in 1986, where it has become the most abundant species. In June, the Ruffe Control Committee of the U.S. Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force completed a ruffe control program to prevent or delay the spread of the ruffe. The program takes an integrated approach through range reduction, ballast water management, population investigation, surveillance, predator evaluation and education. For more information Tom Busiahn, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, at (715)682-6185.

Walpole Island First Nation, near Windsor, Ontario was recently awarded one of 50 "We the Peoples: 50 Communities" awards from the Friends of the United Nations in New York for activities in the category of Environment and Sustainable Development.

The international panel was impressed by the community's leadership in combining traditional and nontraditional environmental knowledge. For more information contact Dean Jacobs, Executive Director, Walpole Island Heritage Centre, R.R. #3, Wallaceburg, ON N8A 4K9. (519)627-1475; fax (519)627-1530.