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Radical Harbor
Friends group blocks July 4th, 2008 waterskipping events in Grand
Marais harbor and may stop event forever...
Some call 'em
C.A.V.E. People... "Citizens Against Virtually Everything" or maybe
"Fun Governors" either way we say it's lame and Grand Marais has too
many people who want to stop all kinds of recreational and business
opportunities.
It's a slippery
slope...first it's the harbor then it's the whole city.
Read the letter
from Lonnie Dupre, Chair of the Harbor Friends and so called Arctic
Explorer. More of a "Arctic Exploiter" in people's minds who know the
truth about his exploits.
>Letter to the
Grand Marais City Council [word doc]
Letters to the Editor from the
Cook County Star
“Friends” could
have been helpful
To the editor:
Mr. Dupre’s letter to the Cook County Star last week on behalf of
the Harbor “Friends” is telling. It shows our community what
knowledge “Friends” had and how they chose to use it as relates to
the snowmobile water skipping issue. Any fair reading of Mr. Dupre’s
letter shows the “Friends” knew that a Coast Guard permit was
required for a planned event on harbor water. “Friends” also knew
the dragon boaters had successfully applied for the permit in the
past. “Friends” also knew that the snowmobilers would need that
permit and had not applied for one.
What did “Friends” do with the information? They could have
contacted the snowmobilers and essentially said, “You need a permit
for this activity. The dragon boaters have been through the process,
and you might want to contact them to see how it is done. And by the
way it is a time-sensitive process.”
Instead, what did “Friends” do? They sat on the knowledge they had,
waited until time became too short for a permit to issue, then
contacted the Coast Guard and reported the planned snowmobile
skipping, which required the permit. In one phone call “Friends”
essentially ruined the snowmobilers plans for summer activities in
2008.
But hey, like the song says, “That’s what ‘Friends’ Are For,” right?
Tom Spence
Schroeder
Practice what
you preach
To the editor:
I am neither for, nor against water skipping or dragon boats. I am
for “practice what you preach.”
Lonnie Dupre passes himself off as a “green environmentalist”
against water pollution and global warming, yet when you get past
his gift of gab, his lifestyle says the opposite.
Compare your carbon footprint to his. Have you ever had meals
delivered by helicopter to the middle of nowhere? How about being
air rescued from the same nowhere? Ever taken a ride on a nuclear
icebreaker? Do you pack your gear and ship it across the world and
back on a regular basis? How often do you fly or travel long
distances to lecture or solicit funds?
This just scratches the surface. Cook County rednecks couldn’t begin
to fill Lonnie’s carbon footprint—thank God!
Global warming was proven long before Lonnie was in the race. Lonnie
continues to choose a lifestyle of airplanes, helicopters, nuclear
icebreakers, etc. All pollute water, land, air, and ice. Pollution
that causes global warming; that destroys fragile ecosystems.
He’s currently raising money for his next chance to add to his list
of pristine places he’s brought pollution to. Does he do this for
the environment or the money?
Lonnie mentions the “good people” from dragon boats, implying that
the water skippers are “bad people.” He does this as “chair of
Harbor Friends.” Are these the feelings of Harbor Friends? Does
Harbor Friends promote the dragon boat festival? Dragon boats are
about money, not the environment.
Boats with motors are moved to make room for the festival. Boats and
motors are used to set up and take down the course. More boats and
motors are used for safety, etc. The original boats move back. Every
motor used in the harbor affects our harbor and it gets worse with
the number of motors.
To say one group’s motors are okay, but another is not, screams, “My
pollution is okay, but yours is not.”
Is this how Harbor Friends feels? It is what Lonnie’s lifestyle
says.
I find Lonnie’s lifestyle interesting and exciting; I can’t find it
“green.” Being green is a lifestyle, not just some fancy fast talk.
We all need to do our part to fight pollution and global warming and
it’s not too late for Lonnie to start. If he practices what he
preaches, people might just listen.
Tod Sylvester
Grand Marais
Want to form a
watch-dog group?
To the editor:
I guess it’s time to make a grocery list of gripes and concerns.
There are so many, but here are a few:
The noise thing – We agree 100% with Jeff Gecas. Quit your whining
and let’s all get along. He’s right; the BWCAW has lots of room. A
couple of options for it would be to fill it all in and blacktop it.
Use it for a new pool, library, or skate park. Or fill it up with
more mud and use it for a mud bog for ATVs or frog research.
The flood of ’08 – From what we read, the new county engineer won’t
take responsibility and do the job she was hired to do. You take the
$88 thousand for professional design, along with all the expense for
the barriers and signs; that would do a lot of repairs. Oh, we don’t
have dirt in Cook County to make blacktop? All of a sudden our dirt
isn’t good enough? Lake County? Give me a break.
The harbor thing – Did the “Harbor Friends” have to get a permit
from the DNR, Coast Guard, and whomever to mine and collect rocks
for the kids?
A new library, swimming pool, community center—and what else? Oh, a
horse park. Couldn’t the land be used for something better? Who will
pay? We will. How much is too much?
The North House – where will it end? With the expansion they plan,
the department of transportation will have to reroute highway 61 so
they will have parking. What a mess.
We’re getting a little long-winded, so we will cut this short.
Anyone interested in forming a watch-dog group?
Have a nice—and expensive—day.
Don Wilson, Floyd Johnson, Steve Benson, Park Johnson
Grand Marais |