Isle Royale Boaters Association
June 2001 Newsletter
In This Issue:
- 2001 Summer Island Meeting
- Executive Committee Report
- 2001 Annual Meeting
- Spring Fishing Report for Isle Royale
- Infrastructure Repairs on the Island
2001 Summer Island Meeting
Announcement
The annual summer island meeting is Saturday, July 14th at 1:00 p.m. The meeting will be at Isle Royale's Rock Harbor Lodge with a lunch following the meeting.
Executive Committee Report
by Ed Glowacki
Judge Grants Summary Judgment for the Defendants - It has been a long road to this ruling. Unfortunately, the Judge did not see it our way and granted the Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment and denied IRBA's. Fortunately, in our judicial system the ruling can be appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and IRBA has until August 6th to make this decision. As of this writing the Executive Committee of your association is evaluating the Court's Opinion and, in addition, is having the Opinion reviewed by outside counsel. If our evaluation is positive - as our preliminary findings indicate - we are prepared to seek counsel to carry our appeal to the Sixth Circuit Court.
Although the court ruled for the Park Service, the Judge affirmed a major point of IRBA: namely, the Senate Committee language of 1976 has the force of law. Three excerpts from the Opinion illustrate this point:
NPS has an obligation under the language contained in the legislative history of the Isle Royale Wilderness Act to maintain the docks at the Park. (page 25)
…it appears that the purposes Congress sought to serve are best achieved by construing the legislative history to guarantee boaters sufficient access to docks at the Park to assure their ease of access and safety, while not requiring NPS to maintain all existing docks in their existing locations. (page 29)
Here, the Senate Committee explicitly stated that "continued maintenance of these facilities [boat docks] is essential to the continued ease of access as well as the health and safety of visitors." While the Court does not believe this language requires perpetual maintenance of every dock that existed at the time of enactment of the Isle Royale Wilderness Act, it is equally clear that under this language NPS does not have the discretion to refuse to maintain, in the aggregate, the docks that existed at the time of enactment of the Isle Royale Wilderness Act. (page 30)
The Court's Opinion and Order are available for your viewing at the IRBA website, www.isleroyale.org. For a discussion of the Opinion and Order, plan on attending the IRBA Annual Summer Island Meeting on July 14th at Rock Harbor Lodge. The meeting will held at 1:00 PM and will be followed by lunch.
2001 Annual Meeting
by Betty Bieti
The 2001 annual IRBA meeting was held on May 5, 2001, at the Northern Lights Restaurant in Houghton. Over forty members attended the meeting. President Markham introduced Dr. David Gilbert, the Isle Royale Physician for the past 25 years. Dr. Gilbert gave the history of medicine on Isle Royale. Based on his experience with medicine on the island since 1964, he stated that the medical service has been improving over the past few years, but it is still limited because of the wilderness character of the Park.
Jim Marshall gave a talk about "Lake Superior" magazine and his observation of the increasing number of Chicago tourists to Lake Superior.
President Markham conducted the election of next year's officers. Paul Heinonen made a motion to keep the present officers, and this was seconded by Jim Marshall. Elected as officers for the year 2001 were: President - Jim Markham; Chief Operating Officer - Fred Bieti; Vice President - Ed Glowacki; Treasurer - John Kappler; Secretary - David Jukuri; Vice Pres. Environmental Affairs - Dave Hand; and Director of Communications - Larry Durland. Elected as Regional Directors were: Tom Thornton, Cal Miller, Brian Miller, Dave Turnquist, Jim Marshall, and Woody Peterson.
Fred Bieti reminded the group of the total number of members to date, 760. He remarked how this is beyond anyone's expectations of the Association.
A discussion took place on the dates for up-coming meetings. It was decided that the IRBA meeting on Isle Royale would be the weekend of July 14, 2001. We hope you can make this meeting, participate in discussions on current issues facing the association and its future. This is also a good time to meet other fellow members and exchange stories and experiences on the island.
Dave Hand conducted the raffle and auction of a Lake Superior Chart donated by Jim Marshall. Jim Marshall also donated other items. Dr. Gilbert won the bid for the Lake Superior Chart. The group decided unanimously to donate all the money collected for the 50-50 raffle to IRBA. Additional donations totaling $1,500 were received from two members in attendance and greatly appreciated.
Spring Fishing Report for Isle Royale
by Dave Hand
For many of the fishermen who braved the early cold temperatures, fog, rain and other so-called uncomfortable environs that the island can offer during the spring, fishing was been pretty good on the east end. I must point out that there are two advantages of visiting the island this time of the year: one being no bugs and the other being very few people.
The weekend before Memorial Day weekend, Jim Markham (Misconduct) and crew reported the bait-fish and Big Lakers were in Moskey Basin and they caught several Lakers in the 20-pound class. Jim said there were a few other boats also taking advantage of the Lunker Laker fishing in Moskey. Don Hannula (Skipper), from Lake Linden, and his crew, Joe Goulette, Bobby Williams (Laurium, MI) and Dave Piippo (Hubbell, MI) fished from May 17 to 19. When trolling, all the fish caught were on the Fire Tiger lure made by Creative Touch Tackle out of Duluth. Don and crew caught 28 Lakers during their trip and released most of them. IRBA sells these lures, and one can visit our web site (www.isleroyale.org ) for more information on how to purchase them or just contact the organization.
On Memorial Day weekend, IRBA member Bruce Sabin and I decided to try our luck in Moskey Basin for those big ones, but the Misconduct must have scared them all away. We did not chart many Lakers and the bait-fish had already moved back out in the big pond. However, we were very successful fishing around Passage Island, but no big ones for us this time. Over half of our 35 Lakers were caught on the Fire Tiger lure. Most of these fish were released except for a few for dinner. John Evans (Miss Laurie), from L'Anse, and crew said they were doing well at an undisclosed location. Bob Baillod (Ark Angel) and crew, from Dollar Bay, caught fish, and that is unusual because Bob doesn't fish much. Tom Thornton (Tom Cat), from Houghton, and crew were fishing and said they were successful, but would not reveal their catch. I am sure they were successful. At Chippewa Harbor, Ed Glowacki (Kodiak) and family reported seeing one fish on their boat, but Ed's excuse was that he only fished for 45 minutes.
This past week, Don Hannula and a new crew fished out of Chippewa Harbor and caught 8 walleyes and some pike. (They kept the walleyes.) They also caught a total of 33 Lakers off of Passage Island and Belle Isle. Most of those fish were released except for a few dinners. John Drew (Blue Water) and First Mate Eric caught several fish near Belle Isle. Eric caught his first Laker on the trip. Jim Drew (Thunder) and John Cummings also fished, and Jim did not catch a fish all week. Jim was surface fishing and needs to fish a little deeper.
Jim Markham and his crew composed of Tim, Jamey, Rodney, and Ryan Markham and Steve Kinnunen also fished the island this past weekend. They caught several Lakers off of Passage Island. On Saturday night, they watched the Stanley Cup Final on the Misconduct at an undisclosed location.
While we have a pretty good fishing report for the East End of the island, I would like to hear from those members that fish the West End. You can email me at dwhand@mtu.edu or contact IRBA.
Infrastructure Repairs on the Island
by Dave Hand
Beaver Island and Hay Bay docks were rebuilt this past fall. Tom Thornton (Tom Cat), who recently stayed at the Hay Bay dock, reports that the dock is really nice.
This summer dock construction is going on at Grace Island, Rock and Windigo Harbors. Grace Island dock is being rebuilt this summer and construction will take about two to three weeks. Construction is supposed to begin around July 9, and if you are planning to go to Grace Island around that time you may want to contact the park service ahead of time. Last fall construction began on replacing the docks at Rock Harbor. The first three slips closest to the dock have been completed as can be seen in the picture below. The installation of the remaining three slips is ongoing and scheduled for completion by July 31. The gas dock at Windigo Harbor is being rebuilt and temporary facilities are available to obtain fuel there and the new dock should be completed by July 29. Also, a new deck and repairs are being made to the main dock at Windigo.
 Dock repair at Rock Harbor, 2001 |
With respect to trails, the Park reports the following improvements. The Chickenbone trail was rerouted to eliminate about 300 feet of muddy trail. Over 1,000 feet of boardwalk was installed throughout the island this past year. Trails in the Feldtmann area are being rehabilitated and should be completed this year. Lane Cove, Raspberry Island, Siskiwit Lake, Senter Point, Lake LaSage, Rock Harbor and Tobin Harbor trails will be rehabilitated this year.
The Belle Isle and Daisy Farm pavilions were reroofed this past year. Improvements were made at these campgrounds: McCargoe Cove, Birch Island, Rock Harbor, Three Mile, Moskey Basin, and Washington Creek. The shelters were repaired and painted and tent sites were rehabilitated and, "Oh, Yes," those privies were maintained. This year Moskey Basin, Siskiwit Bay, Hay Bay, Malone Bay and Chippewa Harbor Campgrounds will receive the same improvements.
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