DNR Enforcement Down, Haunted Wisconsin, Faces Of The Great Lakes

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Halloween is right around the corner, and Wisconsin has its fair share of spooky lore. We hear about some of the state’s scariest places and stories with the author of Haunted Wisconsin. Then we discuss a new report which looks at the amount of citations the DNR has issued in recent years, and talk with a photographer about his work capturing the faces of the people who call Lake Michigan home.

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  • New Book Captures Many Faces Of Lake Michigan

    When Milwaukee’s Haggerty Museum of Art asked Kevin Miyazaki to take a portrait of Lake Michigan, the Milwaukee-based photographer stuffed his portable photo booth into his car and set out to drive counter-clockwise around the perimeter of one of the world’s largest bodies of freshwater.

    “I basically made this beautiful, big, left-hand turn around Lake Michigan,” Miyazaki said.

    The two-week, 1,800-mile trip through Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan resulted in more than 300 photographs of environmentalists, Native Americans, surfers, commercial fisherman and general beach-goers. The photos have been published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press in a new book titled, “Perimeter: A Contemporary Portrait of Lake Michigan.”

    Miyazaki’s idea was to capture a contemporary portrait of the lake by photographing people whose lives are closest to it. So, he began taking portraits of people on beaches, in parks, on boat docks and backyards — anyone who had a connection to the lake and who was willing to stand in front of his lens.

    One theme the photography encompasses, Miyazaki said, is the powerful, often spiritual presence that the lake has in the lives of Midwesterners. Over and over, Miyazaki heard people telling him how meaningful the lake was to them. People told him the lake, with its various shimmering faces, had a calming and grounding effect. One person referred to it as a therapist.

    Halfway through the trip, Miyazaki met Frank Ettawageshik in Harbor Springs, Mich. The Native American leader and water rights advocate spoke about how intimately important Lake Michigan is to him.

    “Its power is centered during calm and storm. Its long reach is to both my ancestors and my descendants,” said Ettawageshik. “Its beauty mystifies and inspires every time I come upon it in the hurrying of my life.”

    Miyazaki’s own connection to the lake began as a kid growing up in Wauwatosa, a Milwaukee suburb not far away from the shores of Lake Michigan.

    “It’s not a daily occurrence for me to see Lake Michigan. I don’t think about it all the time. But I realize its importance,” he said. “It’s a compass for me. I think anyone who lives in proximity to the water like this — it’s a navigational, geographical compass for us.”

  • Report: DNR Wardens Issued Fewer Citations In Recent Years

    From 2011-2013, the amount of citations issued by DNR enforcement dropped significantly from previous years. A former DNR secretary who was involved in the report explains why the numbers are down.

  • Curious Wisconsin: The Haunted Lore of Wisconsin

    Halloween is tomorrow and Wisconsin has its full share of ghost stories. Nobody knows them better than Michael Norman. He’s professor emeritus of journalism at the University of Wisconsin–River Falls and the co-author of Haunted Wisconsin and Haunted Heartland and others, and has authored various other books on ghostly subjects.

  • The Many Faces Of Lake Michigan

    Photographer Kevin Miyazaki’s traveled over 1,800 miles around Lake Michigan with a portable photo booth to capture the lake and the people who use it. He shares the stories of the people he met and what he discovered about one of the world’s largest fesh water lakes.

Episode Credits

  • Rob Ferrett Host
  • Veronica Rueckert Host
  • Marika Suval Producer
  • Chris Malina Producer
  • Kevin J Miyazaki Guest
  • George Meyer Guest
  • Michael Norman Guest

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