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BY JEFF ALEXANDER

THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

G rowing up in Lansing in the 1950s, Jim Bedford often had to pick

toilet paper off his line while fi shing in the Grand River.

These days, the retired environmental toxicologist and nature writer heralds the river’s thriving fi shery.

His ability to catch an assortment of fi sh in the Grand — trout and steelhead in the spring, bass and walleye during the summer, salmon in the fall — says as much about the recovery of Michigan’s longest river as it does about Bedford’s decades-long dedication as a fi sherman.

“The Grand River is a really nice system, but most people don’t know it,” Bedford said. “The Grand has made a tremendous recovery since the 1960s. It offers a huge variety of opportunities for anglers and people who like to fl oat rivers.”

The Grand River’s history is one of ruin and recovery. It is a tale of 19th century loggers, booming cities and 20th century

SEE RIVER, A14

A Grand discoveryFouled and abused

for decades,our biggest river

is showing signs ofhow it got its name

It’s the center of our community, but do we really know the Grand River? Over the next two weeks, The Press takes you along with the Grand River Expedition 2010 as it floats the length of the river, which starts as a tiny pond and eventually empties into Lake Michigan. Rediscover the river with us.

PRESS PHOTO/REX LARSEN

Shining ribbon: Morning fog rises from the Grand River near Ionia. At this point in its course, the river’s daily flow is about half of what it reaches in Grand Haven, where it empties into Lake Michigan. For more about the features and history of the river, see pages A12-13.

THE GRAND TOURDISCOVERING OUR GRAND RIVER

©2010, The Grand Rapids Press

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THE GRAND TOURDISCOVERING OUR GRAND RIVER

THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS SUNDAY, JULY 11, 2010 A21

What’s the difference between a single 20-pound Asian carp caught on the watery

outskirts of Lake Michigan and millions of barrels of oil fouling the Gulf of Mexico?

On the Gulf Coast, wildlife, habitat, fi shing and tourism industries have sustained months of daily assault. Here, such damage is merely pending.

What do oil and carp have in common? The same result when the threat of environmental calamity from commercial activity is optimistically deemed remote enough to allow that activity to continue. And when that threat becomes less remote and very real, governmental structures lack the capacity for a variety of reasons to mount an adequate response.

Last month’s discovery of that bighead carp in Lake Calumet six miles from Chicago’s Lake Michigan shoreline was the latest reminder of the ecological threat from invasive species that for decades now have

scarred the character of the Great Lakes.

That knowledge, however, has done little to seriously challenge the status quo that the lakes are commercial shipping lanes fi rst and environmental treasures second. The economic imperative of linking Midwest ports to the Atlantic and beyond continues to trump the negative impact that linkage has had on the Midwest’s greatest natural resource.

European lampreys, zebra mussels, alewives and round gobies were ferried into this 20,000-year-old watershed in the ballast water of ocean-going vessels that entered through the St. Lawrence Seaway after its completion, just 51 years ago.

Less than two decades later, Asian carp were imported to consume catfi sh farm algae down South. Flooding provided entry into the Mississippi River in the early 1990s. Carp that can grow to 100 pounds and consume 40 percent of their weight daily have been chugging their way north ever since.

Just as the response to damage caused by the Seaway has been about mitigation rather than outright closure, so too with the Illinois barge canals that provide carp passage from the Mississippi to Lake Michigan.

No coordinationSince 2002, the federal

government has tried electric fences and poison. They didn’t work, given the discovery of genetic material beyond established barriers and in Lake Michigan . And, now, a full-fl edged carp. In Indiana, carp spawn has been discovered in the Wabash River, capable of fl ooding into the Maumee River, which fl ows into

Lake Erie.“There is a lack of coordination

and transparency in the current system. ... Now, more than ever, state and federal agencies must stop the fi nger-pointing and get their act together,” said Kristy Meyer of the Ohio Environmental Council.

That sentiment could well describe what has been happening in the Gulf since April. Meyer warned that the Great Lakes could become “desolate carp ponds.”

If those paid by taxpayers to regulate deepwater drilling were doing their job, multiple safeguards might have prevented the BP disaster. And with the benefi t of hindsight, presumably, they would have been ordered.

In the case of the carp, hindsight isn’t necessary. The threat is more than apparent, and the proper response is the construction of permanent physical barriers to separate the Mississippi and Great Lakes basins. And in the interim, though it fi nally views the lakes

as a natural resource fi rst and foremost, canals that connect the two watersheds should be closed to barge traffi c.

A bill introduced by Great Lakes congressional delegations would give the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers months rather than years to fi gure out how to do that. Environmental groups are demanding direct involvement from an Obama administration you would think would get it by now.

One difference between oil and carp is that in the Gulf, the calamity has occurred but, at some point this summer — it’s assured — the fl ow will stop and the cleanup will begin. With the carp, the damage has yet to occur. But, when it does, it will be permanent.

Gulf fi sheries will recover, in time. Great Lakes fi sheries could be destroyed.

Contact Peter Luke at (517) 487-8888 ext. 235 or e-mail him at pluke@boothmichigan.com.

Prepare to go where you’ve never gone before.

Today, our team of journalists kicks off 17 consecutive days of exploration of the lifeblood of this community (and many others, as it turns out), the Grand River.

The Press has joined Grand River Expedition 2010, and we’re taking you along for what promises to be quite a ride. A 262-mile-long ride, in fact, which makes the Grand Michigan’s longest river.

I didn’t know that fact before we started researching the topic. We learned that and lots more getting ready for this river fl oat series. And our learning is just starting.

We will be sending intrepid and award-winning outdoors writer, Howard Meyerson, and others to kayak/canoe the river. They will document their experiences in daily diaries that will be in print and online. Daily photo pages and video from the river will add to the coverage.

From its less-than-grand origins at the headwaters south of Jackson to a high-volume fl ow emptying into Lake Michigan, we’ll show you the entire length.

We’ll look at its high points and low ebbs. We’ll trace its storied history and tell some of the tales the river has witnessed. When we’re done, readers will better appreciate the impact of this waterway on us.

“As a paddler who often overlooks the Grand River because of its pollution history, this is a great opportunity to see its many faces,” said Meyerson, who will begin his

trek on the river Wednesday. “It is a small river in its upper region — unassuming. Not so down here where its Grand character is much more evident, in the geology of the Grand River valley.”

Not taking the Grand River for granted will be an important theme.

“I have lived my entire life in the vicinity of the Grand River and, yet, through this project, I already have learned so much about it,” said Peg West, assistant sports editor and coordinator of the series for The Press.

“I admit, there are times I have driven over the North Park Bridge or crossed the river at another place and thought, ‘Nice river, but why grand?’ You’ll fi nd out it doesn’t start out that grand, but it ends up living up to its name, which is remarkable in a state that has some pretty impressive water features.”

Capturing the glory of the Grand fell to our writers, but also to our visual journalists.

Photographer Rex Larsen “has taken on the challenge of researching features along the river that we plan to develop into themes for our daily photo coverage,” said Photo Editor Chris Clark.

“Rex has seen much of the length of the Grand from the air, from bridges and while paddling a

kayak. During his time on the upper part of the river, he was bitten by spiders and contracted poison ivy while portaging, but the experience showed him things he had never seen.

“The highlight was a heron rookery that was accessible by kayak only. He described the scene as like being in Jurassic Park, very eerie screeching bird sounds everywhere under the canopy of trees,” Clark said.

Rex’s extra effort — stay tuned for his photos taken while rappelling on rock ledges near Grand Ledge — has been matched by other journalists involved in the project.

“The team we have on this, from stories to photos to graphics to layout, already has produced some fantastic work,” West said. Today’s full-color, two-page “graphic is eye-popping, accessible, yet very informative. I was blown away the fi rst time I saw it. The photos invite you to linger on them and, in some cases, offer incredible vantage points that most people will never see.

“And we have a cadre of top-notch storytellers who are bringing us the words. I have delighted so far in the stories I have read, the things I have learned, the tales that our writers have found to tell.”

We believe you’ll fi nd these stories fascinating and hope you’ll follow them as they wend — like the Grand River — through our lives during the next couple of weeks.

E-mail: pkeep@grpress.com

TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES

S illy me. I thought America’s unparalleled space program (before the present

administration began dismantling it) was a triumph of American ingenuity, technology, vision and boldness. Instead, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden says its “foremost mission” is not returning to the moon, or completing a mission to Mars. Rather, it is improving relations with the Muslim world. Bolden says President Barack Obama told him he also wants NASA to encourage children to study science and math, but isn’t that best done by applying science and math to a robust space program?

Obama is boldly going where no president has gone before. It is a continuation of the president’s subjugation of himself (bowing to foreign leaders) and the country he is charged with leading by obsequiously kowtowing to a people for whom advancement to the Middle Ages would be a step up.

The president and Bolden think it will improve relations with the Muslim world if we praise them for their work in math and science many centuries ago, but what has the Muslim world done for humanity lately? Female genital mutilation? Beheadings? Stoning of alleged adulterers? Honor killings? Terrorism? Death sentences to religious converts?

Yes, Benito Mussolini was said to have made the trains run on time, so maybe previous presidents should have praised his timetable and overlooked the torture, the censorship, the holding of women and children hostage and the police state.

I’m sure if we searched long enough, we might discover a good character quality or two in Mao Zedong, a world-class mass murderer. But let’s not forget China invented the compass and woodblock printing. What are a few human rights violations compared to these positive contributions?

Perhaps if President Roosevelt had looked for some good in Adolf Hitler, World War II might have been avoided. Maybe it was our fault that Pearl Harbor was bombed. We should have appreciated the Japanese contribution to America (The cherry tree? Sushi?).

What is it about this president of ours? He doesn’t seem to love America, at least not the America we knew prior to his coming to offi ce. He pledged to change the country, but growing numbers think what we have is better than what he wants. Despite its past and current problems, most Americans are justifi ably proud of their country and what it has stood for over the past 234 years. Regrets? Sure, we’ve had a few, but, then again, too few to mention compared to the blessings we have received and the blessing we have been to much of the world.

On April 3, 2009, President Obama addressed an adoring crowd in Strasbourg, France. He told them the United States “has failed to appreciate Europe’s leading role in the world” and that America had “shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive” toward its allies.

Actually, it has been the other way around. America bailed out Europe twice in the past century because it elevated evil men to leadership and they started wars that engulfed the world. And America protected European economies by paying for a nuclear umbrella that protected the continent from the Soviet Union, thus allowing those who refused to pay a price or bear a burden to concentrate on their economies and self-indulgent pleasures.

If America is all that Obama makes it out to be, why do we have such an illegal immigration problem? You’d think these people would prefer Europe, or Iraq, which have contributed so much to our space program.

If NASA’s “foremost mission” is no longer space, but a group-hug to Muslim nations, perhaps Congress should be asked to authorize such a change in purpose and reduce NASA’s budget. Do most taxpayers want NASA to focus on inner space, rather than outer space? I doubt it. They can render their verdict on this and many other Obama policies come the November election.

E-mail: tmseditors@tribune.com

PAUL M.KEEP

EDITOR OF THE PRESS

PETERLUKE

MICHIGAN POLITICS

CALTHOMAS

OPINION

Governments unprepared for environmental calamity

DRAWING CONCLUSIONSA SAMPLING OF EDITORIAL CARTOONS FROM THE PAST WEEK

Grand River adventure begins

The right stuff goes wrongWhat is it about this president of ours? He doesn’t seem to love America, at least not

the America we knew prior to his coming to

office.