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Kayakers make global warming statement Coordinated effort caps symposium weekend By KAREN HOLLISH
Staff Writer Published: Monday, June 22, 2009 10:38 AM CDT WASHBURN — The boaters nestled their kayaks together, using their paddles to steady themselves against Sunday morning's winds that roiled Chequamegon Bay.
As the athletes lined up their kayaks — all 153 of them — from bow to stern, along a massive nylon grid that floated in the lake, they knew they were working toward a purpose that would be hard to see from lake level. |
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Kayakers make global warming statement Coordinated effort caps symposium weekend By KAREN HOLLISH
Staff Writer Published: Monday, June 22, 2009 10:38 AM CDT WASHBURN — The boaters nestled their kayaks together, using their paddles to steady themselves against Sunday morning's winds that roiled Chequamegon Bay.
As the athletes lined up their kayaks — all 153 of them — from bow to stern, along a massive nylon grid that floated in the lake, they knew they were working toward a purpose that would be hard to see from lake level.
But from a small plane that circled above, the group's statement was clear: They had formed a three, five and zero to make a large 350, an important number in global-warming conversations happening worldwide. Organizers of the Inland Sea Kayak Symposium said the number refers to 350 parts per million, which is believed to be the safe upper limit for the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. According to educator and author Bill McKibben, who spoke in Ashland last year, this critical benchmark has already been passed, and drastic action must take place to keep things from getting worse.
"People were really excited to do this," said 56-year-old Dick Reilly, a wet-suited social worker from Chicago who was drying off in Washburn's West End Park. "People were really conscious of the implications of the number 350, and we are determined to do whatever we can as kayakers to support long-range policies that will improve the environment."
The event marked the grand finale for the several-day symposium, which brought together nearly 200 kayaking enthusiasts to share lessons, meals and paddling excursions through the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. The symposium was organized by the Inland Sea Society, a local non-profit organization, and Gail Green and Grant Herman of the Bayfield-based business Living Adventure. A large team of volunteers helped pull the events off, they said.
The idea to incorporate the 350 statement into the symposium was hatched after the organizers heard McKibben speak about the issue last year, Green said.
Inspired by McKibben's message, they rounded up miles of discarded nylon webbing, which they cut and shaped into a pattern on dry land.
On Sunday morning, it took almost 20 people several hours to set and anchor the grid into the water, Green said.
Once it was ready, the organizers dispatched boaters out onto the grid in groups. Then, after stationing their cockpits at designated spots, the kayakers held tight until a symposium-hired plane and photographer flew overhead to shoot an aerial photo of the scene.
Charly Ray of the Inland Sea Society said he anticipates some will find fault with the group's decision to commission the plane, which emitted carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
But such criticisms are just a "red herring" meant to distract from the gesture's larger message, he said.
"In the big picture, (the plane) is totally irrelevant compared to the radical changes that the government needs to implement to save us from ourselves," he said.
According to participants, the mood on the water during the 350 formation was energizing and exuberant as they focused on a common goal.
"People were really focusing, but they were also being really goofy," said Living Adventure guide Greta Anderson, who was dispatched to the zero. "There was one person behind me who kept saying, 'I have chills! I have chills!'"
Janel Roling of Iowa City, Iowa, characterized the moment's pleasures as two-fold.
"First of all, you're out on the water on a beautiful day, so that's always a good thing," Roling said. "And then you're with a bunch of like-minded people, who are willing and able to make an effort to try to change the amount of carbon we're putting into the atmosphere every day."
Her new acquaintance, Joanne Langdon of Duluth, Minn., said the pro-environment endeavor negated the differences between members of the kayaking crowd.
"Even though we come from all different walks of life, and all different kinds of religions or political backgrounds or whatever, we can agree on this one thing, you know?" Langdon said. "And we all think that enjoying water with a paddle instead of a motor is just sweet." |
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