For those of you who haven't heard, a meeting is being held in Chicago tonight to discuss Waukesha's proposal to divert water from Lake Michigan. This is the first request to divert water outside the Great Lakes Basin since the Great Lakes Compact Council formed in 2008. Making a final decision involves quite a bit of research and the involvement of several states. On top of the many people directly involved in the process, many citizens and groups like The Alliance for the Great Lakes are also weighing in and expressing their concerns. Almost everyone involved shares similar concerns:

What negative effects could each option have on the environment?
Are there any better alternatives available that would provide radium free water?
How will the results of this proposal influence future requests for Great Lakes Water?

If you'd like a little more history on this ongoing issue, check out a report done by Art Hackett back in November called Waukesha Water.

This man is Craig Thompson. Thompson works as a Regional Land Manager for the Wisconsin DNR. That's his everyday job. In his free time, Thompson organizes birding trips to Central and South America. They are birding trips with a difference however, Thompson has pioneered a model called "conservation birding trips". Every participant on the trip makes a significant donation toward conservation of bird habitat in the countries they visit. His trips have garnered thousands of dollars towards the purchase of lands for birds.

We joined up Thompson on his latest bird watching trip in the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. It was an amazing, arduous, fascinating trip and it will be part of our upcoming hour-long documentary on the plight of migratory songbirds titled "Our Birds". Right now, the plan is for a first broadcast of this special in 2011. I'll be detailing more of this shoot in the upcoming months, look for more stories that are part of this special in the next month on IN WISCONSIN. And next week, more photos, more info on this project.

One of our viewers sent an e-mail suggestion for a story that I've been dying to do since last spring. It's about a very rare bird that has recently started nesting in our state. The ONLY other place in the country where this tiny bird procreates is in Michigan. The folks who monitor their secret location have agreed to let us film the work they do studying and providing an unusual form of assistance. I know this is all sort of mysterious but that's the whole point. This will be a rare opportunity to get a glimpse of this Federally Endangered species. Keep your clicker handy.

There's news to report on the subject of groundwater in Wisconsin. You may remember our stories we broadcast on In Wisconsin in November regarding the "dry lakes" in Waushara County and the declining water tables in the central sands area in general. At that time the legislature was discussing possible changes to the state's groundwater laws. Today(Monday March 8th) Representative Spencer Black (D-Madison) and Senator Mark Miller (D-Monona) are unveiling a revised groundwater protection bill. Some of the folks who live on Long Lake and Huron Lake, or what's left of them, are expected to be present for the legislator's press conference at the U-W Arboretum. We'll be there as well and will have details on Here and Now, Friday, March 12 at 7:30 p.m.

Also this week we'll be heading to Rhinelander to report on the process the DNR uses to estimate the state's deer herd. That's the subject of great debate and of a new study to check the accuracy of the state's population model.

But wait, there's more: We think there's a hidden history behind the Hodag. Curious? You'll have to watch In Wisconsin to see what we uncover.

The Wisconsin Assembly late today, 2/23, failed to over-ride the Governor's veto of a bill that would have restored appointment power of the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources to the Natural Resources Board. The assembly voted 58 to 38 to sustain the Governor's veto, thus killing the over-ride, which requires a two-thirds vote. Governor Jim Doyle says it's best that the executive appoint the secretary because that lends accountability and clout to the position.

This week I head to central Wisconsin to check out a number of lakes that are drying up. Some of it's due to the drought that's hit the northern two thirds of the state. But these lakes are so called "seepage lakes." They're filled from groundwater. As irrigation wells have been drilled around them, the water table drops, and so do the lake levels.

The same is true in the case of the Little Plover River near Stevens Point. That trout stream was mentioned in a documentary I did nine years ago, called Water Rich, Water Poor. The Little Plover has run dry the past three summers and is kept flowing only with well water artificially discharged into the stream.

Central Wisconsin is a central focus in discussions over whether the legislature should modify the state's groundwater laws. Currently, the DNR can deny a high capacity well permit only if it affects a municipal well or certain protected water bodies such as trout streams. There's no protection for recreational lakes such as those we'll be visiting in Waushara County.

Also, just a quick reminder. In Wisconsin returns for an all new season this Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. on Wisconsin Public Television.

Yesterday I had a chance to experience fall's other high school sport. Football's Friday Night Lights get a TV series but for lots of high school athletes fall means cross country. Both of my kids ran for Madison East and I fondly remember the weekly meets. Football parents can sit in the stands all night to watch their child only play a couple of downs. But with cross country, you'll get to see them run the whole race. It may take a while but they will finish. They may be limping, or screaming from cramps, but they will finish.

The meet at Lakeside Lutheran's course near Lake Mills included teams from Berlin to New Glarus. Spectators get their exercise, too, chasing from point to point to cheer the runners at as many locations on the course as they can manage.

The course is on farmland owned by a devoted supporter of Lakeside Lutheran. It will soon be part of the D-N-R's Glacial Heritage Area in Jefferson County. That's the subject of an upcoming segment on In Wisconsin schedule to air Thursday, October 15th at 7:00 p.m.

If you've never attended a cross country meet, check with the coach at your local school. It's a fall ritual that too few have a chance to see

It's a very busy time around Wisconsin Public Television as we prepare to launch our new season of In Wisconsin on Thursday, October 1 at 7:00 p.m.

But first we have the premiere of our new special National Parks: Wisconsin. You can watch it at 7 p.m. Thursday, September 24. Encore 4:30 p.m. Sunday, September 27. You will meet the stewards of Wisconsin's National Park sites and relish in the beauty of each location in this special hosted by In Wisconsin's Patty Loew and Outdoor Wisconsin's Dan Small. We shot parts of it on location at the John Muir Homestead in Marquette County in early August.

This project has been in the works for months and will air in tandem with the Ken Burn's documentary about our National Park System. We hope you enjoy the view of these Wisconsin treasures. Send us your feedback on what you thought of the program.

I had a shoot last night with Wisconsin bat expert, Dave Redell. Over the years, we've profiled Redell's work on IN WISCONSIN from his early days as a grad student researching bats to his present position as the "bat guy" in Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources.

Click here to watch a profile of Dave Redell's efforts to create a state-wide citizen monitoring program for Wisconsin's bats.

Shoots with Redell are always fascinating and always require "mass quantities" of coffee the next day. We rolled home at 1:00 a.m. Dave and his crew were still going strong.

They need to. Wisconsin's bats face perilous times. A new illness has devastated bat colonies in the north-eastern U.S. from New York to Virginia. The illness is called "white-nose syndrome", it has a 90% mortality rate, and it's ravaged the population of these tiny predators. And sadly, white-nose syndrome is now bearing down on Wisconsin. Redell and his associates are scrambling to gather the information that may help stop the spread this deadly disease. They fear that Wisconsin may only have two to three years before it hits here.

We'll detail what Redell and others are doing to combat this disease. It was beautiful, as always, to watch the swarms of bats in flight. And it was sobering to hear of the peril they face.

Our updates on bats can be seen this October when we launch a new season of our news magazine program called "In Wisconsin" Join us Thursday's at 7:00 p.m. on Wisconsin Public Television.