Mecan Springs-through the eyes of Elward Engle

Normally, on this perfect mid-September day, I'd be chucking a grasshopper fly pattern to the edges of overhanging grass on my favorite Central Wisconsin stream. The soft, warm breezes promised good weather for now, although there was a hint in the air that the end of the trout season was fast approaching. The hoppers, now warmed by the midday sun, were gingerly jumping about in front of our trout camp. A great time to be on a stream.

"Let's take a ride. I'd like to show you Mecan Springs," Elward Engle said. Elward is one of the most dedicated environmentalists today. Although he is a retired Department of Natural Resources employee, he still does consulting work for the DNR. He and other employees have procured a huge amount of land next to trout streams for the DNR. This gives local and visiting anglers access to many wonderful fishing streams.

Elward knows every stream in the area intimately, and September is his favorite fishing month. But this was not going to be a fishing trip. Elward wanted to show me what's so special about the Mecan Springs and why the locals fought off Perrier's intrusion so ferociously. So on this warm September day, we drove to Mecan Springs.

"Jim, this area and the river is ecologically and environmentally perfect," Elward explained. "The state spent a lot of money, to make this what it is today."

Of course, I was aware of the fabulous Mecan river, having fished it numerous times; I had visited Mecan Springs once many years ago, but I only had a vague recollection of it now.

Elward parked the car and we walked through the Mecan Springs' woods. "This is such a perfect ecosystem that it would have been a sin if Perrier were allowed to pump water from it. Everything is interrelated. The groundwater, the ponds or little lakes, the rivers. The minute you start changing something, especially in the headwaters, it's bound to have an effect on everything below. Not just the water, the river, the stream, but also the vegetation, the fen, the nearby trees, the birds, wildlife. That's why it was important that we were able to protect these grounds from Perrier."

Elward pointed out the springs at the edge of the ponds, where you could see the pure, clear water emerging from deep below. "The groundwater, the springs, the ponds, and the headwaters keep the river cool in the summer and warmer in the winter. This is perfect habitat for brown trout. But it is also a very sensitive ecosystem.

"I think our best accomplishment was to provide the ideal spawning conditions for our trout. These trout are healthy, self sustaining." You could see the great pride Elward has for this area.

"I know," I agreed. "I've fished for brown trout in many of the world's great places, because of my job, but I've never had any resident browns leap out of the water when hooked except I think maybe in Chile. Here, some browns leap when hooked higher than rainbows. And, I'll tell you, these are among the smartest browns found anywhere."

"That's because we don't plant hatchery trout. Instead, we worked on providing the ideal spawning conditions for the trout."

Elward showed me the different types of vegetation. "You see this weed? If you get stung by a bee, just rub this weed and it will take away the irritation."

Elward knows the name of practically every weed, brush and all the wild flowers. He often gives lectures about the plant life that surround a trout stream.

He stopped at a shady place. "This is a favorite place for the Karner Blue Butterfly. It's on the endangered list, because today there's only about one percent of the population that existed in 1985. Everything is in concert here. Change something and the ecosystem starts to break down."

We returned to the car and drove to another place. "See over there?" He pointed to a pastoral plain. "That's where Perrier wanted to put a bottling plant. It would take at least a hundred trips by big trucks every day to haul out the water to distributing centers. You know what this would do to the environment? The pollution? The noise? The roads?"

This was one of the most peaceful, serene places I've had the privilege to visit in Central Wisconsin. There was absolutely no noise. I'm sure that in the future I will return here. Alone. I'll just sit over there by the big oak and gaze at the ponds. In this totally confusing world, it's important for man to get away, to a place such as this.

There in front of us were the ponds that served as the headwaters of the Mecan. Because the reflecting sandy bottoms, the casual observer may mistake this for less than clear water. Mecan Springs has about 3.5 miles of shoreline and more than half of the ponds are less than three feet deep. One doesn't need Aristotle's mind to realize that any water extraction would be harmful.

"What is totally upsetting is that an agreement was made so that Perrier was going to pump water from DNR land," Elward said. "Then, as you know, we all fought Perrier and they pulled out of the DNR land."

Elward has established excellent relationships with many resident and visiting anglers. For example, his good friends, Jerry and Jill Martin donated 161choice acres on the Little Wolf River. The estimated worth is more than $250,000. Jerry praised Elward and Mark Martin, another DNR employee, "The DNR is lucky to have them."

We drove to Schmudlach Creek. "Then Perrier made a deal to extract water here. This is very cold water, and flows into the Mecan, and helps keep it cool. Perrier also was going to take water from the headwaters of the Wedde. Thankfully, we got some good sympathetic press when we fought them, and Perrier left the Mecan and went to Adams County. As you know there was a battle there, too. Mary Jane Schmudlach, Hiroshi Kanno and so many others worked very hard to keep Perrier out of Waushara and Adams Counties."

"Do you think Perrier is out of Wisconsin?" I asked.

"No. They are in Michigan now, but they are not giving up in Wisconsin. I hear rumors about Langlade County. But, no, you can't trust them."

We drove to the Mecan River, stopping at this bridge. "This is a wonderful river with a self-sustaining trout population, but if high quantities of water are extracted, all of this and all our work will be for naught. It took a lot of effort to make the Mecan what it is today."

Elward is misty eyed when talks about the springs. And the river below.

He, his mentor Bob Hedding, Bob Hunt and others have left their imprints on this special environment.

It's up to us to protect it.

The Mecan River is ecologically perfect. It needs our stewardship to survive.