Grand Marais talk to highlight Lake Superior protection This public beach at Bete Grise, on the Keweenaw Peninsula's east shore, is one of the few areas of protected shoreline in Keweenaw County. While Lake Superior Land Co. donated this beach to the county for public access, farther down the shore the company plans residential development. The issue of ecological protection vs. tax base has been a controversy in the case of Bete Grise South. Last summer the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality denied a permit for a road that would cross a wetland near that shoreline to access a potential residential development. The landowner, International Paper / Lake Superior Land Co., is reportedly in the process of appealing that denial. (Keweenaw Today file photo)   GRAND MARAIS, MINN. ’Äì Lake Superior communities looking to increase their tax base through additional lakeshore building need to consider the total cost of development, says a University of Wisconsin Extension basin educator who will be the featured speaker at the Lake Superior Alliance's upcoming meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 17, at the Senior Center in Grand Marais, Minnesota. John Haack, University of Wisconsin Extension natural resources educator for the St. Croix River Basin will speak on ’ÄúShoreline Development: The Ecological and Economic Costs’Äù at the meeting, which is open to the public.   In addition to discussing economic costs ’Äì such as those for roads, snow-plowing and schools ’Äì Haack will speak about development's impacts on clean water, clean air and the other benefits provided to human societies by natural ecosystems. These are harder to quantify in terms of dollars and cents, says Haack. But countless surveys and studies done in Wisconsin show that property values are better protected when development is done in a way that respects and protects wildlife habitat, water quality and cherished community aesthetics. According to Haack, the message here ’Äì one gleaned from over 30 years of work to protect Wisconsin's inland lakes ’Äì is that careless shoreline development can have a devastating effect on water quality and also increase taxes for local homeowners and businesses. The good news is that communities like Grand Marais can benefit from Wisconsin's lessons, ensure the quality of its environment, a healthy tax base and the beauty of their place on Lake Superior's shore for future generations. Haack is presently working with agency and citizens groups to develop a collaborative basin-wide team to identify natural resource priorities within the St. Croix Basin. Formerly with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Haack has work experience in water regulations and zoning, wildlife management and forestry. The Lake Superior Alliance is an international coalition of community groups committed to working together to protect, restore and enhance the Lake Superior Watershed. For more information call Bob Olsgard at: 888-281-1735 or visit their Web site.