Banning DDT by Bill Berry

Banning DDT by Bill Berry

Author:Bill Berry
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wisconsin Historical Society Press
Published: 2014-04-12T04:00:00+00:00


CHAPTER THIRTEEN

WARNING: CONTROVERSY AHEAD

WHEN MARTIN HANSON PRINTED THOUSANDS OF HANDbills warning “Fish Eaten from Wisconsin Waters Could be Dangerous to Human Health,” he really got under the skin of the Wisconsin tourism industry and state lawmakers from the northern counties.

As lawmakers attacked him for the scheme, hatched just prior to the start of the 1969 open water fishing season in Wisconsin, the bachelor who lived most of his adult life in a backwoods retreat didn’t flinch. He wanted DDT banned, and he was going to do whatever it took to accomplish that goal.

If it’s possible to be both reclusive and an engaged citizen, that would describe Hanson. He also had a mischievous streak to go along with a strong conservation ethic. He was known for bringing a squirt gun to meetings, sitting in the back of the room and launching a spray on those toward the front.

But the handbill campaign wasn’t a prank. It was intended to stir up the public and add an exclamation point to findings of DDT concentrations in popular game fish. The research provided environmentalists with a powerful weapon in their efforts to ban the pesticide, and Hanson took advantage of it.

Heir to a Chicago furniture-making fortune, he and his siblings, including fellow bachelor brother Louis, moved in 1961 onto a 1,240-acre family-owned retreat west of Mellen. With the freedom that wealth can afford, they became engaged in their personal passions: politics and conservation.



Download



Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.