The Buzz

West Michigan timber fraud earns prison term

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By Eric Freedman
Capital News Service
The former owner of a West Michigan timber harvesting business has been sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for cheating investors of more than $2 million. Authorities said Trent Witteveen of Montague ran a Ponzi scheme involving phony documents and misusing some investors’ money to repay others. 
U.S. Judge Robert Jonker also ordered Witteveen, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud, to pay $844,282 in restitution. The grand jury’s indictment laid out the background this way, saying Witteveen “earned his living in the timber harvesting business, initially as a subcontractor or independent contractor to sawmills: 
He registered a company called Tall Timber and ran the fraud scheme from June 2018 to January 2021, the indictment charged. 
It described how Witteveen approached landowners whose property had hardwood and softwood trees for purchase by the lumber industry and sawmills, mostly around Pentwater and elsewhere in Northwest Michigan 
“Had he operated his business in a lawful manner, Witteveen would have used the investment capital to pay the landowners and harvest timber, including by subcontracting the cutting of the timber,” the indictment said. “When the cutters harvested the timber, it would be transported to various sawmills who would determine a price and pay Titan Timber.”
But that’s not what actually happened, the indictment charged. Instead, he used proceeds from one investor to repay others and spent their money for his own personal expenses and lifestyle. 
The defense offered a somewhat different spin on events:
In a sentence memorandum, defense lawyer Ryan Maesen of Walker said, “For a time, the business went as planned and investors were paid off.

Wildlife

Robins may be a predictor of dangerous lead levels in soil, study finds

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By Eric Freedman
Capital News Service
Remember the canary in the coal mine? If the caged canary died, that was an urgent early warning for miners that the air was too dangerous to breathe and to get above-ground as quickly as possible. Now there’s evidence from Southeast Michigan that the American robin can provide an early warning about dangerous lead levels in the soil. A new study in the journal “Urban Ecosystems” found that high blood lead levels in robins can accurately predict where soil is contaminated. 
Exposure of children to lead is linked to damage to their nervous system and brain, learning and behavioral problems, and speech and hearing problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is relatively little knowledge about the health impacts of blood lead levels on songbirds such as robins.

E. Coli
Water

E. coli outbreaks can hurt real estate values, study finds

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By Eric Freedman

Capital News Service

Outbreaks of the waterborne bacteria E. coli can lower local real estate values, at least temporarily, a new study says. Those outbreaks, which have become increasingly common, are a growing concern in coastal and inland communities, particularly in rural counties, according to the study by researchers from Saginaw Valley State University, Cornell University and the University of Rhode Island. “In Michigan, the presence of E. coli has become problematic for many areas where agricultural run-off and ineffective policies have made these outbreaks endemic,” the study said. As for the negative economic impact on homes within one mile of an outbreak, the study found that “proximity to E. coli outbreaks leads to an 8.9% price drop for houses sold during the outbreaks, which is over $13,000 for the average home.”

coli can cause serious illness and death, and is increasingly common due to climate change, especially in the Great Lakes region, it said. Symptoms included diarrhea, fever and vomiting, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Recreation

Audit: Michigan must do better monitoring recreational trails

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By Eric Freedman

Capital News Service

Michigan boasts thousands of miles of trails for snowmobilers, hikers, off-road vehicle operators, dog-walkers, bicyclists, snowshoers and horseback riders, but the Department of Natural Resources needs to improve how it monitors them. That’s the conclusion of the state Auditor General’s Office, which said DNR fell short in monitoring and inspecting the trail system. The office is a nonpartisan legislative agency that assesses how well state programs and departments operate. Its report also said DNR should do better in communicating with county sheriffs’ departments on funding for trail-related law enforcement and safety. The Auditor General said the department failed to notify sheriffs’ offices about $180,000 in additional funding that the Legislature authorized for ORV law enforcement grants in fiscal year 2023.

Wildlife

Oaks under threat from invading insects, warming temperatures, disease 

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By Eric Freedman

Capital News Service

The mighty oak may be in trouble in the Great Lakes region – and climate change is largely to blame. A mix of factors is in play, including rising temperatures, more severe and intense rainstorms, increasing susceptibility to plant-eating animals and vulnerability to disease-causing microorganisms, a new study from Michigan Technological University says. “Oaks have evolved a range of adaptations to dry and hot conditions and have an increased range of suitable habitat with climate change,” according to the study in the journal Forests. They were a pioneer species in the Great Lakes region before widespread European settlement, said Amanda Stump, the lead author of the research, and can do well with extreme temperatures. Even so, the study warns, warmer winters, extreme weather events, diseases and extended ranges of herbivores “may still put oaks at risk.”

And that can jeopardize what Stump describes as the important role oaks play in supplying food – acorns – in the fall for bears, turkeys, birds and other wildlife.

Land

Illegal dumping nets probation sentence in Ohio fish kill

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By Eric Freedman

 

A federal judge has sentenced an Ohio business owner to one year on probation and a $5,000 fine for illegally dumping a hazardous ammonia-containing substance into the Scioto River near Kenton. The crime killed more than 40,000 fish. U.S. Magistrate Judge Darrell Clay also ordered Mark Shepherd, 72, to perform 150 hours of community service and pay $22,509 to the Ohio Division of Wildlife for violating the Clean Water Act. Shepherd, who co-owns a chemical and fertilizer transportation business, had pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge after an investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency and state agencies. Here’s what happened, according to court documents: In April 2021, Shepherd commingled water from a tanker trailer used to transport anhydrous ammonia – a nitrogen fertilizer — with 7,000 gallons of clean water, then disposed of it into a catch basin.

Nearshore

Deliberate sinking on Lake Ontario nets conviction

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By Eric Freedman

A Rochester, N.Y., man who deliberately abandoned and sunk his 25-foot Bayliner in Lake Ontario must pay $15,442 restitution to cover the cost of unnecessary search-and-rescue operations. Vyacheslav Migitskiy admitted lying to federal investigators about his ownership of the boat, according to court documents. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Migitskiy “intentionally sunk the vessel without reporting his actions” on Aug. 25, 2022. The next day, civilians spotted the partially submerged boat, triggering an immediate search-and-rescue operation by the Coast Guard, New York State Police and other agencies.

Pieces of wreckage of the Mojave are visible on the bottom of Lake Michigan near Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Image: Wisconsin Historical Society
Echo

Ship doomed on Lake Michigan now moored on National Register of Historic Places

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By Eric Freedman

A Detroit-built sailing ship that sank in Lake Michigan during an 1864 storm has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The three-masted Mojave, only 1 year old at the time, went down in heavy weather while northbound on the route from Chicago to Buffalo with a load of grain. A newspaper reported at the time: “The master of the bark Monarch reported seeing the Mojave drop into the troughs of the heavy seas that were running at the time, become swamped and disappear.”

The doomed ship was never seen again. At least five crew members died, including 30-year-old Capt. Darius Nelson Malott, and “their remains were not recovered,” according to the Wisconsin Historical Society. The inscription on Malott’s memorial marker in Lakeview Cemetery in Leamington, Ontario, reads, “Lost with the Barque Mojave on Lake Michigan.”

In 2016, shipwreck hunter Steve Radovan discovered the well-preserved Mojave 12½ miles northeast of the Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Breakwater Lighthouse.