Here's a real conservation hero

I suspect none of you care one bit about what Ed Landmichl continues to do, but you should. If I was his instructor in high school, I would give this 75-year-old Chicagoan an "A" for extra credit.

If I was his company commander in the Army or Marines, I would demand he be awarded a medal for meritorious service to mankind.

And if I had any guts and extra cash, I would buy him a new suit and then march him in front of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers along with presenting him to the U.S. Senate. I would help force the Corps and lawmakers to pay attention to Slow Eddy, and heed his warnings and words of wisdom.

Ed is a very outspoken area conservationist, angler and pain in the butt to a lot of lawmakers and do-nothing bureaucrats. He sends me hand written letters along with newspaper clippings every month about the plight of the Great Lakes as well as research papers pertaining to the boondoggle some of us know as the ineffective electric barrier on the Chicago Shipping Canal on the far south side.

An electric barrier had been erected there to keep Asian carp from vacationing in Lake Michigan. According to Ed, the barrier is a huge failure.

Because Landmichl lacks the social graces and professionalism favored by the bureaucrats, he's been referred to as a gadfly. Ed admits his patience is short, like mine in fact, but his frustration level is so elevated that when I see him in person, his face sustains a constant red palor.

Landmichl is not the kind of person to cry wolf about the Great Lakes, but rather does his research so well that he asserts the powers that be don't want to know about unwanted, invasive, harmful species of waterborn creatures that could negatively effect the public's health.

One of his latest campaigns involves tapeworms found in Lake Huron walleyes. The tapeworm is the 18th invader to establish residence in our beloved Great Lakes. Granted, some species of tapeworm are supposedly native creatures that attach themselves to sport fish, but this new discovery is the Asian Fish Tapeworm, one of the world's most "pernicious" invaders which could reach a foot long once inside a sport fish.

Several years ago Landmichl appeared on my outdoor radio talk show and we discussed his pilgrimages to various legislative meetings. He just shook his head while talking about how difficult it is to get federal lawmakers and the handful of federal agencies to take action to stop the potential pollution as well as the unwanted, invasive species. I'm talking about the zebra mussel and round goby, plus imported aquatic fleas. These critters get into our sacred water supply after hitching rides in the ballast tanks of ships coming from all over the world.

The Asian and silver carp, now a thriving rough fish species mainly residing in the Illinois River, made the long journey from a southern farm pond when flood conditions pushed these fish out of their holding areas.

It's been a sad state of affairs in recent years when a small handful of outdoor writers took pot shots at Ed Landmichl because of his eccentric behavior and accusatory finger-pointing aimed at the lumbering bureaucracies.

But I say if it takes an old timer like Slow Eddie to wake people up, then so be it.

This guy is looking out for you and your health interests. And that's why he deserves the accolades and a medal for being an unsung hero. I sure hope he has enough steam left in him to stick around for a long time.