North Shore Morning

Article 11 of the Treaty of 1854 provides for the retained rights to hunting, fishing and gathering of resources in lands ceded by Anishinaabe tribes in 1854.

Sonny Meyers, the Director of the 1854 Treaty Authority, and Grand Portage Tribal Chair Norman Deschampe, explain the meaning of ceded territory in exchange for retained rights and how tribal resource management differs from the State of Minnesota's approach to resource management.

Director Meyers also stresses the importance of educating the public and local officials about treaty rights and reflects on public perceptions about the "tribal take" versus the "tribal give."
 

Hi.  I’m Chris Beal, wildlife biologist for the Gunflint and Tofte Ranger Districts, with a Halloween edition of the National Forest Update  -  information on conditions affecting travel and recreation here on the east side of the Superior National Forest. For the week of October 30, here’s what’s going on in the Forest.
It’s Halloween this weekend!  We don’t expect many ghouls and goblins in the forest, but you never know.  Watch out for those trick or treaters around town though, they may be haunting the place all night.
In the woods, keep an eye open for hunters.  Rifle deer season will be opening on November 7^th, and if you haven’t started already, now is the time to wear orange when out for a hike.  On the other end of the rifle, hunters should always practice gun safety and wait for a clear shot of an identifiable target before pulling the trigger.
Other people who you might see in the woods are those gathering balsam boughs for wreaths.  It may be scary to think about Christmas at Halloween, but wreath makers are buying or collecting boughs right now.  If you are harvesting boughs, you may collect a limited amount for personal use, but you will need a permit for larger amounts and commercial use.  Check our website for details on permit requirements and for information on how to collect balsam boughs in a sustainable way.  Remember too that collection of ground pine and Princess Pine is not allowed anywhere on the Forest.
Speaking of Christmas, winter weather is approaching.  It’s been a while since any of us have driven on snow and ice, so take it easy when that first snowstorm hits.  This last bit of warm weather is a good time to outfit your car with winter emergency equipment and get yourself and your vehicle ready for six months of hard water.
The fire crews will still be burning piles as weather permits, so you may see some smoke from those fires.  It is still worthwhile to report smoke, our offices will know where pile burning is taking place and be able to tell if it is a wildfire or one of our burn piles.
There are some active timber harvests going on this week.  On the Tofte side, expect to see logging traffic on FR 369 and FR 380 near Sawbill Landing.  There is also activity north of Whitefish Lake; so trucks will be hauling timber on FR 348, FR 170, and Lake County 7.  Finally, there are operations north of Plouff Creek, with hauling on FR 1238, Cook County 2, and The Grade.
On the Gunflint district, hauling is taking place on Greenwood Road, Firebox Road, Shoe Lake Road, the Old Greenwood Road, the South Brule River Road, the Lima Grade, and the Gunflint Trail.
In the spirit of Halloween, we are helping with a national effort to set a Guiness World Record for number of bat houses built in day.  Join us from 3 to 6 pm at the AmericInn in Silver Bay to make a bat house that you can take home.  This program was made possible by a donation of lumber from Hedstrom’s Lumber Mill, and with the cooperation of Tettegouche State Park, Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center, the AmericInn Silver Bay, and Bat Conservation International.  Supplies are limited.
Have a good and scary Halloween!  Until next week, this has been Chris Beal with the National Forest Update.
 

Keenan and Sylvia report the latest School News.

Field Notes with Molly Hoffman can be heard every Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning between 8:00 and 10:00 from April through October. Support for Field Notes comes from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

(Photo courtesy of Seabrooke Leckie on Flickr)

The umpteenth annual Lutefisk and Ham Dinner at Zoar Lutheran Church in Tofte is scheduled for Saturday, November 14, from 5-7 pm.  This very popular fundraiser has deep roots, going back to the arrival of the original Norwegian immigrants on the North Shore.  In fact, it really goes back to pre-historic Scandinavia when fish had to be preserved for longer periods of time than simple drying would allow.
 
Lutefisk is dried cod fish that is soaked in a lye mixture for two days at which point it is dangerously corrosive.  An additional 5 days of soaking in cold water, changed daily, makes it edible – at least according to some people.
 
The directions for making lutefisk specifically warn against leaving it in the lye mixture for too long because saponification of the fish fats may occur.  This led me to Wikipedia where I learned that saponification is the process that produces soap, usually from fats and lye.  Saponification is a great vocabulary word, but not one that you usually see in a recipe.
 
Of course, the most notorious fact about lutefisk is - what I will politely call - its “distinctive” odor.  The taste is surprisingly mild though, especially when slathered with melted butter.  The mouth feel is a bit strange.  Think fish-flavored Jello and you’ll be close.  If lutefisk isn’t for you, the good cooks at Zoar make plenty of ham, which is an equally traditional dish for Norwegian-Americans. 
 
This year, for the first time, the church is asking people to make reservations for the dinner and the number of diners will be limited to 100.  All you have to do is call the church at 663-7925 to leave a message with your name and how many people you are bringing.  You can pay the night of the dinner.
 
This is a quick reminder to return your ballots for the general operating school levy referendum before November 3. You can also vote in person on November 3 at the courthouse in Grand Marais.
 
The West End lost two of its most vivid citizens this month.
 
Rob McCampbell died at home in Tofte on October 19.  Since moving to Tofte, Rob spent most of his years at his beautiful cabin on Pancore Lake.  When the Cross River Café was still in business in Schroeder, Rob was a regular, driving all the way down from Pancore to hang out with his friends.  He had an outgoing personality that served him well as he developed a retirement business of selling Turkish rugs.  He ran the Uhller ski lift at the hill for several years.  He would keep detailed and interesting conversations going with multiple people as they cycled through the lift, demonstrating his keen mind and sharp wit.  He was deeply in love with his wife, Perihan.
 
Bernie Sajdak, from Schroeder, died on October 18.  Bernie was a renaissance man with a brilliant mind and a wide range of practical skills.  He did many jobs through his life, including a busy lawn care business most recently.  Bernie also planted many thousands of trees on contract with the Forest Service.  He was an unstoppable tree planter, who loved to work long hours alone.  For many years afterward, he would visit his planting areas to check on their progress and was pleased with the big contribution he had made to the future of our forests.
 
Perhaps Bernie’s greatest passion was his skill as a trapper.  He was an old-school trapper who ranged deep in the woods, where he plied his trade based on his vast and detailed knowledge of animal behavior.  Bernie loved working by himself in the woods.  He always said that his dog never argued with him about when and where they went.  He was one of a small number of people who have been trampled by a moose, although he always made it clear that he didn’t blame the moose. I doubt if there are many left who understand the woods like Bernie did.
 
Bernie always expressed his gratitude for the love shown him by his beautiful and resourceful wife, Bobbie, and his talented and successful children.  I’m sure the whole West End joins me in wishing them our deepest condolences.
 
The West End will never be quite the same without Rob and Bernie among us.
 

Sophia and Kalina report the latest School News.

In the streams and on the shoals, the Coaster Brook Trout are busy. WTIP’s Jay Andersen talks with naturalist Chel Anderson about spawning coasters.

Emerald ash borer was discovered in trees last week in Duluth. This is as far north as the invasive insect has been reported in Minnesota, raising concern that it will eventually spread throughout the North Shore. WTIP News Reporter Joe Friedrichs hears what experts have to say about this.

If you see something, say something.  Bullying is not okay, for kids or adults.  North Shore Morning hosts Randy Eastlund and Sherrie Lindskog spoke with Sara Hadley of Cook County Public Health and Human Services.

Since our last radio visit, my self-imposed criteria was met in regard to declaring autumn history, in spite of what the calendar says. Winter at Wildersmith happened a few days ago when after a cold night, the following daytime high temperature failed to rise above the freezing mark.

Furthermore, this neighborhood had several mornings of hard frost before recovering in the early part of the week. And to take the cold even more seriously, the area had a forecast one evening featuring the “s” word; however, none of the white stuff is known to have materialized. A mediocre rain fell in concert with a blast of nighttime winds bringing our color show to an abrupt end, ushering in the aforesaid cold spell. Yep, most all leaves have blanketed the wilderness landscape.

This has left the forest with eerie skeletal remains reaching up into the territorial heavens. To view from afar, across our valleys to the surrounding granite hillsides, our denuded trees look to be a mass of gauzy cobwebs with a ghostly cast. How appropriate “Mother Nature” is so casually playing a key role, in adding to the Halloween mood.

As the deciduous part of the forest met its demise, the last character of autumn is glowing radiantly out this way. It's “tamarack time” along the Trail. This final act of the growing season finds our golden coniferous spires brightly lighting up the byway. It’s almost to the point of a blinding blur against a sunlit backdrop. Sadly, these luminous needles don’t last long, and they’ll be raining down with the next gush of pre-winter flurry. In the meantime, this sylvan spectacle is one to behold!

The cold being such, I’ve broken out the winter Carhartt. As I put finishing touches on “getting ready for winter" chores, I must say keeping the warmth in felt pretty good to the creaky old bones!

Speaking of wearing apparel, a mystery of such is ongoing after a recent laundry drying incident. On one of these last days where clothes could be hung out on the line to dry, my wife dispatched a few items, giving no thought about what might happen, other than fresh-smelling garments at day's end. Following several hours in the sun and a fall breeze, she proceeded to retrieve her hangings. Unpinning the last item (a black t-shirt of yours truly), the unit was found to be tattered beyond belief in two locations where it was attached to the line. The mystery is how this did happen? The shirt was in mint condition when hung up. To date there are no substantial answers. The notion is some tight-wire trekking critter is to blame. Conjecture around the house, as well as with neighbors, focuses on either squirrels, chipmunks or woodpeckers. The answer may never be confirmed, but my best guess is, it was a squirrel in need of winter quarters nesting material.

It wouldn’t be the first time around here one of the red rodents has made off with some man-made materials. On one occasion, I observed a red gnawer running off with a cotton glove I had left out. Then at another time, I watched one of the varmints untie a swatch of hemp-like twine from a winter-tethered shrub. The twine, incidentally, ended up as part of a nest in the HVAC unit of my vehicle (a costly fix to be sure). So my assumption possibly has substance, nevertheless, I’m out one of those nice (but not cheap) Duluth Trading Co. shirts.

On a final note, in regard to last week's comments about the energetic chickadees swarming me anytime I’m outside, the lady of the house has now been adopted by a pair of the dainty birds. They won’t leave her alone since she started offering an open hand full of seeds. It’s so amusing to observe this moment in nature as they pluck one seed at a time from her hand, zip off to a nearby branch, hold the seed down with their mini-clawed toes, crack it open, munch it down and zoom back for another. What a ritual! This newly acquired friendship is the “best of all worlds” in terms of pet/human relationships. They really don’t need you, but they’ll be your pal and entertain you -- for a treat of course. And, they can be left alone without the neighbor having to care for them.

This is Fred Smith, on the Trail, at Wildersmith, counting the days ‘til the forest becomes crystalline!

( Photo by Larry Krause on Flickr)