North Shore Morning

Cook County Middle School offers students a variety of exploratory classes that are exciting and fun. In this edition of CCMS School News, Industrial Technology instructor Sam West talks about his exploratory classes.

It looks like a part of the new moose research project that is being coordinated by the Department of Natural Resources might come to Sawbill.  DNR wildlife biologist Dave Ingebrigtson, from Grand Marais, stopped by recently to let us know that public parking lot here at Sawbill might be used as a helicopter landing pad starting this week.  It may include a fuel tanker, support crew and a heated trailer used by state veterinarians as a portable laboratory.  He even mentioned the possibility of a moose being brought into the parking lot in a sling under the chopper.
 
Dave said the activity, or lack of activity, here at Sawbill will depend on where moose are found and many other details related to the research.  I sure hope they end up here because it would be fun to watch the research at close range – and it’s always entertaining to have a helicopter in the neighborhood.
 
About 15 years ago, the DNR was doing a project near here that involved using a helicopter to spread tree seeds.  The pilot, who was a private contractor, landed here at Sawbill a couple of hours before his fuel truck arrived, so we invited him to kill time by joining us for lunch.  At the end of the meal, he pushed his chair back, looked at our two younger children and asked if they would like a ride.  He insisted that we all go, two at a time.  He had spent years giving rides at county fairs, so he really knew how to show the yokels a good time.  It is one of our family’s favorite memories, all the more so for being so unexpected.
 
I don’t reckon we’ll be so lucky this time around, but it sure would be fun to be in a helicopter that was flying close enough to a moose to shoot it with a tranquilizer gun.
 
The new skating rink and warming house at Birch Grove is now fully open for business. With this extended cold snap that has settled in, the skating should be ideal.  The lights are on until 10 every night and the warming house is open most of the time.
 
The popular boot hockey tournament held at the Birch Grove skating rink already has four teams signed up for the contest scheduled for Friday, Janu. 25.  If you want to get in on the January tournament, you should email [email protected] right away and you can probably still squeeze in.  A second tournament is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 9 and it’s not too early to register for that. A team consists of five or six players who are at least 12 years old.  Each game is 25 minutes long and the tournament runs until a champion is crowned.  Regardless of their win/loss record, each team will receive a complimentary Sven and Ole’s pizza, thanks to Sven and Ole’s and Grand Marais State Bank.
 
Birch Grove is also recruiting West End residents to its Keep It Moving team.  This is part of the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic’s program that has businesses and organizations in Cook County tracking how many miles they have walked, run or biked to be plotted as distance around Lake Superior.  The idea is to see how many virtual circle tours your team can make around the big lake and compare that with your friends and neighbors’ efforts.  You can join the Birch Grove team, log your miles and keep track of the progress on the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic website.
 
Even though it is rare to see a moose these days, lynx sightings continue to be fairly routine here in the West End.  I saw two lynx on my way to Ely last week, and another West End resident shared a lynx photo that their trail cam captured.  It’s sure good to have the big cats around again and it looks like there are plenty of snowshoe hare for them to eat at the moment.
 
I drove over to Ely because I was invited to a meeting with Sen. Al Franken on the issue of the state owned school trust lands in the BWCA Wilderness.  The issue of school trust lands goes all the way back to when Minnesota was declared a state.  Over the years, this has been a political football that has been kicked all over the field and even occasionally out of bounds.  The meeting I attended was made up of business owners whose businesses are directly tied, in one way or another, to the BWCA Wilderness. 
 
The issues surrounding these state land holdings are unbelievably complex, detailed and arcane.  I couldn’t begin to go into them here without causing a quick and sharp drop in listenership.  But, I will say that I was very impressed with how thoroughly Sen. Franken is striving to understand the issue.  He is meeting with federal, state, county, township and school officials, mining concerns, business people, environmental interests, hunting and fishing interests and anyone else he can find who cares about public lands and/or public education.  He likely now knows more about the issue than any other living person and will be using that knowledge to guide the drafting of any future legislation.  It was a pleasure to see a politician doing his homework so thoroughly and thoughtfully.
 
While on the subject of politics, I hope my fellow gun owners will join me in supporting some long overdue common sense regulations.  The scorched earth politics of certain gun advocacy groups have long annoyed me. It’s time to set aside wild fantasies of government conspiracies and do what we need to do to protect our children from guns that are manufactured for only one purpose – to kill lots of people very quickly. The time has come.
 
Airdate: January 17, 2013

Influenza has made its way up to Cook County. In this edition of Sawtooth Mountain Elementary School News, School Nurse Kay Borud tells us more about how to deal with influenza.

Real Gunflint Trail winter weather remains a non-issue as the area enters week two of the New Year. Many of us are holidayed out and the post celebratory blahs are being compounded with neither bitter cold nor new snow.
 
It seems that this global warming phenomenon has our area by the throat and is not going to let go. It makes me wonder if brazen winter, as it was once, will ever get over this seemingly endless arid illness.
 
The Wildersmith neighborhood went through December with not one really good snow, and the first days of January have followed suit. Nearly every place in the nation that gets snow, and even some spots where it is rare and unwanted, have been blessed with what this area cherishes. It’s downright shameful.
 
While snow depths are minimal throughout the Gunflint corridor, there was enough to provide fast tracking for the dogs in the first Gichigami Express sled dog race over this past weekend. The race commemorates the long tradition of mushing in the northeast corner of Minnesota.
 
The mid-trail area was abuzz with mushers and their teams after the first leg was completed to Hungry Jack Lodge Sunday afternoon. Crews then gathered at Trail Center Lodge for the “Barbeque in the Bush” and the overnight.
 
This event was a great moment for conversation about the first day’s run around a blazing fire, and for feasting under the stars. The scrumptious fare was provided by Sarah and her staff at the TC Restaurant.
 
The next morning found racers assembling for breakfast at Windigo Lodge. Starting positions for the beginning of the second (Monday) leg of the three-day event were handed out, and they were off.
 
Once again the Gunflint community showed off its character of super hospitality and organizational skills. Big thanks are extended to organizers, many volunteers, all the participating race teams and some wonderful sponsors. It was a “woofing” good time!
 
This weekend marks the opening of trout fishing season. Lakes will be drilled full of holes as thousands of anglers will be scattered about the icy surfaces in every kind of venue imaginable. Soft as we Americans are, there will be few if any fisher folk actually sitting out on a bucket as once practiced.
 
Speaking more of ice angling, I heard a recent story about a fellow fishing for other species on Gunflint Lake when the old Gal let off with some activity that sent him trembling.
 
Seems the guy had just finished drilling his hole through the ice when he heard a thundering boom in the distance to the east. What happened next has probably happened to others before, but it was a first for this fellow.
 
Seconds after the boom, he heard ice cracking. The noise was faint at first but grew louder as the cracking meandered westward. He soon realized the fracturing was coming in his direction.
 
Stunned by the advancing fissure, he retreated toward shore. In a short time, the re-structuring ice terminated at the exact location of his drilling spot.
 
In the moment of culmination, water spouted out of the hole and all was silent once more. I don’t know if he returned to his intended activity, but he sure has a chilling story to tell the folks back home about a day on the Gunflint.
 
By the way, ice on Gunflint Lake continues to sing its song of the season. As she has extended her often woeful tones while fitting into her crystal coat, many pressure ridges have been heaving upward. Folks traversing the lake on power sleds to their favorite fishing spot should be paying close attention to these often obscure frozen hazards.
 
Keep on hangin’ on and savor a couple trout in the pan!

Airdate: January 11, 2013

Photo by Stephan Hoglund.

The National Geographic society holds a national contest each year. Cook County Middle School students just recently participated in the 2^nd round of the local competition.  The winner may go on to the state level. In this edition of Cook County Middle School News, teacher Dorie Carlson to tell us more about the geography bee.

Sisters Mildred Potter Thoreson and Honey Potter Eliasen grew up with their three other siblings Marge, Pat and Merle in the Hovland and the Pigeon River area.  In this edition of Moments in Time, Mildred and Honey swap stories about growing up on the North Shore back in the 1940’s and 50’s.

Back in the woods, winter is holding its own a little better than in the rest of the region.  Here at Sawbill, as of Jan. 9, we’ve had a season total of just less than 30 inches of snow.  Between normal settling and a couple of heat waves, there are 10 inches left standing on the ground.  It’s kind of sad, and a sign of the times, that we now welcome every inch of snow as a big event.  Not too many years ago, a four-inch snowfall was barely worthy of comment. 
 
Joe Fredrickson, from Silver Bay, who was injured in an accidental explosion at the power plant in Schroeder way back at the end of October, came home from the hospital on Christmas Eve after more than two months at the Miller-Dwan Burn Unit in Duluth.  His recovery has been painful, slow and difficult, but when he rolled into Silver Bay, the town’s people lined the streets to cheer and welcome him home.  Although it is a little hard to read, you can follow Joe’s progress at his Caring Bridge site by searching it for Joseph Fredrickson.  His steady progress and hard work will eventually bring him to full recovery, but it is a hard road that he has to walk.
 
I just received word that my friend, Tom Parent, originally from Schroeder and recently from Silver Bay has passed away at age 57.  The Parents are pioneers in Schroeder and trace their regional roots back for countless generations.  I’m sure I join the whole community in offering my condolences to Tom’s family and friends.
 
I’d like to add my congratulations to Art and Lavonne Anderson who were recently named Schroeder Citizens of the Year.  Their kindness toward their neighbors was mentioned in the recognition.  I can only say that they probably should have been named Citizens of the Decade, but otherwise the honor couldn’t be better placed.
 
The BWCA Wilderness overnight permit reservation system is slightly different this year.  All reservations for the entry points in Cook County can be reserved on a first come, first served basis starting at 9 a.m. Jan. 30.  Each entry point has a daily quota on the number of parties that can begin their trips that day.  The reservation system used to be a little more complicated, but now that almost all permits are reserved online, it has been streamlined and is really very easy and convenient.  The website is recreation.gov, which is the main portal for all federal facilities.  Once there, it is easy to find the BWCA Wilderness and follow the simple steps to reserve the permit for your canoe trip.  You only need to know for sure which entry point you will use and the date you will actually enter the wilderness.  Where you travel in the wilderness, how long you stay, how many people in your party and where you exit the wilderness can all be flexible right up until you actually start the trip.  If you don’t like booking things online, there is still a toll-free number available.  You can get it by contacting any U. S. Forest Service office.
 
The forest service office in Grand Marais has recently installed an interesting lobby display on the geology of Cook County.  Well-known geologist John Green created the display, which tells the rich and fascinating story of Cook County’s 2.7-billion-year geological history.  John’s credentials as an expert on our geology include a full career teaching at UMD, an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth and a Ph.D. from Harvard.  I can’t wait to see the display.  I’ve always wanted to know more about our geology, but could never make it through the geology textbooks.  Honestly, reading a geology textbook puts me to sleep faster than being hit over the head.  A lively display with actual rocks to pick up should save me from the embarrassment of keeling over and snoring right in the forest service lobby.

ST. PAUL (AP) - Governor Mark Dayton has declared this "Radon Action Month" in Minnesota, and the state is encouraging residents to get their homes tested.

(Click on the audio mp3 above to hear an interview with Andrew Gilbert, Radon Outreach Program Coordinator with the Minnesota Department of Health.)
 
More than 40 percent of Minnesota homes have dangerous levels of radon, an odorless, colorless but radioactive gas.  The Minnesota Department of Health says one person in the U.S. dies from radon-related lung cancer every 25 minutes.  It's the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers, but health officials say the risk is largely preventable.
 
Over 40 local public health agencies around the state have partnered with the Health Department to make over 8,000 radon test kits available to residents at low or no cost.
 
Over 1,000 Minnesota homeowners every year install radon reduction systems, but that's a small percentage of the homes that should have them.

More information about low cost radon test kits can be found online at www.radon.mn.com, or by calling the Minnesota Department of Health at 1-800-798-9050.

Happy New Year everyone from the upper Gunflint Trail! Here’s wishing for an upbeat 2013!
 
The passing of 2012 was quiet and uneventful along the scenic byway. Mother Nature kissed off a record year with a light snow freshener of about three inches in the Wildersmith neighborhood and other varying amounts throughout the corridor.
 
Chapter 13 of the young century was unwrapped with a breath of cold from the great Northwest. Old Man Winter dropped in with gusty winds. He gave the weather forecasting folks an opportunity to finally warn people who can’t figure out it’s cold enough to be dangerous. Yes, we had wind chill!
 
Although temps were not that real mucous-freezing kind of minus 40 to 50 below, the annual calendar transition made for super ice-making conditions on area lakes. A friend down the road called to inform me there were eight inches of clear crystal on the Gunflint surface. That’s pretty good when she only first covered up a few days before Christmas.
 
Yours truly hopes the coming yearly segment is not a repeat of the previous. We surely don’t need back-to-back atmospheric happenings that shattered records in all sorts of categories.  In fact, many climatic legends of which folks have been able to brag were altered. It’s embarrassing to our tough weather survival persona.
 
Reflecting on the winter of 2012, it was pretty much a season that wasn’t, both on the front end, January through March, and then again on the back end, November and December.
 
A view at the temperature side of the ledger found neither true border country bitter cold nor extended periods of sub zero which is this territory’s character. The resulting over-all warmth led to the latest freeze up on Gunflint Lake (Dec. 29, 2011), and the earliest ice-out (Mar. 25, 2012) in any living resident’s memory.
 
As to the white count, the area around Wildersmith received a puny 50 inches total as it too made a premature exit along with its frozen lake surface cousin. This amounts to about one-half the usual dose.
 
The stunted winter led to an early spring with flora budding out in abundance not long into April. Our sad moisture situation led to a dangerously dry time that had folks on edge concerning wildfire. Fortunately there were no calamities close by.
 
Obviously, residents were able to get their wildfire sprinkler systems up in preparedness with the early available open lake water. We were all thankful that the units did not have to be used except for an occasional practice run.
 
The long spring oozed into summer with a brief late May, early June respite from the drought conditions. Lake levels rebounded with an increased bubbling frenzy from streams and rivers of the watershed.
 
This wetter period was short lived from the summer solstice on, as precipitation frequencies dropped. The lake level here on the Gunflint and most other bodies dwindled to unusually low levels, leaving broader shorelines, unnerving rocks for boat operators and some precarious dock situations.
 
A warmer than usual summer sun dried the territory out once more, again complicating normal activities in a tinder-dry forest.  Although there were not too many unbearably hot days, there were, nevertheless, more days of perspiring than one would like at this latitude, while lake water temps topped out in the mid- to upper 70s (almost like bath water to we northerners).
 
Conditions of parching extended into autumn, with everyone hoping that there would be a turn around. Such was not to happen however. Hopes were raised for perhaps an early winter as we had a day of some brief flurries and sleet late in September. This flicker turned out as only a false alarm.
 
The lack of dampness extended right up ‘til New Year’s Eve, leaving streams with barely a trickle, fall colors somewhat abysmal and the forest flora desperately thirsty going into the frozen earth season. The first substantial snow did not come until right after Thanksgiving, and that gave way to an early December meltdown.
 
In spite of the atmospheric negatives during the past year, our wilderness forest and its inhabitants remain unbelievably adaptable. Both the deciduous and coniferous character seemed to have had a good growing year, and the animals of the wild neighborhood remain energetically involved in survival.
 
Hope always springs eternal throughout this northern paradise, so I’m betting that 2013 will see a natural bouncing back. Needless to say, yours truly is continuing with the snow dance ritual.
 
Closing this week’s commentary, excitement is building for the big Gitchigami Express sled dog race. The event, which treks only through Cook County, including a leg running out through the Gunflint woods, commences this Sunday morning (Jan. 6) from Grand Portage.
 
So this weekend is going to the dogs, get out and show them your support! The racers will be expected at Hungry Jack Lodge late Sunday afternoon. Spectators will be able to meet the mushers that same evening during their banquet feed at Trail Center. Monday’s leg will commence after their breakfast from Windigo Lodge at around 9 a.m.
 
Keep on hangin’ on, and savor thoughts for a great new year!

Airdate: January 4, 2013