North Shore Morning

As planning for a new Cook County Community Center continues, one of the options being looked at is a management partnership with the Duluth YMCA. We spoke with Duluth YMCA CEO Chris Francis during the Wednesday, May 2, AM Calendar show to learn more about what that partnership might look like.

Photo courtesy of joelsp via Flickr.

As planning for a new Cook County Community Center continues, we're taking a closer look at schools around the state that have attached community centers, to find out how that’s working and what they’ve learned.  To start the series off, we spoke with Redwood Falls School District superintendent Rick Ellingworth.  They built their attached community center 12 years ago, and there are 1,213 students in the district.

Many streams along the Minnesota coast of Lake Superior have been listed as impaired from either high turbidity or high fish mercury concentrations or both.  In this interview, WTIP volunteer Veronica Weadock talks with Elaine Ruzycki about her research into the correlation of turbidity and total mercury to total suspended sediment in many disturbed watersheds.  

Ruzycki is a research fellow at the Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI) (www.nrri.umn.edu) at the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD).  In a study that was funded in part by Minnesota Sea Grant (www.seagrant.umn.edu), turbidity and total mercury concentrations and loads were estimated in four western Lake Superior watersheds from 2005-2006 using automated in-stream turbidity measurements. (Ruzycki EM, Axler RP, Henneck J, Will NR, Host GE. 2011. Estimating mercury concentrations and loads from four western Lake Superior watersheds using continuous in-stream turbidity monitoring. Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management.)

Photo by Rufus Sarsaparilla.  This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Rufus Sarsaparilla at the wikipedia project. This applies worldwide.  http://commons.wikimedia.org

Dr. Seth Moore is Director of Biology and Environment with the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

The Grand Portage Reservation is located in the extreme northeast corner of Minnesota, on the North Shore of Lake Superior in Cook County. Bordered on the north by Canada, on the south and east by Lake Superior and on the west by Grand Portage State Forest, the reservation encompasses a historic fur trade site on beautiful Grand Portage Bay.

The band engages in fisheries and wildlife research projects throughout the year, working with moose, wolves, fish, deer, grouse, and environmental issues. Dr. Moore appears regularly on WTIP North Shore Community Radio, talking about the band's current and ongoing natural resource projects, as well as other environmental and health related issues of concern.

In this segment, Dr. Moore talks about Grand Portage Trust Lands - what they are are how they're managed at Grand Portage.  Produced by Carah Thomas.

Deane Morrison is a science writer at the University of Minnesota, where she authors the Minnesota Starwatch column. In this edition of Northern Sky, there's a lot going on in the month of May. Deane gives us the details on the full "supermoon" on the fifth, an update on Saturn and Mars, and explains the transit of Venus, which will be taking place soon.

Read this month's Starwatch column.

Photo courtesy of John Cudworth via Flickr.

The universe, north woods included, is about to bid farewell to month four and ascend into segment five of the year 2012. By our next meeting on the radio/website, border country will be well into May, and about to celebrate the full “budding flowers moon,” (Zaagibagaa Giizis) on day six.

My how April flew by! Everything transitional in the northern outdoors has retreated somewhat, now proceeding more or less normally, following the warmest March in memory. The walleye spawn has slowed and deciduous buds have gone into a holding pattern.

With samples of winter raising its ire as we journeyed through the past 30 days, we forest dwellers got a little bit of everything Mother Nature has to offer. It’s time to settle things down from that up and down passage into a real spring.

With shoots of green reappearing through the dwindling snow, this is a time for the reality of rebirth to get going in earnest. Mallards are hatching and next generations of foxes, wolves, otters and many other wild creatures have been coming into the world. Meanwhile, spiders, caterpillars, beetles and a million other crawling creatures are popping out just in time for the return of hungry avians. I even observed a beetle-like critter crawling over the new snow.

I’m told that the first wood ticks are out and about, although none have found yours truly during early outdoor chores. Beyond those nasty pests, a more pleasant announcement signals the true vernal return, the birds of Minnesota have landed. Yes, loons have come back to Gunflint Lake during the past week. I’ve heard that some were back to other area lakes the week prior, but regardless of the timing, it’s great to hear those sweet northwoods calls.

As the last snow moved on, leaving a smooth forest blanket, we at Wildersmith were paid a visit by at least a part of the Gunflint/Loon lake wolf pack. We did not see them in the flesh but had fresh track evidence that they were snooping about the yard during the nighttime. We also had a fox in the mix sometime during those same bewitching hours.

Maybe they were brought near by the animal version of the moccasin telegraph passing word about an unusual visitor in the neighborhood, that of the Wildersmith raccoon. Whatever it was that prompted the Canid visit, those tracks in the white afforded us another intriguing wilderness adventure to contemplate.

Regarding that masked critter saga, the final chapter for it at Wildersmith has come to a close. Finally after nearly two weeks of being a no-show, the return happened a few nights after the big snowstorm.

This visit turned out to be its last, as curiosity for a piece of bread and jelly brought surprising incarceration. After several dark hours of fruitless escape attempts, it was pretty much worn out and docile by the time it was bid farewell into happy hunting grounds elsewhere.

Up to this point, none of its kin have come by, but one has to figure that this one didn’t just come to the Gunflint Territory as a solo tourist.

So it’s goodbye to the first one-third of the year, and welcome to the month of growth. It is hoped that the allergens are not too bad and that we all break out with a rash of spring fever!

Keep on hangin’ on, and savor the goodness of nature around us!

Airdate: April 27, 2012

Photo courtesy of Adam Knowles via Flickr.

All around the lake, folks are noticing changes in the weather and climate. In this segment of the Lake Superior Project, we begin to take a look at how climate change is impacting Lake Superior. We speak with several different people around the lake about their perspectives on what's happening.

Ryan Hueffmeier knows a lot about worms.  He's a researcher with the Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI) at the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD), and Program Coordinator with Great Lakes Worm Watch.  In this interview, Hueffmeier talks with WTIP's Jana Berka about why earthworms are good for gardens, but not so good for the forest. 

At the recent county board meeting – a funding request from the Historical Society, a new Lutsen Fire Hall, Boreal-TV and the community center. WTIP’s Jay Andersen spoke with Commissioner Bruce Martinson.

I was sorry to hear that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency caved to political pressure and weakened its plan to reduce haze over the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park.

Haze from air pollution is definitely noticeable in northeastern Minnesota. I’ll admit that my eyesight has deteriorated over the years, but when I was a kid, the sky was bluer, the views over Lake Superior were longer and there were more stars in the night sky.

I’m not a scientist, but I’m told that our haze comes largely from coal-fired power plants and nearby taconite plants. Air pollution rules are incredibly complex, but the long and short of it is that the M.P.C.A. backed down from their original haze and pollution standards after the mining company, Cliffs Natural Resources, threatened to close two of their taconite plants rather than meet the standards.

While Cliffs has had its ups and downs over the years, the company is incredibly profitable right now and should voluntarily reduce its air pollution while they can afford it. I understand that they are important players in Minnesota’s economy, but I also feel like clean, healthy air is important to Minnesota too.

If we only stand up for our air and water when it’s convenient, where does that leave us – not to mention our children and grandchildren?

The big excitement here at Sawbill last week was the replacement of the Forest Service airplane dock at the Sawbill Guard Station. The floating dock is designed for the safe mooring and loading of their big DeHavilland Beaver floatplanes. In truth, it is rarely used by airplanes and is mostly used for launching canoes, swimming and fishing.

The old dock was built by Billy Tormondsen, I think in 1972. Billy was a well known and well liked Tofte native who operated a small sawmill back in those days. Originally, the dock was all white cedar. I remember the year because Billy suddenly and unexpectedly died shortly after he built the dock. He was a good friend and a truly unique individual. He would be around 90 if he were alive today. It’ll be interesting to see if this new dock can hold up as long as Billy’s craftsmanship did.

The big new dock presented quite a challenge to get into the lake as there is no vehicle access right to the shore of Sawbill Lake. After some head scratching, the competent services of Peter Borson and his big construction forklift were recruited and things went smoothly from there.

Patty Nordahl, director of the Birch Grove Foundation tells me there quite a few contractors interested in the construction projects planned for Birch Grove this summer. These are the first projects among many around the county that are funded by the 1% sales tax that we voted in last year. Bids are being accepted until May 3rd and information and specifications are available at Birch Grove in Tofte.

Mark September 29th on your calendar for the grand opening celebration of the Birch Grove construction projects. The grand opening will feature pizza from the outdoor wood fired oven that is also in the planning stages at Birch Grove. The Hearth Oven Bread Baking Initiative Team, or HOBBITS, has settled on September 9th through the 13th for the oven building class that will be run by North House Folk School. If you are interested in taking the class, get in touch with Patty at Birch Grove or North House Folk School. There is a tuition charge, but Patty is seeking grant dollars for scholarships, so don’t let the cost stop you if you are interested.

Last call to sign up for the North Shore Stewardship Association’s free North Shore Landowners community meeting on May 11th from 12:30-4:30 at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center in Finland. This is an opportunity to connect with other landowners, public land managers, and private organizations to discover what North Shore forest restoration activities are underway and how you can become involved. You can register online at the North Shore Stewardship Association web site, or, as always, call WTIP for more information.

I’ve seen more moose in the last week than all of last year. The moose always look terrible at this time of year. Tourists often report seeing a “sick” moose in late April and early May. They’re losing their winter coats, causing them to look ratty and mostly white. They’re at their skinniest right now too. By June they will be sleek, shiny, dark brown and chubby. The bulls will be sporting their velvet racks and the calves will be growing fast. Here’s hoping that my more frequent moose sightings indicate a rebound in their population.