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North Shore Weekend

  • Saturday 7-10am
Genre: 
Variety
Host CJ Heithoff brings you this Saturday morning show, created at the request of WTIP listeners.  North Shore Weekend features three hours of community information, features, interviews, and music. It's truly a great way to start your weekend on the North Shore. Arts, cultural and history features on WTIP’s North Shore Weekend are made possible with funding from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

 

 


What's On:
 

Points North: DNR Addresses Major Land Issues

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Major land issues affecting thousands of northern Minnesota recreational users didn't make the agenda of the DNR's annual Hunting and Fishing Roundtable, but agency leaders were more than willing to talk about them.  I spoke with Craig Engwall, director of the DNR's Northeast Region and DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr regarding school trust lands and a separate issue--ensuring timber lands owned by the Molpus Woodlands Group remain open to public recreation.
 
I was especially surprised the school trust lands weren't on the agenda, since last year the Legislature considered tacking an access surcharge on hunting license fees to pay the School Trust Fund for the public use of the land.  The surcharge didn't pass, but it raises big questions about how recreational activities like hunting, snowmobiling and berry picking will be managed on northern Minnesota's 2.5 million acres of school trust lands. To learn more, I talked with Engwall, because 2.2 million acres of trust lands are in his region.
 
"There's no consensus yet on what Minnesota will do," he said. Engwall pointed out that Montana charges an access fee for its trust lands.
 
Last year, the Legislature directed the DNR to begin managing school trust lands to provide a greater economic benefit to the School Trust. The primary sources of revenue from school trust lands are the receipts from timber sales and mineral leases, activities already occurring there. While the DNR has changed its internal bookkeeping to send more money to the School Trust, it is unlikely to find ways to generate substantial new revenues. In fact, it may be difficult to generate any revenue from some of the school trust lands.
 
Engwall said 20,000 acres of trust lands are designated as old growth forests where timber harvest is not allowed. The vast majority of public access to lakes in the northeast is located on trust lands. Many miles of undeveloped lake shorelines, including 81,000 linear feet of Lake Vermilion shoreline, are on trust lands, too.  Currently, lands such as these are not economically productive for the trust.
 
So what does this mean? Will we start logging off old growth forests? Will we be charged a fee to launch a boat at a public access? Will the state hold a fire sale of public lakeshores? While it's easy to envision such worst-case scenarios, the DNR isn't planning any fast moves for changing management strategies or disposing of trust lands.
 
DNR Commissioner Landwehr told me the agency is conducting a comprehensive review of trust lands for a report to the Legislature. The review includes a parcel-by-parcel inventory of trust lands and their economic value.  Once the review is complete, the agency can devise a plan for moving forward. That plan will likely identify shoreline areas where the highest and best use is selling them.  The strategy for doing so may include establishing conservation easements prior to sale to protect riparian habitat.
 
Other lands may be essentially sold to the state so they can be taken out of trust status. The lands would be appraised and the DNR would approach the Legislature for bonding money, which would go to the School Trust Fund. Landwehr says this may be the solution for boat launches. In many cases, undeveloped shorelines can be managed as timberlands, as they are now.
Forest harvest guidelines would protect ecologically sensitive shoreline areas.
 
"The good news is people are paying attention to trust lands, but the bad news is they are doing so because they feel threatened," Landwehr said.  "At this point in time there is nothing the conservation/environmental community needs to fear."
 
Another northern land issue is how the state will work with the Molpus Woodlands Group to ensure that their lands, located south of International Falls, remain open to public recreation. Last fall, the company threatened to close 128,000 acres of its lands and forest roads to public use. Such action not only would close lands long open for public hunting, but would also close roads used to access private property and hunting cabins, as well as the snowmobile trail network many resorts rely upon for winter tourism. Local legislators intervened and Molpus agreed to a one-year moratorium on the proposed closure.
 
At issue is the company's participation in the Sustainable Forest Incentives Act (SFIA), which allows large landowners to agree to provide public access and to sustainably manage forests in return for tax breaks. Initially, those tax breaks were worth $2 million annually on the Molpus lands, but the Legislature later capped SFIA payments at $100,000. As the threatened closure indicates, the company is unhappy with the greatly reduced SFIA payments.
 
Engwall says the company is willing to consider conservation easements similar to the ones put in place in recent years on other industrial forest holdings. Easements are more politically palatable to northern county commissioners who worry about losing their tax base from public acquisitions of private land. Generally speaking, easements ensure the property remains part of the working forest while providing public benefits such as access.
 
The DNR and Molpus are currently just beginning to talk. The company hasn't identified the lands where it is willing to sell easements. Once it does, DNR can start the easement process, which generally takes 12 to 24 months to complete. The DNR and the company first agree upon lands of interest and negotiate the details of the easement restrictions. Then the lands are appraised. Based on the appraisal, the parties negotiate a price. Landwehr hopes the DNR can put together a project proposal for the start of the next funding round for the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council.
 
"This will be one of the last big easement transactions," says Landwehr.
 
Just a decade ago, conservationists were worried hunters and other recreational users would lose access to industrial forest lands as timber companies sought new ways to stay profitable. Instead, using tax proceeds from the Legacy Amendment, the state has worked with conservation groups and big companies to purchase easements that preserve public access and the state's timber base. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this final transaction can be completed.

Airdate: January 11, 2012


 
 

Moments in Time: Mildred Potter Thoreson and Honey Potter Eliasen

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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.


 
 

Wildersmith January 4

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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


 
 

Points North: New Report Reveals 50-Year-Old Fishing Secrets

Newly released trout fishing data collected by volunteer anglers a half-century ago provide a fascinating glimpse of what the fishing was like in dozens of Minnesota streams and lakes. The “Large Scale Compendium of Previously Unreported Trout Angling Data, 1958-1963” was compiled by retired fisheries biologist Mel Haugstad of Preston, with the assistance of Vaughn Snook, DNR assistant area fisheries supervisor in Lanesboro.
 
The statewide data set languished in a file for decades. The original study occurred between 1958 and 1963 and was devised by trout and salmon research supervisor Robert E. Schumacher of the Minnesota Division of Game and Fish. When Schumacher’s position was terminated, the study was left incomplete and no one finished it. Haugstad, at the urging of University of Minnesota professor emeritus George Spangler, recently completed its summarization, further analyzed the data and published the results.
 
While the information is old, it is nonetheless interesting not only to fisheries managers, but also to trout anglers. The report fills an information gap for the era following the 1944 publication of “A Biological Survey and Fishery Management Plan for the Streams of the Lake Superior North Shore Watershed” by Lloyd L. Smith Jr. and John B. Moyle—a copy of which resides on my bookshelf. Smith and Moyle completed painstaking surveys of North Shore streams, noting the deep holding water, cold water inlets, fish species living there and mor then used that data to suggest stream-specific management strategies. Much of the work they did remains relevant today.
 
The 1950s and ‘60s were the heyday of North Shore stream trout fishing, especially for brook trout. It was a pastime of the common man, because all you really needed was a fishing rod, a can of worms and an urge to explore. The road network in the Superior National forest was far more primitive than it is today, which meant favorite fishing waters were often a long walk off the beaten path. Most of the brook trout were 10 inches or less in length, although some streams were known to produce whoppers measuring 12 inches or more. The locations of these whopper waters were closely guarded secrets. Finding them, even if someone gave you directions, was nearly always an adventure.
 
Beginning in the 1930s with the Civilian Conservation Corps, stream habitat was improved or restored with projects intended to create protective cover and deep water refuge for trout. Often these improvements repaired damage done to streams by log drives in the pioneer logging era. The upper reaches of North Shore trout streams were stocked with brook trout, and occasionally browns and rainbows. Many anglers, including some of the old-timers still fishing today, got their start swatting mosquitos and battling the alder brush along North Shore creeks.
 
At the time of Schumacher’s study, trout fishing was beginning to change. The state was stocking stream trout—rainbows, brooks and browns—into small, cold lakes. The lakes offered trout the room and food base to grow, allowing them to reach larger sizes than the trout found in streams. Fish managers were also learning many northern trout streams had naturally reproducing brook trout populations, negating the need for stocking. The study includes data from dozens of stocked stream trout lakes that remain popular today.
 
For the study, Schumacher successfully recruited 120 anglers who reported their fishing success in 329 trout waters throughout Minnesota. Of these, 83 fisheries received at least 40 hours of fishing pressure, which was enough to make some determination about quality of the fishery. The anglers reported catching 14,014 trout of five species during 14,529 hours of angling. About half of the anglers recorded the lengths of their fish.
 
Working with volunteer anglers to collect data was a departure from the norm for Minnesota fish managers, who typically hire employees to hang around fishing access sites and interview anglers, a method known as the creel census. The census method works well for collecting specific information about specific waters, but would be impractical and prohibitively expensive to collect information on the scale of Schumacher’s study. The volunteer anglers turned in 3,621 fishing reports for 104 lakes and 225 streams.
 
Paging through the data, it is interesting to learn where folks were fishing 50 years ago and what they caught. For instance, the study lists 15 Itasca County trout streams, all populated with brook trout. The best of the bunch was Shine Brook, where anglers reported catching 113 brookies. Another Itasca County hotspot was Smith Creek, where 89 brook trout were caught. There were four trout streams within what is now the Twin Cities metropolitan area—Eagle Creek in Scott County, Kenaley’s Creek in Dakota County, and Big Marine and Brown’s creeks in Washington County. The fishing was good in the latter two streams, with Big Marine producing 52 brook trout and Brown’s giving up 70 brown trout.
 
Central and northwestern Minnesota had a couple dozen trout streams, most of which contained small brook trout. Hubbard County’s Straight River was a notable exception, producing brown and rainbow trout up to 21 inches in length. At the end of the report a special note was made of a 1962 fishing trip to Auganash Creek in Clearwater County, where a party of four anglers caught 39 brook trout, including 10 weighing 1 ½ pounds. The authors of the report speculate the trout were caught from a beaver pond where the fish had adequate food to grow to                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    larger sizes.
                                   
Southeastern Minnesota’s fertile spring creeks had an abundance of brown trout—and far fewer brookies than today—as well as the largest average-sized fish. The famous Whitewater system was a top producer. Bee Creek in Houston County, where one volunteer fished 95 times over five years, was a standout for both size and numbers of brown trout. The best brook trout water in the Southeast was East Beaver Creek.
 
North Shore streams were divided into the lower reaches, accessible to spawning runs of Lake Superior steelhead, and the brook trout-dominated upper reaches. For the steelhead waters, the Knife River, located less than 20 miles from Duluth, was the most popular and had the largest catch. Other popular steelhead rivers along the Shore were the Stewart, Gooseberry, Split Rock, Cascade, Devil Track, Kadunce and Arrowhead (Brule.) The longest steelhead reported was 28 inches.
 
The North Shore’s brook trout creeks reported the most abundant trout numbers, although most of the fish were less than eight inches in length. Standout streams were the Sucker, Baptism, Manitou and Cascade rivers. Less than two dozen trout exceeded 12 inches, with the largest a 17-incher from the Baptism. Separate data was kept for tributary creeks. Topping the list was Wanless Creek, a tributary of the Cross River that produced 15 brook trout greater than 12 inches.
 
Stocked trout lakes produced larger, average-sized trout, primarily rainbows. Standouts were Kimball, Pancore and Ram lakes in Cook County, and Mirror and Olson lakes in St. Louis County near Duluth. Remote Vale Lake in Cook County produced the biggest brook trout, topping out at 19 inches. Not surprisingly, the largest trout overall came from lakes containing lake trout, which typically are bigger than brook, brown or rainbow trout.
 
While 50-year-old fishing secrets are unlikely to contribute to anyone’s fishing success today, it was interesting to note that most of the best places back then still offer good fishing today. Fish management has changed over time, with a greater reliance today on healthy streams and wild trout rather than hatcheries and regular stocking. By and large, Minnesota still provides a wealth of good fishing for moderate-sized trout, along with some first-class trophy waters. It may not be Montana, but Minnesota has plenty of places where anyone with a fishing rod, a can of worms and a sense of adventure can some fun.

Airdate: January 4, 2012


 
 

LSProject: A Century of Water

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Huge, endless, large—these are just a few words you might use to describe Lake Superior. At 31,700 square miles, it is the largest freshwater lake by surface area in the world.
 
But imagine—if you can—that in a matter of years, it shrank to a quarter of its size. It is hard to picture, but that is exactly what happened to another Great Lake on the other side of the world. The Aral Sea, situated between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, has shrunk significantly over the last 50 years. In a short time, it has lost 75 percent of its surface area and 90 percent of its volume.
 
In this edition of the Lake Superior Project, journalist and author Peter Annin, along with Dave Naftzger of the Council of Great Lakes Governors, explains why the Aral Sea experiment is relevant to North America, what has been done to protect water quantity in the Great Lakes, and why the next century may be the "century of water."


 
 

Local Music Project: Amy Marie Schmidt

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Amy Marie Schmidt lives in Hovland with her husband and young daughter. She moved to the North Shore from Iowa about 6 years ago. Amy is a multi-instrumentalist and gifted singer that has performed in the past with local groups like the Flute Reed River Band and Blueberry JAAM. BarbaraJean Meyers got a chance to visit with Amy and learn about her love of music.


 
 

Northern Sky: New Year, New Astronomical Milestones

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Deane Morrison is a science writer at the University of Minnesota, where she authors the Minnesota Starwatch column. In this edition of Northern Sky, Deane explains how you can catch perihelion, Venus and Saturn in the morning sky, the Orion complex and much more at the beginning of the new year.

Read this month's Starwatch column.


 
 

Wildersmith December 28

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The Gunflint is closing in on its last days of 2012. This is happening under the watchful gaze of our “little spirit moon” (Manidoo Giizisoons).
 
Our final hurrah for the past year finds the Wildersmith neighborhood celebrating the freeze-up of Gunflint Lake. Official closing date was last Saturday, the 22nd. For a second consecutive year the “old gal” put on her winter coat later than we would normally expect.
 
With the latest recorded Gunflint Lake freeze up for which I have data (since 1982) being Dec. 29 in 2001, this year’s tardy date ranks fourth, after last year, which was Dec. 28, and the 27th in 1997. Our average before the past two years had been holding around Dec. 12. Just for the record, the earliest Zamboni exercise on the Gunflint over the past 30 years was Nov. 26 in 1996.
 
After last week’s wolf serenade, the winter song in our neighborhood has been tuned in to howls of a different tone. As the lake finally succumbed to its new landscape, she let out a screeching thunderous announcement, adding yet another voice to the wilderness choir.  
 
This first stanza reverberated from end to end, shaking some folks right out of their slumber. One has to wonder if the spirit of our Gunflint Gal was either uncomfortable with her new attire or thrilled that she finally delivered.
 
As fitting adjustments are being made, she is now murmuring subtle notes of acceptance. With a number of sub-zero to single-digit mornings since, and no insulating snow cover as yet, the thickening process is increasing rapidly.
 
Although I would not recommend heavy foot travel just yet, I did get word that the folks at Gunflint Lodge observed a wolf examining the shiny new surface on the morning of official solidarity.
 
While folks to our south were squawking about the blizzard of the decade, the upper Trail got barely a sniff in the past seven. These parts are still beautifully decked out in holiday flocking and ski trails are groomable (just barely), but we are still in dire need of substantial applications. Makes me worry about what next summer will be like if Mother Nature doesn’t do something about refilling our streams, rivers and lakes.
 
Speaking of being decked out for the holidays, our trip to church in Grand Marais this past Sunday was stunning. Jack Frost had been about and gave a crystal dousing to everything in creation. Sparkling jewels of the forest were so dazzling that one was almost blinded while old Sol tweaked even the smallest of these diamonds with beams of brilliance. It goes without saying that this area is rich beyond one’s wildest imagination in these simple, but precious, natural treasures.
 
For all the significant technological and engineering developments of mankind over the past couple centuries, it remains a mystery that man often cannot match the brain power and ingenuity of a hungry wilderness critter. A fellow down the road confides that he has been doing battle with a squirrel for months over sunflower seed accessibility at his bird feeder stations,
 
He has tried everything under the sun to deter the rodent. To date he finds that in spite of his reasonable intellectual and inventive exploits, all avenues have been met with an equalizing counter move by his gnawing little red friend.
 
Frustrated but not giving up, he shared his latest tactic and believes that he’s got the answer. We’ll see! I’ll be anxious to hear how the critter adapts to this new scheme. It would be my suggestion to let the tiny gal/guy have at it. You can’t seem to outsmart ‘em!
 
Every day out here in the woods is a wonder. The Smiths continue experiencing great moments in nature. Sharing them, as well as being able to report happenings of other Gunflinters, during this weekly Trail news scoop on WTIP has been most enjoyable in the past 365. Hopefully you enjoyed too!
 
As we wind down 2012, it is my wish for you that 2013 will be fruitful, rewarding, memorable and full of goodwill toward your fellow man!
 
Keep on hangin’ on, and come out to savor this wonderful creation we call the Gunflint. See you on the radio next year!

Airdate: December 28, 2012


 
 

Points North: Wilderness Adventure Inspires High School Senior

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Folks who fret that kids aren’t spending enough time outdoors ought to meet Mara MacDonell, a high school senior living in Grand Marais. She’s not only enthusiastic about the outdoor life, but she is also planning for a career in conservation. So what gives?
 
“My parents are very outdoorsy,” Mara explains. “They first brought me to the BWCAW when I was a year old. I saw wildlife and was exposed to wilderness from a young age. I’ve just begun to realize how lucky I am.”
 
Her luck includes an introduction to YMCA Camp Menogyn when she was in sixth grade. Located on West Bearskin Lake along the Gunflint Trail, Menogyn is a place that teaches young people outdoor skills. More than that, Menogyn gives kids the opportunity to build their skills—and their self-confidence—with repeated outdoor experiences.
 
Mara first went on a five-day canoe trip in the BWCAW through Menogyn. Over the years, she went on longer trips, which led up to the incredible experience she had last summer—a 40-day canoe trip across Canada’s Northwest Territories and Nunavut with four other girls and a 24-year-old female guide. While Menogyn attracts campers from across the nation, all of the girls on this trip were from Minnesota.
 
“The trip was by invitation only,” she says. “You need to have demonstrated your outdoor skills on previous trips.”
 
The group flew out of points North Landing, Saskatchewan to the Dubawnt River in the Northwest Territories, where they landed and unloaded in midstream. They spent the next 18 days going down the river, crossing into Nunavut and reaching Dubawnt Lake, the largest water body in the province. Two days of paddling on the lake brought the girls to the Slow River, an ironic name, Mara adds. They paddled upstream and portaged over a divide to reach the Kunwak River, which led them to Thirty Mile Lake, where they ended the trip.
 
“Our original route ended at the community of Baker Lake,” she says. “But we got behind schedule and had to end at Thirty Mile Lake.”
 
They flew via bush plane from a sand beach on Thirty Mile Lake to Baker Lake. Weather, primarily wind, was the reason the group was delayed. While Mara was disappointed they were unable to complete the journey as planned, she learned that in the wilderness, plans can change. She also learned a lot about herself and gained self-confidence.
 
“The trip really changed my perspective on my own abilities,” she says. “We went 40 days without contact with other people.”
 
She also discovered a personal passion—whitewater canoeing. The Dubawnt River has huge rapids, most of which the girls were able to run. Since getting through the rapids without swamping the canoe and losing gear is the primary objective of long-distance paddlers, she learned how to how to scout and choose the safest route. Now she’d like to try recreational whitewater paddling, where thrills and occasional spills are part of the game. She got a taste of it on the Kunwak, which contains a lot of technical whitewater.
 
The group learned a little about the landscape and the creatures inhabiting it. Their journey began in the taiga, the northernmost edge of the boreal forest, where stunted spruce trees and scrub brush give way to scattered patches of open tundra. Here they saw moose and wolves. Eventually they reached the northern treeline and entered the tundra, where caribou roam. Once, Mara thought she saw a distant tree, but actually it was a caribou. Along the Kunwak River they saw golden eagles and a barren ground grizzly bear. One day they watched a wolverine chase a caribou calf, which escaped by going into the water. They also discovered the beauty of wide-open spaces.
 
“Every night we saw the most beautiful sunsets we’d ever seen,” Mara says.
 
While they were in the middle of nowhere, they did see evidence of people. Throughout the trip they passed by rock cairns left as markers by native people. In one area, they saw numerous jets flying overhead. In the last days of their trip they began seeing large inukshuks, stone landmarks left by Inuit people, as well as their tent rings and meat caches. They had an opportunity to learn more about the Inuit when they eventually arrived, via float plane, at Baker Lake.
 
“We finished our trip in an Inuit community where they speak their native language,” Mara says. “I now have friends from Baker Lake on Facebook.”
 
She made other friends along the way as well—with the girls who accompanied her on the journey.
 
“The girls on the trip became my best friends,” she says. “We shared a lot of laughs and we met our challenges.”
 
While Mara may not have another chance to take a 40-day canoe trip, her experience fueled new enthusiasm for the outdoors and the conservation of wild places. She will be attending Carleton College and wrote about the trip in a college application. Planning to pursue environmental studies in college, she hopes to one day become a lawyer specializing in environmental concerns. Along the way, she plans to continue spending time outdoors.
 
“I loved the whitewater paddling and just being out there,” she says. “I hope the outdoors will remain part of my life.”
 
Mara also points out that she worked for a year in order to pay for the trip and received some welcome financial assistance from Menogyn, too. Stone Harbor Wilderness Supply in Grand Marais supplied some of the gear for the trip. But she says any kid who really wants to see the wilderness can find a way to make it happen through Menogyn’s programs. It’s good to know there are still kids like Mara who want to get outside and places like Menogyn to help them make their wildest dreams come true.

Airdate: December 28, 2012

Program: 

 
Greg Nichols and Will Surbaugh (Photo by Kate Surbaugh)

West End News: December 27

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Sometimes the steady diet of bad news that streams in via radio, TV and Internet can be really discouraging.  The news cycle has been especially grim recently, causing me to worry about the state of the world. 
 
Then, I attended an event at North House Folk School that restored my faith in the human race and gave me good hope for the future.  The event was watching 11-year-old Will Surbaugh attempt to do 500 pushups in an hour.  He did it, and then some, but you need to hear the whole story to understand why it was such an inspiring event.
 
Will is the son of Kate and Steve Surbaugh, who live outside of Grand Marais and own Cascade Vacation Rentals in Tofte.  Last spring, Will informed his parents that he would like to ski on the downhill ski team at Lutsen Mountains this winter.  Good parents that they are, Kate and Steve told Will that he could be on the team, but he had to earn enough money over the summer to defray at least half of the cost, including the expensive equipment that’s required for competitive downhill skiing. 
 
Will started a firewood business, worked hard and earned an impressive amount of money over the summer. His parents then explained to him that philanthropy is a core value of the Surbaugh family, and Will was expected to donate 10% of his earnings to a charity of his own choosing.
 
Will decided to support a non-profit called “The Mission Continues.”  They award six-month community service fellowships to post-9/11 veterans who then use their skills and discipline to serve a community project that addresses educational, environmental or social issues. This takes advantage of the veterans’ training to build community, while giving them a good path to reconnecting with civilian life.  At the conclusion of the fellowship, each veteran is expected to do one of three things: be employed full time, pursue higher education, or commit themselves to a permanent role of community service.
 
Will cheerfully sent off his donation and was surprised to be contacted by the organization and invited to their annual meeting and celebration in Washington, D.C.  The Mission Continues leaders were moved by receiving a generous donation from such a young philanthropist and wanted Will to be a part of celebrating the success of the program.  Will and Steve traveled to D.C. and Will was asked to introduce the organization’s executive director - on stage - in front of 600 people.
 
Inspired by his experience in D.C., Will committed to organizing a Mission Continues fundraising event in Cook County, with an ambitious goal of raising $10,000.  Will and his dad were discussing what kind of event he could organize, and Steve suggested that Will think about some kind of physical activity that would raise money through pledges. Will thought for a minute and then said he reckoned he could do 500 pushups in an hour.  Will had never done that many pushups, but he calculated that it was feasible and his plans fell into place.
 
That’s how I found myself at North House recently watching Will Surbaugh doing pushups.  Will did 10 pushups every minute, which only takes him about 10 seconds.  He would rest for the rest of the minute, then click off 10 more.  Fitness expert Greg Nichols was the official timer and counter. 
 
More than a just a fundraising event, it turned into a community effort, with a silent auction, bake sale, live music, wood fired pizza and lots of excitement.  As Will burned through his pushups, a number of people, of all ages, joined him in doing a few, or a few hundred, pushups.  Although he did slow down a bit by the end, Will easily did the 500 pushups. In fact, he completed 638 pushups in the allotted hour.  But more importantly, he easily exceeded his fundraising goal of $10,000.  You can see him do it on YouTube.
 
Will is a modest kid and takes his accomplishment very much in stride.  But I couldn’t help but be inspired by his commitment.  He was modeling leadership, physical fitness, health, community service, philanthropy, family and fun for everyone.  These are all values that contribute to what is good in life all the time, but it’s particularly nice to think about them at this time of year and at this point in history.  Will and his friends give me great hope for the future.

Airdate: December 27, 2012