West End News: August 21

Cook County is offering a couple of interesting and free workshops this week about restoring and maintaining healthy shorelands and aquatic plants.
 
The first workshop is Wednesday, August 27^th, from 1 to 5 pm at the Schaap Mid-Trail Community Center, which is located next to the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department Hall halfway up the Gunflint Trail. It will include some indoor learning, followed by a field trip to tour some shorelands and maybe even some actual restoration work, time permitting.
 
The second workshop is the next day from 8:30 am until noon. It also starts at the Schaap Mid-Trail Community Center, but will head right out for East Bearskin Lake for a tour of aquatic plants.
 
Pre-registration is preferred, but not required.  You can call Ilena Berg at 387-3648 or, as always, you can contact WTIP for more information.
 
If you’re interested in plants, don’t miss Chel Anderson’s talk at the Sugarloaf Nature Center in Schroeder at 10 am on Saturday, August 30^th.  Chel’s talk is titled “Tales They Tell – Plants At Sugarloaf.”  She is truly an expert, not only on the botany of the North Shore, but on the relationships that plants have with each other, with history and with the human community.  I guarantee it will be a fascinating experience.  Just search “Sugarloaf Nature Center” online to get a full description and contact info.
 
It’s not too early to mark your calendar for the return of Professor Ahmed Samatar from Macalester College in St. Paul.  He will be the Cook County Higher Education guest lecturer on Friday, September 12^th at 3 pm. The guest lecture is always at Higher Ed’s North Shore Campus in Grand Marais. 
 
Professor Samatar’s subject will be “Perspectives on Globalization.” He is a respected researcher, writer and teacher in the areas of global political economy, political and social theory, and African development. I caught his lecture in Grand Marais back in 2011 and I highly recommend his upcoming talk.  Call Higher Ed at 387-3411 for more information.
 
The Blandin Foundation has been calling attention to recent research that is good news for rural Minnesota.  For decades, the common wisdom has been that our brightest and best young people are moving to the city and leaving their rural roots behind.  The story of boarded-up downtowns, declining school enrollment and declining population has dominated the rural conversation. This is often referred to as “brain drain.”
 
New research is showing a marked reversal of this trend. Mid-career professionals are migrating back to rural areas, especially those areas that offer high quality natural amenities. Some of these migrants are newcomers and some are people returning to the communities where they grew up. This new trend is being called “brain gain.”
 
It’s pretty clear that we’re seeing this trend in Cook County. The research clearly shows that brain gain picks up when broadband internet is established in rural areas. The research also shows that the rural areas with the most brain gain are the ones that work to strengthen their existing strengths. Outdoor recreation, access to higher education and a vibrant arts scene have all been mentioned.
 
It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few years in Cook County. In my opinion, broadband internet, our inherent natural beauty, our vibrant arts and culture, and the creation of affordable housing, will cause a significant “brain gain” here in the West End.

(Photo courtesy of Macalester College)