North Shore News Hour

In this edition of The Lake Superior Project, Dr. Seth Moore, director of biology and environment with the Lake Superior Band of Chippewa, discusses his participation in a study of emerging toxins in several northeast Minnesota lakes, fish and sediment. The project began in 2015, and testing results have come back from the second round of samples taken in 2016.

Martha Marnocha spoke with Dr. Moore about results of the latest sampling in the 1854 Ceded Territories. (See slideshow for map of this area)

Local biologists Ann Belleman and Jean Cochrane spoke with WTIP's Martha Marnocha about Saturday morning's March for Science in Grand Marais.

Spring awakening along the Gunflint Trail continues providing pleasant aspects of nature's rebirth as April steers closer to May. Our forest world has taken on a renewed twinkle as conifer juices are pumping verdant energy into the drab needles of winter. Folks may think I’m seeing things through colored glasses, but I’m sure as the sun comes up each day that the evergreen world has become brighter green in just the past few days. In the meantime, deciduous brethren of the tree world are beginning to bulge their buds with envy of those woodland evergreen cousins. If the rain gods would cough up a wet contribution, they will be popping out of cold season covers in a hurry.

Speaking of rain, or the lack thereof, this neighborhood went for three weeks with nary a drop of precipitation. A meek disturbance broke the spell last weekend, but managed only a few hundredths. And part of that was in the form of snow on Easter Sunday, leaving a fresh inch by this past Monday. Then another touch of winter was on the Tuesday docket. Needless to say the upper Gunflint territory had become seriously dry, so the snow, sleet and rain since Easter Sunday have been a real blessing. DNR burning bans for Cook County are still likely, but for the time being wildfire danger has been tempered.

Up until the heavenly moisture favor, “Mother Nature” had been of some benefit in the plight about fire danger with the liquidation of ice on some lakes. Such has allowed opportunity in a few locales to get wildfire sprinkler system piping in the water and pumping units into operating condition. However, in spite of early ice-out on a number of lakes, several of the larger bodies remain at least partially locked in crystal. At the time of this keying exercise (last Sunday evening), I’m told Seagull Lake has opened and the west end of Gunflint was open, too. Nonetheless, ice on the Gunflint gal at Wildersmith remains intact. My guess is by the time we meet again, water will be lapping at our granite shoreline.

During a trip into the village for Easter church services, I crossed paths with several north woods bunnies. It was their time to rise and shine as hares, but they were definitely not in attire fit for an “Easter parade.” One was still in a near-white coat while others displayed a motley mix of earthen grit. Perhaps they are in a state of confusion with regard to this earlier than normal cycle of warmth? For example, in a blacktop encounter, a singleton lagomorph seemed out of its mind as it tried zig-zagging to avoid committing “hari-kari” in front of my vehicle. Alas, I gave it a “brake” so “Peter Rabbit” could hop on down the bunny trail.

Still no bear or skunk reports, but another hibernator has been out and about for several days around here. Those spunky chipmunks are busy sprinting here and there trying to remember where they stashed extra provisions last fall. Again, it would be my guess the red squirrels have already located and consumed the “chippy” treasures.

Life in the wild can be challenging when it’s first come, first serve. Such is the case for the Wildersmith resident fisher. The grizzly fur ball just can’t get the timing down in regard to getting here for a poultry part. My distribution comes in the morning, and those pine martens have it timed just right for their hand-out, easily beating big cousin out of a treat. In the meantime, this fisher character arrives sometimes in the evening and once in a while during the afternoon, obviously missing its chance for some barnyard protein, and only getting a whiff of what was there. Being relegated to snacking on leftover sunflower seeds, I suppose it must sleep during the morning after its overnight prowls?

If listeners/readers are wondering why I’m not practicing what I preach about having those bear temptations put away by now, I have never had a bear here in the morning hours. Guess they might be catching daily “zzzz's” at this time, too. Puting limited critter rations out early in the day, they are usually consumed before bear activity commences in afternoon and evening. Having given you all my reasoning on this issue, I might have to eat my words someday. So far, so good, but never say never!

For WTIP, this is Fred Smith, on the Trail, at Wildersmith, where every day is great, with often mysterious natural wonders.

Biidaash, Maggie, and Weston report the latest school news.

Click here for more school news. 

April always feels a bit like the calm before the storm in the West End of Cook County. While we slowly wake up from our winter hygge and begin going about the task of sprucing things up for summer, we seem to keep one eye looking south down Highway 61, anticipating the crowds of visitors headed our way in a few short weeks. It feels like such a privilege to be able to watch the wilderness here shake off winter. The transition seasons seem especially reserved for the locals.

This year, many local west enders have been kept busy with their backyard maple syruping endeavors. The sap started flowing a few weeks ago, and by all accounts it just won’t quit! Many folks are on their third or even fourth sap boils already. Boiling sap down to syrup is a very labor intensive project, so a big sap year like this can really turn into quite the time commitment. It’s hard to say no though when you are granted such a prolific batch of sweet maple syrup in the end.

I’ve been remiss in extending a warm welcome to the new Acting Tofte District Ranger with the Forest Service, Lenore Lamb. Lenore is on loan to us from Rhinelander, Wisconsin. She will be here for a few months, filling in for Kurt Steele who has moved on to the Nez Perce National Forest in Idaho. I’ve had the good fortune of meeting Lenore on a couple of occasions now and she is certainly a wonderful person who is thoroughly enjoying her time here in our corner of paradise.

The Forest Service, in particular the Tofte District office, has been working closely with the nonprofit Northwoods Volunteer Connection. This organization, based out of Tofte, partners to create connections to recruit, train and supervise volunteers. They work to help put boots on the ground and tools in the hands of people that care about the northwoods of northeastern Minnesota. The group organizes several volunteer trips throughout the summer, often led by Forest Service wilderness rangers. These trips are a wonderful opportunity to learn some new skills, spend some time outdoors, and help maintain our public lands. The Volunteer Connection is holding an open house this Monday, April 24, at 5 pm at Voyageur Brewing in Grand Marais. Many community groups, like the Superior Hiking Trail Association and Kekekabic Trail Club, will be at the open house to answer questions about what they do and how you can be involved. There are door prizes, a featured speaker, and best of all the Volunteer Connection will be unveiling this year’s volunteer trip opportunities. If none of that entices you, at least come to share a good beer with some new friends. For more information you can log onto http://www.mnnvc.org/.

Last, but not least, as a part of this writing (which is occurring at an embarrassingly late hour on Wednesday night, April 19) the ice on Sawbill is still not out. It has detached from shore, floated up, and turned a dark, dark grey so really this is it, and it should be out in the next couple of days.

For WTIP, I’m Clare Shirley with the West End News.

Jennifer Niemi, program manager at Split Rock Lighthouse, talks about a class on peregrine falcons being offered at Split Rock Lighthouse on Saturday, April 22.

Deane Morrison is a science writer at the University of Minnesota, where she authors the Minnesota Starwatch column.

The moon is bright in the morning sky; clearly seen at nightfall is the constellation Leo, containing the quckly-rotating star, Regulus. West of Regulus is the star cluster known as the Beehive. Jupiter is bright in the southeast, and in the west, Mars is dim and low on the horizon.

Saturn can be seen before sunrise. The Lyrid meteor shower is expected to peak on April 22 or 23.

Gunflint territory heads into the third week of month four having just passed the Ojibwe “maple sugar moon” (Iskigamizige Giizis).  Spring is in full command now and has been sweet as the sugary juice running into collectors’ buckets.

Warming really grabbed this area last weekend with brisk southerly winds leading the way. Winter character has vanished with exception of manmade heaping and some areas deep in the forest where sunshine struggles to peek through.

Ice meanwhile has loosened from its shoreline connections on the sun-drenched northern sides of area lakes, and is taking on the gray color of solidarity under stress.  There’s a good chance some of the more shallow lakes will be open as this scoop hits the air.

Here on the Gunflint, although ice is still tight against the granite south shore at Wildersmith, it’s a good bet we’ll be seeing open water within two weeks, assuming there are no cold setbacks.  This assumption being said, large bodies like Poplar, Loon, Seagull and Saganaga lakes are likely on the same timeline.

Speaking more of ice under stress, hooray for some heroes over on Hungry Jack Lake for taking a big risk to save the life of a yearling moose. For those of you not already aware of this exploit, it seems the gawky youngster wandered onto the ice and after a short distance broke through.  The scene required quick strategizing by those involved in the rescue attempt.

Struggling for many minutes to climb out of the icy liquid, the moose was near motionless (just kind of floating) when the folks, using canoes, got to its side and began the dangerous task of bringing the frightened critter back onto safe ice. After much tugging and pulling, the exhausted animal was finally rolled back up on the ice. Probably in shock, it took some time before the youngster regained its feet. Apparently none the worse for wear, it eventually ambled off into the woods.

I wonder if the iconic beast will remember the valiant efforts of some great northwoods neighbors who gave it another chance on life.

See photos of the heroics on the web at WTIP.org.

Mountain streams and rivers are on the move as melting snow is racing lakeward. Last week on a trip to end of the Trail, it was a joy to see a liquidation of winter raging over the mini-falls on Larch Creek near the US Forest Service guard station. While small by comparison with other falls in the county, it is nevertheless a picturesque setting nestled back in the forest.

Driving the Trail a couple times in the past week I found several byway ponds and wetlands have succumbed to spring's ways. Already showing off sparkling tea-colored liquid, under several bright sky days of late, mirror images reflected double exposures of natural photo ops. Regardless of the still muted wilderness hues, the magic of wildland images on a medium of quiet water goes unmatched in aesthetic accomplishment.

On a negative note, some not-too-beautiful things forever seem to appear this time of year. As snow has left the roadside ditches, the ugliness of an uncaring segment of our user society has been revealed. I’m talking of litter!      

I find it hard to understand how some users of this magnificent place can treat it with such disrespect. The unsightly casting out of beverage containers and other debris is simply beyond belief, confirming we have too many self-serving, shameless folk who just don’t give a darn. In answer to this dirty problem, it behooves all of us common sense people (residents and caring visitors) to get out and do the annual spring house cleaning.

On a cheerier note, there are many moments in time, when one is surrounded by the natural world. With daylight minutes growing by leaps and bounds, another such fleeting moment was emulated last Sunday evening as I keyed this Gunflint news. I’m talking of a sunset like none I’ve ever witnessed here in border country (and I’ve seen a few Canadian sunset beauties over the years).  

The uniqueness of this flaming inferno, which came in the circumvention of our skyline from due north, clear around to the southwest. Thin, deep pink clouds caught fading rays from both the southwest and north points on the compass, converging at “old Sol” who is just beyond due west, in a colossal “hot pink’ explosion, beyond comprehension.

The piercing illumination was one of those timely moments to be etched in memory as the best ever, perhaps forever. But while all good things have to come to an end, this celestial spectacular faded quickly to twilight orange and peach just before daylight gave way to darkness.

Brief, yes, but what an uplifting encounter!  It was great. I hope listener/readers were residing in an area where they got to see it, too!

Finally, two reminders to area residents. First, bears have to be near so get those temptations put away. And second, as it remains abnormally dry, get the wildfire sprinkler system lines into the lake ASAP after ice-out and fire up the pump unit to be sure it’s in operating order.

For WTIP, this is Fred Smith, on the Trail at Wildersmith, where every day is great, with the splendors of nature right outside our doors.

Photo courtesy of Michele/Flickr

Sylvia and Aram report the latest school news.

Click here for more school news.

Hi. I’m Tom McCann, resource information specialist, with the National Forest Update for April 14th - information on conditions affecting travel and recreation on the Tofte and Gunflint Districts of the Forest. For the middle of April, here’s what’s going on in the Forest.

Every week brings more and more ‘firsts’ of the year. The first geese, the first loons, the first mergansers, the first juncoes, the first truck stuck in the mud. Spring is an exciting time in the north as things reappear from the winter. Not only are birds back, but butterflies and other insects have begun to be seen as well. Our rivers have shaken off the ice, and if you haven’t gone to visit any of the waterfalls along the shore, you really need to take the time to do that.

But, along with the good comes the bad. If you haven’t yet, it is a good time to start treating your dog with a tick repellent and tucking in your own socks as well. Bird feeders which are hung where they can be bear attractants need to be taken in at night, and garbage cans need to be stored in closed garages.

Our Forest roads are very mushy right now. There is a four ton weight limit which minimizes truck traffic, but you don’t have to weigh four tons to get into trouble. One of the hidden dangers is undermining, where moving water can wash away the base of the roadway, leaving a thin layer of apparently safe road at the surface. Avoid the edges of the roads, and beware of dips where small drainages could have undermined the roadway. If possible, avoid traveling at all on the smaller roads where you can leave ruts behind that will be with us for the entire summer.

While not as bad as last year’s ‘snowdown’ event, the winter did topple a few trees across the roads, and the soft soil in spring will drop a few more. Watch for fallen timber, and also be very careful if you attempt to clear any material off the road. When you cut a deadfall and change the balance, parts may fly into the air, or fall onto the ground. It can be very dangerous, and it is better to report fallen trees to have them professionally removed.

This is also the beginning of the fire season. With less than normal snow cover, and early melting, we have areas which have dried out before the spring green-up has begun. This is particularly true in forest openings where last year’s grass has become this year’s fuel supply. Inland, shaded areas and deeper snow minimize the fire danger, but along the shore and at the southern edge of the Superior National Forest, some areas are starting to see some higher fire potentials. Please check on fire conditions and possible restrictions before you begin any burning. These conditions have made it possible for us to begin our prescribed burning season. We maintain several openings in the Forest for wildlife use, and these smaller “less-than-20-acre” burns are best done in the spring before the grass gets green and less flammable. We post notice of prescribed fires on our website, so you can check there to see if any will affect your plans, or to check on possible causes for smoke you see or smell. If there is any question of a suspected fire, let us know. It never hurts for us to check it out.

Keep an eye out for more signs of spring, and watch out for those muddy roads! Until next time, this has been Tom McCann with the Superior National Forest Update.