Superior National Forest Update: June 2

Hi. I’m Phillip Hass, botany technician on the Superior National Forest, with the National Forest Update - information on conditions affecting travel and recreation on the Tofte and Gunflint Districts of the Forest. For the start of summer and the first week of June, here’s what’s going on in the woods.

There has been a lot of deer activity recently with plenty of new fawns appearing. Child care in deer is a little different from child care in humans. The doe will leave the fawn alone for most of the day while she goes out foraging. Fawns will lie down where they are left and stay as still and hidden as possible. Mom may not return to the fawn until sundown. These quiet little fawns are often seen by people who think they have been abandoned, and worried people will pick them up, or otherwise try to help, and end up actually causing problems instead of helping. The best thing to do if you find a fawn is leave it alone. Take some pictures from a distance, but otherwise don’t disturb it. Mom will be back later; the fawn is going to be fine. It’s also worth mentioning that does can be very protective of their fawns. We had a report of someone’s dog getting hoofed yesterday by an aggressive deer defending its fawn, so it is best to just keep your distance right now, and keep your pup away from deer.

If you are out and about this week, there is some log hauling going on. Watch for trucks on the Trapper’s Lake Road, the Grade, and the Sawbill Trail, as well as on the Shoebox Road and Greenwood Road. Also it is graduation weekend, so keep an eye open for students and parents traveling to and from graduation parties.

You’ll also see traffic in town from the Northern Landscapes Festival at North House Folk School. The Forest Service is a part of this event, and is putting on two programs which are free and open to the public, not just open to Festival attendees. The first of our programs is a talk on loons given by loon expert biologist Kevin Woizeschke. Loons are truly amazing birds, able to dive to incredible depths, and also fly at high altitudes. Imagine trying to design a flying submarine…it seems almost impossible. Kevin’s loon presentation will take place at the Folk School on Friday, June 2 at 7 p.m. Be sure to mark your calendar. Our second program is bird banding at the Sweethearts Bluff trail, just past the Grand Marais campground. It will take place on Saturday morning from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. Stop by any time to watch birds being banded, find out more about birds and bird monitoring, and be able to see some of our birds up close and personal.

After bird banding, it might be a great time to take a hike or go for a bike ride. It is National Trails Day this weekend, so it is time to celebrate all the trails we have for your use on your public lands. There are a lot of places to visit on the Forest, and a lot of those are only accessible by trail. So, go visit Magnetic Rock, or find the Paulson Mine on the Centennial Trail, or look over Honeymoon Bluff, or try the mountain bike loops at Pincushion or Britton Peak. With all those trails for you to explore, maybe it should have been National Trails Month!

We have to say a few farewells with the end of May. Long term employees and Superior National Forest fixtures Jeff DeShaw and Becky Bartol are retiring, and short term Tofte District Ranger Lenore Lamb is returning to her full time position elsewhere. We will miss all of them and wish them the best

Happy hiking, and until next week, this has been Phillip Hass with the National Forest Update.