The Summer 2010 Issue of Wilderness News Print Edition is now online!
Click here to download the PDF >

Featured in this issue:
Hub’s Place—The Wilderness Research Center
By Rob Kesselring
We should never forget that the protected space we now call the Quetico-Superior region came to pass because of the tenacious and collaborative efforts of a spectrum of individuals: people like Frank Hubachek. With his life’s work he helped to establish the wilderness areas, and now his legacy lives on at  the Wilderness Research Center on Basswood Lake. Read the Article >

From the Editor

Wilderness News—Survey Results
The 2010 Spring issue of Wilderness News carried with it a questionnaire reply card surveying our readers with six questions pertaining to interests, age demographics, delivery systems, and desire to support the publication. We are grateful to the near 7% of our readers who answered the survey. If however, you did not receive a survey card, or misplaced yours, there is still time to respond. Your response matters to us and will be tallied into the final count. Check out the current Survey Results Summary >

The Changing Forest of the Quetico-Superior Region
By Rob Kesselring
Esteemed scientist Dr. Lee Frelich, spoke to a gathering of the Heart of the Continent Partnership in April 2010. He presented compelling evidence that, as a direct result of climate change, the BWCAW and Quetico Provincial Park will soon transform from a southern boreal forest biome to savanna. Frelich believes the only questions are:  What will the savanna will look like? How many decades will it take? And, how “messy” will the transition be? Already there is scientific proof that a biological shift is taking place. Read the Article >

North Country National Scenic Trail to Cross the BWCAW
By Matthew Davis
The National Park Service and North Country Trail Association (NCTA) are trying to obtain passage of legislation in Congress that would enact the “Arrowhead Re-route”– a proposal to route the nation’s longest hiking trail through the BWCA Wilderness.
Read the Article >

Mining Update
By Charlie Mahler
Efforts to develop mines in the geologically rich area just south of the Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness are slowly moving forward as industry proponents highlight the jobs and needed resources the enterprises would provide and as environmental advocates express concern over water quality and the natural character of the Quetico-Superior region.
Read the Article >

Prairie Border Savanna. Photo by Layne Kennedy

University of Minnesota forest ecologist Lee Frelich continues to foresee a transition from forest to savanna taking place at the margins of Minnesota’s north woods.  Newly published research suggests that within the century, climate and ancillary factors will make significant changes to the state’s prairie/forest border.

You can read the abstract to Frelich’s research HERE, in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

The StarTribune has a story on the subject HERE.

Frelich’s earlier research — noted previously HERE on Wilderness News Online — has also pointed to a transition in the northern Minnesota from forests to savanna projects.  Of his current findings, he says:

“The climate of the future will likely lead to higher mortality among mature trees, because of the greater frequency of droughts, fires, forest-leveling windstorms, and outbreaks of native and exotic insect pests and diseases. In addition, increasing populations of native deer and European earthworm invasions will inhibit the establishment of tree seedlings.”

Frelich told the StarTribune that the forest/savanna border could move from 60 to 300 miles to the northeast, with tree species jack pine, black spruce, balsam fir, and aspen being hard-hit by the transiton, since they currently grow at the southern end of their range in Minnesota.

“The expected net impact of these factors will be a ’savannification’ of the forest, owing to the loss of adult trees at a rate faster than that at which they can be replaced,” Frelich says in his research.  “This will cause a greater magnitude and more rapid northeastward shift of the prairie–forest border, as compared with a shift solely attributable to the direct effects of temperature change.”

In the brand new issue of Wilderness News, HERE, contributor Rob Kesselring ponders what “savannafication” could mean for the Quetico-Superior.

You can also read the feature on the subject we ran in the Summer 2008 issue of Wilderness News HERE.

Freshwater Jellyfish (Craspedacusta sowerbii) photo courtesy http://www.freshwaterjellyfish.org/picture11.html

The Duluth News-Tribune has a story on the recent discovery HERE.

The jellyfish is a regular resident of many Minnesota lakes, but it is not often seen in its signature hydromedusa state.  The hydrozoa spends more of its time as a polyp, attached to the bottoms of lakes.  However, in warm summers that are rich in zooplankton, the jellyfish’s food source, the species often morphs into its gelatinous, tentacled form.

Freshwater jellyfish are thought to be an exotic species to North America, although their decades-long presence in Minnesota lakes has not posed an ecological problem, according to experts.  It is thought that longer ice-free periods for Minnesota lakes and warmer summers may make jellyfish blooms more frequent.

While freshwater jellyfish immobilize their prey with their stinging tentacles, they do not pose a threat to humans.

The U.S. Geological Survey has a fact sheet on freshwater jellyfish HERE.

We also recommend the essay in THIS issue of Wilderness News about contributor Andy Wright’s freshwater jellyfish encounter on the BWCAW’s Ruby Lake.

The fire was first noted on Friday in THIS media release from the Superior National Forest.  There’s an update from this morning on the fire, HERE, on the Boreal Access web-site.

The fire near Lizard Lake was first spotted on August 26 by Forest Service personnel traveling on the Gunflint Trail.  The fire is thought to have been cause by lightening from a storm seven to ten days earlier.

The initial Forest Service report on the fire said it was less than one-quarter of an acre in size and was smoldering on the ground with no open flames.  The latest reports measure the fire at 51 acres, although unburned patches of vegatation remain within the boundaries of the fire.

Aircraft have dropped water on the northern and eastern perimeters of the fire.  Additional water-drops are expected today, according to the Forest Service, to cool the northern and eastern perimeters of the fire in preparation for another day of hot, windy weather.

No closures to the BWCAW have been made due to the fire, and none are expected.  The closest portages are the Rib Lake to Lower George Lake Portage, approximately three-fourths of a mile to the west, and the Lower George to Karl Lake Portage, approximately one-and-a-half miles to the southwest.

There’s a map of the fire area HERE.

The Lizard Lake fire is burning despite overall fire danger in Northeastern Minnesota being categorized as “Low” to “Moderate” by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.  (Find their fire danger map HERE.)

Across the international border, however, fire danger in the neighboring Ontario districts are described as “High.”  (See the Ontario fire danger map HERE.)

The film was one of four nominees in the “Documentary – Cultural” category as chosen by the Upper Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Minnesota’s National Park Legacy premiered on October 4, 2009 in concert with the Ken Burns documentary series, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, providing a regional context to the larger National Park System.  Find more information and a video preview of the film HERE.

Midwest Regional The Emmy Awards will be conferred on Saturday, September 25 at the Pantages Theater in Minneapolis

Nesting bald eagles in Voyageurs National Park. US Fish & Wildlife Service photo.

Three campsites in Voyageurs National Park that were off-limits due to bald eagles nesting in close proximity have been re-opened, the Park announced recently.

The Sexton Island campsite on Namakan Lake, the Skipper Rock Island campsite on Rainy Lake, and the Sand Bay South houseboat sites are now open to visitor use.  Voyageurs National Park has a total of 239 campsites spread across the 218,000 acre park.

The closures were necessitated by the park’s obligation to follow the conservation management actions of the federal Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle Management Act. Each year since 1992, the park has temporarily closed to visitor use the land and water areas around active bald eagle nests during their critical nesting periods.

Voyageurs National Park biologists found 34 occupied bald eagle nests within the park boundary this breeding season. Adults were observed incubating at 33 nests compared to 38 in 2009, 29 in 2008, 30 in 2006, 26 in 2004, and 2005, and 20 pairs in 1999.

Active incubation occurred at 13 park nests on Kabetogama, 11 on Namakan, 2 on Sandpoint, 1 on Crane and 6 on Rainy Lakes. Twenty six young fledged from 20 park nests. Four young fledged from the three nesting areas temporarily closed in May.

Read Voyageurs full media release on the re-openings HERE.

The Duluth News Tribune has the story, HERE, as well as before and after photos of the arch.

Tettegouche park specialist Jim Bischoff said initial reports of the collapse came Saturday, although it’s unclear when the rock bridge, a popular subject for photos, fell into the lake.

No particular human or natural event caused the arch to collapse, according to Bischoff.

The Timberjay has the full story HERE.

Newcastle’s Disease is suspected in the deaths, a bird virus that has killed cormorants elsewhere in Minnesota. The neurological disease affects juvenile birds. Confirmation that the deaths are indeed caused by Newcastle’s Disease won’t be confirmed for 2-3 weeks, according to the Minnesota DNR.

The growing cormorant population on Lake Vermilion has been a cause for concern among anglers and lake residents. The fish-eating bird is viewed as a competitor to humans for the lake’s game fish.

In the early-morning hours of August 5, Voyageurs’ Park Rangers learned that a hiker had failed to return to his campsite in Lost Bay on Kabetogama Lake in Voyageurs National Park. Shortly after, Park Rangers and St. Louis County Deputies began a land and water search.

After dawn, they were joined by the St. Louis County Volunteer Search and Rescue Squad, additional park staff, the park’s airplane, and a Forest Service Officer. Overall, 25 individuals from multiple agencies were deployed on land, water, and air.

Around noon, Jeremy Brands of Minnesota was spotted by the park’s pilot approximately three-quarters of a mile from his campsite near a swamp. He was contacted by park rangers shortly afterward and returned to his campsite and family in good condition. Brands had lost his way after darkness fell.

“We are pleased Mr. Brands was located in good condition,” Park Superintendent Mike Ward said. “I would like to remind visitors to be prepared for even short hikes and have a plan in place that details their route and time they plan to return.”

The Timberjay has the full story HERE.

The advocacy group Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness filed a suit earlier this year claiming the 450-foot tower on a ridge near Fall Lake in the Ely area violates the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act because it will be visible from the BWCAW. The tower is presently designed to be illuminated day and night with strobe and beacon lighting.

The agreement for AT&T to suspend construction came at a hearing on August 4 considering a temporary injunction on construction of the tower.

A trail date has not been set, but one is not expected before December.