Highlights include:

Emerald Ash Borer Reaches Minnesota
As resource managers scramble to deal with Emerald Ash Borer, a recent arrival in Southern Minnesota, Wilderness News considers the potential consequences if this bright green invasive insect reaches northern Minnesota. Where, it turns out, the vast majority of Minnesota ash trees grow.

Wilderness News Book Review: Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron
Iron Range writer Aaron Brown examines life on the Iron Range through a series of stories, essays and columns. A true must-read for any traveler who frequents the north country.

Namakan Dam Update
The Spring 2008 issue of Wilderness News covered a proposed dam at High Falls on the Namakan River west of Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario. A project with environmental impacts on both sides of the border, the Ojibway Power and Energy Group (OPEG) is preparing to release its Environmental Assessment as part of a proponent-led approval process. In anticipation of the report, Wilderness News assesses the current status of the project and how the approval process works in a proponent-led system. (You can read the full article HERE).

While the state was unable to meet U.S. Steel’s asking price of $20 million — it’s limited by the legislature to offering roughly $15.7 million in cash — the story claims the state has at least considered enticing the steel giant with pledges of assistance in procuring taconite leases, by offering it free biomass fuels, and by agreeing to the “turning over” of thousands of acres of wetlands to the company.

The comprehensive story by investigative reporter Mark Brunswick questions whether the actions of the Department of Natural Resources, which is negotiating the purchase, has skirted laws to procure land for the park strongly supported by Governor Tim Pawlenty.

The story also looks into whether the state sought to help U.S. Steel get its pricier land appraisal figures certified.

MinnPost also summarized the StarTribune story in it’s Daily Glean column, HERE.

Proposed Lake Vermilion State Park is outlined in black. The existing Soudan Mine State Park is outlined in green. (Map courtesy of the Minnesota DNR)

Check out a clickable map of the proposed park.

More at the Minnesota DNR >

Highlights include:

Wilderness News Book Review: Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv.
It’s not your imagination: kids are not spending as much time outside, in nature, as their parents or grandparents. Richard Louv explores the consequence as well as what we can do to reverse the trend.

The Changing Nature of Wilderness Protection: Looking Forward
In part II of Wilderness News coverage of the 30th anniversary of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act of 1978, we examine the way new challenges may reshape community conversations about the BWCAW.

“Project Venture North: Budding Program Reconnects Youth to Nature”
Ice fishing, snow shoeing, canoeing and camping – cornerstones of the northwoods experience, yes, but cornerstones of drug and alcohol prevention? Project Venture North, a replica of Project Venture in New Mexico, is betting yes, serving American Indian communities in the Quetico Superior region by connecting kids with nature. (You can also read the full article HERE)