Trail Work in the BWCAW

We ran into this group of hard-working Minnesota Conservation Corps volunteers out on the trail recently. It had been a hot and humid week, and this day was certainly no exception. These folks had been working hard most days since mid-June.

Often, portages require some maintenance, particulary those that are heavily-used or particularly wet. As portages get trod over, they can become muddy and mucky, particularly in a rainy summer. When that happens, many people tend to walk around the mud puddle instead of through it. That causes the mud puddle and the trail to get wider and wider, as portagers trample down the natural growth on either side of the trail.

This team was gathering rocks by digging into the shallow dirt and bedrock a short distance off the side of the trail and using sledge hammers to break large rocks into smaller pieces, digging out the main portage trail, adding those rocks upon which to walk, and surrounding the rocks with dirt. Not an easy task, and certainly made harder by the hot and humid conditions of this particlar day.

The work is hard, but it will last a long time into the future. There are 42 Conservation Corps volunteers out in the Boundary Waters this summer, plus more elsewhere in Minnesota doing trail work. All of these "MCC" members are ages 18 to 25, and are part of the Americorps program, which saw a big boost with federal stimulus money last summer. The Conservation Corps members are now enjoying their second summer in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, with hope for many years to come.

This particular group of two women and three men seemed exceptionally pleased to be out there, despite the fact that the only non-mud color on every person was their yellow Conservation Corps-issued hard hat. A job well-done!

Compton Tortoiseshell Butterfly

We found this pretty butterfly out in the Boundary Waters recently. It alighted on our dark-colored life jackets, shirts and pants multiple times. Perhaps it was warming itself, even with the sun already fairly high.

It is the Compton Tortoiseshell (nymphalis vaualbum), which is a species found in much of the northern half of the United States. We felt lucky to find such a beautiful specimen that was also helpfully still for a photo.

This butterfly, like most others, eats only liquids as an adult. However, unlike many other butterflies whose main source of nourishment is nectar from wildflowers, this butterfly prefers sap and rotting fruit. Fortunately, there are plenty of raspberries and blueberries this season! The adult lays her eggs in clusters, typically in hardwood forests. This particular butterfly likely started out life on one of our plentiful paper birch trees, as it emerged from its egg stage. As a caterpillar in the larva stage, it started out munching on the tasty birch leaves. After gaining enough nourishment, it then transformed itself into the pupa stage (also called chrysalis), and later emerged as this beautiful butterfly.

Cedar Waxwings and Pin Cherries

Summer is a busy time for Cedar Waxwings here in northern Minnesota. Much of the summer, you will find these birds on their perfect perch waiting for dinner to pass by. When the 7-inch bird spies its scrumptious meal of mosquitoes or moths, it swoops down, snatches the bugs up, and returns to the same perch to await more unaware passersby. These birds typically eat the abundant bugs of summer, but come mid-July, tasty berries lure them away from their carnivorous ways.

We found these Cedar Waxwings enjoying quite a meal in the BWCAW from the relatively small (not more than 20 feet high or so), smooth-barked Pin Cherry tree. The Pin Cherries ripen in mid- to late-July, and are bright red and partially translucent with a large pit in the middle. Fortunately for the birds, who are wild about the cherries, the fruit is very sour to our human taste buds. It takes a lot of sugar to make the Pin Cherry taste decent!

While a lot of fruits fall to the ground during the tree's short lifetime of 25-30 years, you won't find this tree all over the forest. It needs plenty of sun. Often the pits of the Pin Cherries fall in the shade of the tree itself where they can't immediately germinate. Fortunately, the pit has a waterproof coating which prevents the seed from rotting, even as long as fifty years or more! When a disturbance eventually happens, like a strong windfall or forest fire, sunlight fills the ground and the seeds germinate en masse. Soon after, there will be a solid stand of even-aged Pin Cherry trees. The trees that we found were in a very sunny spot on the top of a high hill overlooking one of the many beautiful lakes of the Boundary Waters.

There was one other little guest hiding in the tree. This chipmunk was perched a few feet up in the tree enjoying his own snack of Pin Cherries!

Underwater Photography in the BWCA

Travel in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is mostly via lakes and waters. So how do you deal with cameras around all that water?

Some people embrace the water and bring along waterproof cameras. They definitely take some of the stress out of the possibility of dunking an expensive camera. Kate is carrying a waterproof camera this summer and she really likes that she can keep it at hand rather than packed away in a cumbersome case. She shot this photo by holding her camera under water and pointing it toward the sky. My favorite part of this perspective is that you can see the air bubbles on the underside of the lilly pads!

Kate is using an Olympus waterproof shockproof camera and she likes it.

If you're interested in photography and want to improve your skills while immersed in the BWCAW, consider participating in our Boundary Waters Photo Workshop led by professional magazine and nature photographer Layne Kennedy.  More info on our BWCA Photo Workshop is at this link:  http://boundarywatersguideservice.com/PhotoWorkshop.html.  Most folks bring cameras that are not waterproof on photo workshops, and we take special care to make sure they return safely.

Fly Amanita - Storybook Mushroom in the BWCAW

Fly Amanita is the quintessential toadstool we started drawing as kids in elementary school.  It's also known as the "fly mushroom" or "fly poison mushroom" because it is believed a saucer containing Fly Amanita in milk will attract and kill flies. 

The young mushroom begins covered in a universal veil and may be misidentified as a Puffball mushroom.  As the mushroom grows, the veil breaks apart and its remnants are seen as whitish "scabs" on a bulbous cap.  As it continues to mature, the bulbous cap becomes more flat and the white gills are visible on the underside of the cap.  When the mushroom reaches maturity, the outer edges of the cap may cup upward.

The Fly Amanita is indigenous to northern Minnesota.  It is usually yellow-orange here - in contrast to bright red varieties elsewhere.  The cap size ranges from 3 to 10 inches wide, and the white stem grows 3 to 7 inches tall. 

They are found growing from the ground - not from trees - from June through September. They are typically found among stands of pines and aspens.  

The toxins muscimol and ibotonic acid are contained in Fly Amanita.  Ingestion can cause serious internal injury and, in some rare instances, death.  They are generally considered poisonous and not edible.  However, some report that the toxins may be parboiled out of the fungus, and rumors surround the hallucinogenic effects caused by people eating these dangerous mushrooms.  Lore has it that the Vikings of the eleventh and twelfth centuries ingested them and found superhuman strength.  And Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland, was a known experimenter with drugs.  His book illustrations included a white-spotted red mushroom appearing to be Fly Amanita.  Another side effect of ingesting Fly Amanita is macropsia - a condition making things appear larger than life size.  Sounds like the book, doesn't it.

I snapped these photos recently on a portage along the Little Isabella River in the BWCAW.  During the canoe trip, deer flies buzzed around our heads.  It makes me wonder:  Might Fly Amanita in a milk concoction work for meddlesome deer flies around camp?

Sulfide Mining on the Edge of the BWCAW

Border Lakes Outfitting and Jason Zabokrtsky teamed with the Friends of the Boundary Waters recently to raise awareness for the potential environmental impacts of proposed sulfide mining operations on the edge of the Boundary Waters.  Jason guided the group of environmental advocates and media representatives, including Stephanie Hemphill of Minnesota Public Radio and John Myers of the Duluth News Tribune.

See the Duluth News Tribune Article here.  Listen to the MPR story here, or see the full text below.

Ely, Minn. — Six mining companies are doing exploration work that could lead to mines near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and that's got a lot of people concerned.

The companies are drilling deep holes, probing huge deposits of valuable copper, nickel, gold, platinum, and palladium.

Steve Koschak looks at a drill site near his River Point Resort on the South Kawishiwi River just east of Ely, Minn.

"This goes 24-7," he says of the constant drone of a drilling rig.

A contractor for Ely-based Duluth Metals is drilling a six-inch hole, about 3,000 feet into the earth. A trickle of water runs to a pit a few feet away. The pit holds water and a scum of gray muck, finely ground rock from deep in the earth.

"If you were to analyze all that, there's probably copper-nickel in that. But look what it's going into, it's going into the swamp," he says. "That's all this is, is a network of spruce swamps, all interconnected, this all goes into Birch Lake, all this water."

When the drilling is done, workers will bury the muck on site, a state requirement. The trouble is, around here there are so many wetlands, it would seem impossible to keep the muck out of the water system. Duluth Metals officials say there won't be enough mineral waste here to be any cause for concern.

This drilling is a precursor to what could be a deep shaft mine, more than half-mile below the surface of the earth. A mine would produce tons and tons of ground-up waste rock.

Graphic: Mineral deposits

And this is sulfide rock. When it's brought to the surface, a chemical reaction occurs that produces sulfuric acid. If the rock is not carefully isolated from air and water, it can acidify nearby streams and wetlands -- possibly enough to poison the life in the water.

In many mines, discharges also contain traces of heavy metals such as lead, arsenic and manganese. The problem is called acid mine drainage, and it's happened wherever copper mines have been drilled.

The advocacy group Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness has organized a canoe trip for reporters to show how close the mining operations are to the Boundary Waters wilderness. We put in at entry point 32 on the South Kawishiwi River.

Steve Koschak

We pass turtles sunning themselves on rocks, and a pair of mergansers keeping a close eye on their young brood.

"This is where all the mining exploration's going on, just to the east of the river," says our guide, Jason Zabokrtsky. He points out that the drilling is going on about three miles south of the edge of the Boundary Waters. But here the river turns north and then flows into the heart of the wilderness.

"Into Fall Lake, then into Newton and Basswood Lake, across to upper and lower Basswood Falls, into Crooked Lake, into Iron Lake, across Curtain Falls, and into Lac la Croix," he says. "All really well-known Boundary Waters lakes."

Some people who live near the potential mining sites are worried. Bob Tammen, who lives in Soudan, about 20 miles from Ely, and has vacation property on the South Kawishiwi River, says he doesn't trust the state to protect the environment. The state, he said, hasn't been able to completely clean up pollution from the Dunka pit, a waste site from a taconite operation that accidentally exposed sulfide rock 50 years ago, and ever since has been leaching metals into a nearby creek.

Well caps

"We've been trying for 30 years to get the Dunka site cleaned up. My contention is, if the state of Minnesota, working with the mining industry, can't clean up a mining site in 30 years, why should we ever grant a permit for a copper mining operation?" Tammen says. "We know that copper is generally in sulfide ore bodies, whereas our iron mining industry is generally in oxide ore bodies, which is not as damaging as sulfide. They haven't been able to manage the iron mining industry; we should not, at this time, trust them to permit a copper mining industry."

State officials say the Dunka problem happened before rigorous rules were imposed on mining operations.

Tyler Fish

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's Ann Foss says it's difficult to solve an unexpected problem, but the experience at Dunka has taught the agency a lot about how sulfide rock reacts when exposed to air and water. She says that experience will help inform environmental reviews of any sulfide mining proposals.

The Friends of the Boundary Waters has backed legislation at the state level to beef up requirements on financial assurance -- similar to the escrow fund that BP has agreed to set aside for the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Last year, the Minnesota measure died in committee.

Some of the neighbors here, around the edge of the Boundary Waters want to go further: they want the state to prohibit sulfide mining unless a company can point to one place in the world where a mine has operated without polluting water. Since a similar law passed in Wisconsin, no mines have been built in the state.

The exploration is happening on the southwest edge of the Boundary Waters. Fifteen miles to the west is the town of Ely.

There are varying opinions in Ely on the exploration and possible mine development. The area has long been dependent on jobs in mining, logging, and tourism. Some people are excited about a new source of good-paying jobs. They still remember when the underground mine in Soudan used to ship tons of rich, iron ore. It closed in 1962 and now is a state park.

Duluth Metals has an office in Ely, in a house on a quiet street. The walls are covered with colorful geologic maps, and in an attached garage there are lots of core samples from those drill sites down the road.
David Oliver, the project's manager, is very excited about the minerals that lie more than a half-mile beneath the surface, on 1,500 acres near the South Kawishiwi River.

"We have now drilled 170-some drill holes that verify a resource in excess of 900 million tons that was never on the books before," Oliver said.

He says a mine tapping into that resource could employ 400 people for decades to come.
Copper and nickel, and the associated precious metals, are used in everything from electric wires and computers, to catalytic converters and rechargeable batteries, so demand is going up all the time.

The combination of higher prices and improved technologies to recover the minerals is generating new excitement about a deposit that geologists have known about for a long time. Oliver discounts worries about polluted groundwater. He says the core samples are solid, nearly free of cracks, so it wouldn't be easy for any polluted groundwater to travel through this ancient rock.

And, he says, the waste rock will contain so little sulfur that the kind of pollution that has occurred at other mines is unlikely.

"This is deemed below any threshold that would generate acid drainage," Oliver says. "It just doesn't have enough sulfur to do it."

Until recently, a different company -- Polymet -- was the front-runner in the race for copper-nickel in Minnesota.

Polymet's property is just south of the land Duluth Metals is exploring. The Minnesota DNR and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did a draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Polymet project, but the federal Environmental Protection Agency did a scathing review of the work, saying it was inadequate. It will take more than a year to re-do it.

Meanwhile, Duluth Metals' new partnership with Antofagasta, a Chilean company, provides enough money to move that project ahead quickly. David Oliver says Duluth Metals should be ready for environmental review in about three years.

Ely, MN - The Coolest Small Town in America

Ely, MINN - National travel magazine Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel has named Ely, Minn. as its 2010 “Coolest Small Town in America.” The magazine received 147 nominations, then selected 21 American towns that stood out from the crowd to open up to public online voting. In online voting, 439,411 votes were received, and Ely captured 118,899 of those—27 percent of all votes.

A feature on the city of Ely will be included in the magazine’s September 2010 issue.

Ely is located in the Boundary Waters region, on the US-Canada border between Ontario and Minnesota, and is a popular destination for campers, as well as canoe and fishing enthusiasts, and those looking for natural scenery and relaxation.

The magazine defined what they sought for 'Coolest Small Town' as a town with a population under 10,000. According to the original solicitation for nominations, the magazine wrote, “we're talking small towns, not big cities. It's also got to be on the upswing, a place that's beginning to draw attention—and new residents—because of the quality of life, arts and restaurant scene, or proximity to nature. And cool doesn't mean quaint. We want towns with an edge, so think avant-garde galleries, not country stores.” The runner-up cities were Cloverdale, Calif. and Brevard, N.C.

See the original competition details here: http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-srv/coolestsmalltowns/CST2010.html.

“People have long recognized that Ely’s a town full of eccentric people and interesting cultural offerings, but also a land of beautiful wilderness,” says Linda Fryer, director, Ely Chamber of Commerce. “We may be at the end of the road, but once you get here, there’s a lot to see and do.”

The magazine summarized Ely in an introductory article in January: “Also called the End of the Road, Ely sits in Minnesota's scenic extreme north, where it once served as an iron-mining hub. But Ely has come a long way since her unglamorous mining days, now playing host to a number of renowned wilderness facilities like the International Wolf Center and the North American Bear Center. The city is a perfect base for camping, canoeing, and fishing, as the nearby Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness offers an untouched expanse of lakes and bogs straddling the U.S.-Canadian border. Ely has become notorious for the annual April Fools’ jokes that city leaders play on the eager-to-be-fooled citizens. In 2008, a press release announced that Ely was being sold to Canada to boost tourism. The mayor commented on the subject in a local newspaper, and cheeky ‘Say No to Canada’ signs were displayed along the highway. The following year, Ely began a mock-campaign to secure the right to host the 2016 Olympic Games.”

In 2010, Ely once again engaged in April Foolery with an announcement on April First that it, in conjunction with the Forest Service, had signed a multi-year deal with a nationally known corporation  for naming rights to the legendary Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW).

Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel magazine is published monthly except for combined issues in December/January and July/August by Intellitravel Media, Inc. BudgetTravel.com is the website for Budget Travel magazine, which receives approximately 1.8 million unique page views per month.

For more information on Ely, Minn., and to book a Boundary Waters canoe trip vacation that’s less than four hours from the Twin Cities, please visit www.BorderLakesOutfitting or call 218-343-7951.

Common Merganser and Ducklings on Lake One in the BWCAW

 

We paddled to a quiet bay away from the main travel route to look for wildlife on a guided day canoe trip today on Lake One.

Luckily, we spied this Common Merganser and her ducklings. The young were probably born in a hollow tree - where Mergansers typically nest. The mother must have just recently nudged the furball ducklings out of the nest because they are still tiny creatures. Part of me expected to see a giant pike splash out of the water after one of them.

We saw no sign of the male merganser, which is not uncommon. Motherhood is a lonely job for these females. The males typically play no part in raising the ducklings.

We watched this Common Merganser dive down looking for minnows to catch in its orange serrated bill - often called a sawbill. It didn't appear to succeed in hunting minnows, but it did successfully pluck a dragonfly nymph from a rock wall as it swam by.

Young Fern Fronds Unfurling in the BWCAW

Summer is on its way! The leaves are exploding out everywhere, and closer to the ground, the ferns are coming out in their own way. The tightly-curled immature fern fronds are called fiddleheads. As a fiddle player myself, I can verify that they do indeed resemble the top of my instrument. It only takes a few days for the young ferns to unfurl, so it is a fun discovery to spy these young plants before they have their big flat leaves of the summer. We found these on a day trip this week into the BWCAW, on the Isabella River.

Bracken ferns are an abundant plant in the BWCAW. Some people say that bracken ferns are good mosquito repellent. Just take one full-sized leaf and set atop your head or stick in your hat, and see what you think.

Entry and photos by Wilderness Guide Kate Ford

A Canoe Trailer That Will Last

We picked up a new canoe trailer today at Remackel Welding in Forest Lake, MN.

Around Ely, canoe trailers bounce down some pretty rugged roads. Names like “Echo Trail” and “Tomahawk Trail” reflect the rustic nature of the routes here. These roads and harsh northern elements put canoe trailers to the test.

Meet one of the most durable canoe trailers available. This photo shows our six-place canoe trailer with box by Remackel Welding. As we talked with other outfitters about canoe trailers that last the longest under heavy use, we repeatedly heard about the custom trailers by Dennis Remackel. He’s been making them by hand for several decades.

Dennis gives people several options to customize their trailers. Rust is the nemesis of a trailer, so we chose to have the trailer hot-dip galvanized. Once welded together, the trailer is dipped in molten zinc resulting in a trailer that won’t rust and never needs painted. The cool-factor is pretty high, and the practical durability factor is even higher.

We chose a few other options also. We ordered an extended tongue to allow room for a couple canoes on the roof of the towing vehicle. That allows us to transport eight canoes - two complete BWCA canoe trips. Also, the canoe racks are removable so the "canoe trailer" converts to a simple utility trailer. We also like the added steps on the back of the trailer, wheel wells strong enough to stand on, and a plywood step on the tongue. The plywood is all marine grade.

If you take lots of canoe trips and want to tow your own canoes, then you may want to consider one of Remackel's four-place canoe trailers with a large box and optional box cover. See photos on the Remackel website.

Shown in front of the new trailer are Dennis Remackel and Kate Ford.

Sap Remover

Five-year-old Lucas trotted out of the woods with his hands above his head shouting: "I need the sap remover! I need the sap remover!"

Sure enough, the spring sap is running and he found it. But, no problem. He just needed the liquid hand sanitizer out of the toilet paper kit.

It's a good tip to carry liquid hand sanitizer on your Boundary Waters trip for the obvious purposes, and also to remove pesky sap that doesn't come off with plain soap. That's one of the reasons we include hand sanitizer in our complete Boundary Waters canoe trip outfitting packages.

March BWCAW Canoe Trip

It's almost never possible to do a Boundary Waters canoe trip in March. But, with our early spring, and summer-like temps, I eagerly watched the forecast in hopes of just such a March trip. Sure enough, the rivers freed up from ice quickly and even some of the lakes were going out by the end of the month.

One of the joys of life in the Northwoods is that we can take advantage of the lovely weather that arrives at unexpected times. It would seem pretty unreasonable to actually plan a March canoe trip here. But, with good weather and warm temps forecast, I charged out on March 31 for an overnight BWCAW canoe trip up the Little Indian Sioux River. The planned route took me south on the Little Indian Sioux, past Sioux Falls (shown in the photo), up the Little Pony River, through Bootleg Lake, then out the south end of Bootleg and back north on the Little Indian Sioux.

As I paddled toward Bootleg, my curiosity about whether it would be open or locked in ice yet grew. Fortunately, the typically low (and sometimes virtually impassable) Little Pony River had adequate water, and I portaged into Bootleg at about 6 PM. A stroke of luck meant the lake had opened up and was virtually ice-free except for some candle ice that collected near the portage. Lexee-dog seemed intrigued by the sound of the ice chinkling against my paddle and the canoe.

What a remarkable trip. With two days of t-shirt weather I observed a bonanza of wildlife celebrating the advent of spring. I saw all sorts of firsts for the 2010 ice-out season: beavers slapping their tails, muskrats, minnows, a leech, mosquitoes (two!), a fish jumping, mallards, a herring gull, Canada geese flying north, maybe an osprey in the distance, and some other ducks.

But the wildlife highlight of the trip occurred within about a mile of the takeout. As I rounded a bend, I spied two trumpeter swans leisurely preening themselves on the river. They let me relax and watch them swim gracefully for about twenty minutes. I used up the last of my camera battery life before they decided to fly off.

The swans' final act delighted me. I've never seen other birds do this, but I've seen it with trumpeter swans here before. They took flight going away from me, flew for a distance, then u-turned and flew back toward my canoe. They then did a fly-by directly overhead, not far above, with the sound of rushing air crossing their six feet wingspan. As I watched, they seemed to tilt their wings in a "welcome to our woods, happy to share" sort of message. The experience felt like the true launch of the paddling season.

I basked in the good feelings of watching such remarkable birds - creatures so pure and clean and white and ornate it seems they belong in my grandmother's china hutch. The experience will be a highlight of my year.

So pleased with the encounter, I decided against replacing my camera battery for the rest of the short paddle to the take-out. Then I rounded another bend and spied a moose grazing along the shore. That image will just remain in my head.

World Event Missed While On Trail - Boundary Waters Renamed

On the paddle to the takeout after a camping trip, the question often arises: "What major news did we miss while in the wilderness?" I returned from a two-day BWCAW trip late tonight and hardly considered what might have happened during such a brief jaunt out. However, I was shocked when I found this major international news in a press release in my email.

MINN. BOUNDARY WATERS CANOE AREA WILDERNESS RENAMED

Ely, Minn. Signs Deal with Private Funding Source

ELY, MINNESOTA — April 1, 2010 — Ely, Minn announces today it has, signed a multi-year deal for naming rights to the legendary Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). The new corporate sponsor will be Minnesota-based International Dairy Queen, Inc. (IDQ).

The Boundary Waters region, on the US-Canada border between Ontario and Minnesota, is a popular destination for campers, as well as canoe and fishing enthusiasts, and those looking for natural scenery and relaxation.

As of today, the region will be officially known as the International Dairy Queen Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, or IDQBWCAW.

“We have been fielding offers for years, turning down everyone from AARP to the ASPCA. But this year, we had to make a difficult decision,” says Roger Skraba, Ely Mayor. “Beautiful unspoiled wilderness doesn’t pay for itself. And who doesn’t have fond memories of a Dilly Bar? It’s a win-win. This will usher in an era of great corporate, tourism and environmental partnerships.”

“We were looking for a way to promote the 25h birthday of our signature Blizzard Treat, as well as a unique tribute to International Dairy Queen in this, our 70th year,” says Michael Keller, Chief Brand Officer for IDQ. “When we thought about it, this made perfect sense. Ely has blizzards, we have Blizzards. They’re international, we’re international. They have a guy named Buster who hangs out at one of the local bars. We have a treat called the Buster Bar. It’s sort of serendipitous, actually.”

I know this is shocking news. Can you complain or stop this? Well, first check the date of the press release, and then you can go to the Ely Chamber of Commerce website (ely.org) for more info. We're happy to outfit your Boundary Waters canoe trip no matter what it's called.

End of the Dogsledding Season

Dogsleds are done for the Minnesota season. We took a last run with the dogs by wheeled cart this weekend. The above photo is Scott from the Twin Cities driving a dog cart. His wife, Christine, is on the cart behind him. The dogs kicked up some of our springtime mud onto Christine - but we were all smiles as you can tell. And the mud made for a good reason to take a sauna followed by a refreshing dip in the lake!

EPA Says Sulfide Mining Proposal is Environmentally Unacceptable - Sign a Petition for Govt Agencies to do what the EPA Says

In February, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declared that the PolyMet mine proposal for a new sulfide mine in Northeast Minnesota presented unacceptable risks to the environment. The agency gave the proposal its lowest rating and termed the proposal, "environmentally unacceptable." The EPA has only branded 41 proposals out of almost 40,000 proposals in the last 23 years as environmentally unacceptable.

The EPA also said the project should not proceed as proposed, and that the company and the responsible government agencies (the MN Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) should do remedial work to bring it up to standards. In other words, the EPA said the proposal had failed the class and should not move on to the next level.

The “Send PolyMet to Summer School” petition (sponsored by Friends of the Boundary Waters) simply calls for PolyMet and the agencies to do exactly what the EPA said they should. Rather than proceed to the usual next step in environmental review, they should do more work and give the public a chance to review it and offer feedback.

We should protect the future of clean water, such as the water flowing over Curtain Falls in the Boundary Waters in this photo.

Sign the petition at http://ga0.org/campaign/polymet_summer_school.

Wilderness Wedding

We celebrated in a big way at Wintergreen Dogsled Lodge this weekend. Sunday was the marriage of two wilderness guides, Dave Freeman and Amy Voytilla. The couple planned an unusual wedding. Guests rode dogsleds, skied, or hiked to the wedding site - a campsite on the shores of White Iron Lake near Ely, MN. The tall pines made a beautiful cathedral! Happily, the weather was incredibly accommodating: temperatures close to 60 degrees, sunny, and barely a breeze. Following the ceremony, the wedding party and some guests departed, not in a limo, but by dogsled.
On Earth Day, April 22, the newlyweds will begin their 2 1/2 year "honeymoon." They will be off on a big journey: the North American Odyssey. Dave and Amy are part of the Wilderness Classroom Organization, and will be traveling 11,700 miles by kayak, canoe and dogsled over the next two and a half years. Their journey will be followed online by thousands of school children, who get to weigh in on their travel decisions, learn about the special places and animals of this continent, and learn to dream big themselves. You can check it out at http://www.wildernessclassroom.com/ or http://www.northamericanodyssey.com/.

We congratulate Dave and Amy (above) and wish them best of luck on their marriage, their biggest adventure of all!

Canadian Lynx Tracks

We came across these tracks on Pipestone Bay of Basswood Lake recently. My first thought was of a massively oversized rabbit. They're obviously too large to be a Snowshoe Hare, but they have a similar repeating pattern.

I had a hunch on the tracks' true origin, and checked with Tom Rusch at the DNR to get his thoughts on the animal that left them behind. Tom and I agreed that they look like Canadian Lynx tracks. Tom mentioned that, like Snowshoe Hares, the two big prints at the top of the "T-shaped pattern are the hind legs of the lynx, and the smaller prints are from their front paws.

Perceptive dogsledders preempt peeing dog

Bill and Ann on a dogsled trip this week figured out the dog Lewis (shown here). Lewis wanted to pee at the top of every hill.  His top-of-hill leg-lifting meant their dogsled stopped shy of the crest and they had to push it to get it over the top.

Then they got an idea.  As they approached the hilltop, and before Lewis marked the spot, they gave a preemptive command:  "On by. On by, Lewis."

It worked!  Lewis obeyed - or was distracted by the command - and thenceforth pulled their sled smoothly over the hilltops. Kudos to Bill and Ann!!

Snow Sculptures in Ely at the Winter Festival

The Ely Winter Festival wrapped up this past weekend, just as I wrapped up a dogsled trip. I made it to see the snow sculptures in Whiteside Park in the afternoon. Come late January every year, large blocks of snow get set up in the park, which professionals and amateurs then sculpt into unique, creative formations. This year was no exception with many artful and original ideas. Some pieces are cold-weather themed, some are not. The snow sculptures will start to melt soon, so if you're in the Ely area, you will want to make the trip to Whiteside Park soon to see the art before it's gone. Above is a clever sculpture entitled "A Study in Repitition." The below photo, from an autobiographically-inspired carver, a piece entitled "Snow Carver Carving."

By Guest Blogger: Dogsled and Canoe Guide Kate Ford

Sled-joring

Kids come up with the darndest of ideas! I've been guiding a parent-child trip, and we spent this afternoon playing on the lake by the lodge with a few dogs. Everybody tried skiing, and even those who were total beginners stayed upright much of the time. The skiing was a quick introduction to the next activity: the group was all excited, though perhaps a bit nervous, to give skijoring a try. Each person gave it a whirl around our corner of the lake, and our cooperative dogs happily pulled the people on skis behind them. Everybody decided that it was much easier than they expected and very fun!

While waiting their turn to skijor, the kids (ages 9 up to 16) came up with a new version of the sport: "sled-joring." They hooked themselves up to a dog or two and let the dog pull them on a plastic sled. They discovered that this way they had much less of a chance of falling down. Here, Bones pulls Douglas on their creative new setup.

By guest blogger: Dogsled and Canoe Guide Kate Ford