For many Minnesotans, the exclamation “Timber!” evokes images of a bygone era when solemn bearded men clad in plaid hefted saws and axes and felled towering pines in the depths of a northern forest at the end of the 19th century. Fewer Minnesotans may understand that the harvesting of timber and forest products is still … [ Read more]
Seeing the Forest for the Trees: The sustainability of Minnesota’s logging industry
March 26, 2018 by
Troubled Waters: Bridging our concern over Minnesota’s lakes and rivers to necessary action
March 26, 2018 by
Minnesotans love to extol the virtues of our 10,000 shimmering lakes and remind outsiders that we really have closer to 12,000. But we’re also laboring under some seriously mistaken myths, ones that put off acknowledging the full breadth of problems facing our prized lakes, no matter how many we have. First, we don’t have as … [ Read more]
The Food that Grows on Water: Harvesters and state agencies seek to protect Minnesota’s wild rice legacy
August 30, 2017 by
It’s late summer in Cass Lake, Minnesota, a logging and resort town on the western edge of the vast northwoods that stretches east to Thunder Bay, Ontario. For a few minutes before nightfall, the sky above town is streaked with the last glowing blush of the setting sun, and two loons call to each other … [ Read more]
Hidden Minnesota: 5 underappreciated state parks and recreation areas to visit this year
April 24, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Minnesota has long been recognized as the land of 10,000 sky blue-tinted lakes. But did you know the North Star State also is home to 66 state parks, not to mention an additional nine recreational areas, 25 state trails, and 43 state forest campgrounds? Many Minnesotans and visitors are familiar with such celebrated parks as … [ Read more]
Minnesota United kicks off Earth Week at Afton State Park
April 18, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Each year, Earth Day is celebrated on April 22. But thanks to Minnesota United, an early, earthy campaign will be kicking off at Afton State Park. Today, players and staff from Minnesota United will team up with Itasca Society season ticket holders, Minnesota Department of National Resources staffers, and Major League Soccer employees to help clean up the … [ Read more]
Score the ultimate Black Friday deal: Fresh Air
November 22, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The day after Thanksgiving, or Black Friday, is known to many as the start of holiday shopping season. Crazed crowds of people standing in line for hours, trampling through the aisles, vying for the best bargains. Sounds awful, right? Instead of opening their stores to the shopping masses, last year all REI retail locations across the … [ Read more]
Minnesota’s fire towers: Steel sentinels standing guard over the state’s forests
October 20, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Autumn travel in the Northland offers an abundance of adventures and breathtaking fall scenery, but few can top the thrill and view of climbing one of the remaining fire towers that once guarded Minnesota’s forests. Standing at an average of over 100 feet in height, these steel sentinels once numbered around 150 in Minnesota (by … [ Read more]
Vote for the next MN State Parks & Trails license plate
June 29, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is giving people the chance to choose the next Minnesota State Parks & Trails license plate. Artist from across the state submitted designs and the DNR narrowed the field down to the above three. Voting is open through 5pm Monday, July 4, and the winning plate will be available … [ Read more]
Conservation in action: Restoring North America’s bison population
March 22, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Take a Sunday drive along the rolling county roads of outstate Minnesota, watching out your window as lakes and clustered cabins give way to sprawling farmland and the odd barn or cowshed, and you might spot among the dairy farms and cornfields the occasional ranch dedicated to raising bison. From the safe side of a … [ Read more]
MN signs off on PolyMet Mine environmental review
March 3, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The state signed off today, March 3, on the decade-long environmental review of the first copper- nickel mine proposed for the Iron Range, marking a major turning point in the most contentious environmental fight Minnesota has had in years, reports The Star Tribune. Next will come what is likely to be a heated debate about how to … [ Read more]
Maple syrup season has arrived
March 3, 2016 by Leave a Comment
You know spring is just around the corner when maple syrup events start popping up around Minnesota. According to the Minnesota DNR, maple sap runs best when daytime temperatures are in the high 30s to mid-40s, and overnight temperatures are below freezing. Sometimes sap flows as early as January or as late as May, but in Minnesota, … [ Read more]
For the Birds: Battling declines in Minnesota’s pheasant population
October 9, 2015 by Leave a Comment
This Saturday across central and southern Minnesota, hunters will step out into the early autumnal dawn in search of Minnesota’s premier upland game bird: the ring-necked pheasant. The pheasant season, which begins October 10 and runs until January 3, 2016, has historically been one of the more important hunting seasons for many Minnesotans. In recent … [ Read more]
