Birding Minnesota by Canoe
Birding Minnesota by Canoe
By Rob Kesselring/Sue Plankis
Outdoor Writers
Excerpt from a birdwatching canoeist’s journal:
“As we drifted down the Cannon River, a Cooper's Hawk
glided over our canoe toward a stump in the middle of a boggy
backwater. We see a pair of Eastern Kingbirds lift off to attack the hawk. The hawk landed on the stump and worked its way to a branch where there was a nest.
Secrets of Tamarac National Forest
The Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge has many secrets hidden within its 42,700 acres, the first of which it isn’t a designated state forest, but a refuge. And taking advantage of that refuge are two packs of timber wolves of about 10 to 12 animals each. The wolves have been seen by hunters and hikers and can be heard on winter nights in the refuge.
Bill Morrissey: A Parks & Trails Advocate Dies
Bill Morrissey, 67, died December 1, leaving a legacy of more than 30 years of dedication and love for Minnesota’s state parks and trails. Morrissey helped create several state parks and served on the Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota board from 2007 to 2010. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor last year.
LocationGoing Blaze
The prime trail clearing season is also the prime deer hunting season in Minnesota in November. Todd McMahon and Matt Davis didn't take any changes while clearing the North Country Trail through the Chippewa National Forest in Northern Minnesota this November. McMahon wore blaze orange from head to toe, even his backpack loaded with trail clearing gear was orange.
LocationClassic Ski weekend at Flathorn Gegoka
Classic Ski Weekend at Flathorn Gegoka
By Rudi Hargesheimer, Outdoor Writer/Photographer
I thought I had graduated to the perfection of the North Shore’s best cross-country ski trails long time ago.
Beautiful ski trails are everywhere in the Arrowhead’s big snow belt with twelve feet wide, skate lane on the left, classic track on the right. Guaranteed grooming creates a fast and firm deck for super fun skiing.
An abrupt stop to that awaited our group of ten on a trip to the Flathorn Gegoka Ski Area. We re-discovered old style classic single-track skiing, tight woods yet nicely groomed trails. Our group shared two simple cabins, at a rustic but very nice resort. I felt we stepped back in time.
Watching Over Wildlife
Carrol Henderson: Watching Over Wildlife
By Pamela Eyden, Outdoor Writer
Carol Henderson’s success is measured in wildlife perserved.
As supervisor of the Minnesota’s Nongame Wildlife Program he protects the birds and wildlife we love.
Take trumpeter swans. These birds have a wingspan of about seven feet and are the largest water bird on earth. When Henderson wrote a conservation plan for them in 1981, they were gone from Minnesota for 100 years. Their habitat had been turned to farmland and they’d been overhunted for their elegant white feathers. After 30 years of persistence in the trumpeter swan project, more than 2,000 adult birds nest in Minnesota’s wetlands and the population has doubled in the last five years alone.
A Biking Kind of Love
By Pamela Eyden - Outdoor Writer
Couples have their differences. But Sid and Sig Scheurle share one big passion — exploring new and familiar places by bicycle.
The Winona couple met on the RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) 10 years ago. Sid had done the tour with her friends many times. Sig was a first-timer. They married the next December with their grown children gathered around and have been riding together ever since. Together they bike 3,000 to 3,500 miles every year.
“Biking is how we met, and it’s most of our recreation together,” Sid said.
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Soudan State Park wins $50,000
by Kim Sampson, Range News Now After the nation has voted with more than 13 million votes, Soudan State Park, was voted second place for the Coca Cola “America Is Your Park” contest for a prize of $50,000. The promotion is part of Coca Cola’s “Live Positively” program.
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Visitors sneaking into the parks
Duluth News Tribune
“We’re 400 miles away from home,” said one father at the entrance to Gooseberry Falls State Park at midday today as his children piled out of a van ready to walk down to see the falls. The family, not willing to identify themselves, said they had been in the region this week and were staying in Duluth with plans to see the falls.
LocationBe Moved By The St Croix River
A centennial. One hundred years. A benchmark unreached by many nonprofits, or for that matter any business. Yet, in 2011 the St. Croix River Association celebrates one hundred years of attention and service to the waterway that defines this region of northwest Wisconsin and east central Minnesota.
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