Outdoors

A Wonderful Getaway From the Busy Cities

Willow Falls - Courtesy of Forrest McCullough

Summer has finally come to Minnesota. The sun burns late in the day and green has crawled out of the darkness to cover the trees again. Parks are filled with eager children. Beaches are occupied by van-loads of families. The swooshing noises of the boats buzzing past each other on the lakes are accompanied by the gleeful barking of the family dog.

Summer means a lot of different things to many people but for the people of Minnesota it is truly a special time. For maybe just a couple or few months out of the year Minnesotans are delivered from the icy darkness...

Minnesota Endangered Species List Part of a Larger Picture

endangered species

Carol Pruette has never seen an Indochinese tiger. Until someone mentioned the name, she'd never heard of a Ganges River dolphin. Pruette, a resident of Marshfield, Missouri, is neither an animal expert nor a biologist so it perhaps comes as no surprise she is a not familiar with two of the many animals species considered endangered on earth. And though the aforementioned animal species mean little to Pruette - and perhaps most of the people who reside in or happened to be visiting Minnesota that afternoon - when this reporter spoke to her outside the Cook County Library in Grand...

View from Big Birch Lake: A Pastoral

birch lake

I am a self-confessed and unapologetic spouter of Minnesota pride. Whether scanning a state-themed “Top Ten” clickbait countdown making the social media rounds, for a mention of anything Minnesota, or catching up with college friends who were born and raised in other Midwestern states, I cannot help but confidently crow about the virtues and possibilities of my home state.

But this pride is born of gratitude and admiration for a certain environment; I acknowledge my demographic privilege, but nevertheless find...

Wisconsin Mummified Squirrel Revived

mummified_squirrel

Found in either the 50's or 60's, a grey squirrel (found mummified in a chimney) was given to the Marathon County Historical Society and put on display. In the mid-2000's the Yawkey House Museum. where the squirrel was displayed, was renovated and the squirrel put into storage. Now, thanks to "History in a Minute" videos, the squirrel has been revived... in popularity. The mummified squirrel really piques the visitors'...

Carp to Force the Closing of St. Anthony Lock... Permanently?

[caption id="attachment_248766" align="aligncenter" width="570"]The_Doors_Of_The_St._Anthony_Lock_May_Never_Open_Again Whether carp, boat or Balrog, no one will be allowed access through the lock according to new legislation.[/caption] The freshly christened "Invasive Carp" are back in Minnesota's news. This time because the fish are behind a possible major interruption of Mississippi River's navigable waters; to keep the fish from Northern Minnesota, the United States Congress is looking...

Cottage Grove Needs Online Votes to Win Funds For a Dream Bike Park

Cottage_Grove_Bike_Park Bell Bicycle Helmets has decided to put forward $33,000 to construct a bike park in the Central Region of the US. But the thing is, there are four proposed 'dream trails' they could construct, but only one winner -- one of the finalists is Cottage Grove! So who will decide which one gets built? You will, with your online votes. Logging on to http://www.bellhelmets.com/bellbuilt/ will bring you to a polling place -- voting literally takes less than a minute. When I voted earlier today, Cottage Grove was winning by a small margin. Cast your vote to get...

Deer Feeding Program Comes to an End

MN Deer Hunter Association - 2014 Deer feeding The good news about this April is that it feels like April. People and animals alike are appearing outside in greater numbers; the deep freeze is over (we hope). The DNR and its controversial deer feeding program are also adjusting for the changing season. It's ending this Saturday. With the melting snow the deer can at last get to the vegetation and seeds they need until the fresh buds of spring are...

Record Breaking Fish? Or Law Breaking Fisherman? Both.

icefishing How much would you pay for the experience of having a world record-sized fish on the other end of your ice fishing line? $100? $1000? On Tuesday, the Pioneer Press reported Crane Lake resident Rob Scott ended up paying $475 for that thrilling opportunity — $400 in fines, plus $75 in court costs. Back on February 8th, the 65-year-old Scott reeled in a 52 pound, 3 ounce lake trout while fishing Lac La Croix on the Minnesota-Canada border. The finned beast was 45 inches long with a girth larger than my waist size — 32 inches. In...

Bald Eagles Found Talon-Locked in Shakopee Yard

Talon-Locked in Shakopee Yard

In what was likely the result of a territorial dispute, two bald eagles were found on the ground in a Shakopee yard on Monday. The eagles were taken to the University of Minnesota Raptor Center. See video footage of the eagles here. Julie Ponder, Executive Director of the UMN Raptor Center, ...