Environment/Ecology/Nature

Shirley Peruniak Named to Order of Ontario

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Shirley Peruniak, a park naturalist known as “the heart and soul” of Quetico Provincial Park, is being named to the Order of Ontario, the most prestigious honor awarded by the province.

Boundary Waters Prescribed Burn Update

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Prescribed burns planned for the Gunflint Ranger District in September were canceled due to budget short falls, but continued fuel reduction in the blowdown is planned – weather permitting.

Voyageurs Plans Burn for Thursday

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Voyageurs National Park officials plan to burn an area on Tar Point near Blind Indian Narrows in Namakan Lake Thursday. The burn is intended to help determine what effect fire has on archeological artifacts and help determine the effects of fire on vegetation.

July Adds Up to Cold, Dry

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Temperatures in the Quetico Superior region were colder than normal in July, with International Falls breaking a record for lowest average temperature for the month. July was also a dry month across the region.

Fire Danger Low, but Area Firefighters Active

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Forest fire danger in northern Minnesota and western Ontario is low, but that doesn’t mean area firefighters are keeping busy. Wild-land fire fighters from the Quetico-Superior region are helping fight fires currently burning in British Columbia.

Sturgeon the Subject of Voyageurs Talk

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Lake sturgeon, a fish species that has lived in its present form for some 100 million years, will be the topic of tomorrow evening’s program at Voyageurs National Park.

Wildflowers of the Boundary Waters Reviewed

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Betty vos Hemstad’s new book “Wildflowers of the Boundary Waters: Hking Through the Seasons” is more than just a lovely coffee table book, according to one reviewer who found the book to be “an invaluable resource.”

Mayflies Inundate Lake Vermillion

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This year’s mayfly hatch on Lake Vermillion was one of epic proportions. Hatches of the short-lived native species are normal in mid-summer, but this year’s hatch of the insects called for extra measures to remove the piles of dead creatures.

Remembering the Blowdown of 1999

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Tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of the famed Boundary Waters Blowdown. On July 4, 1999 a huge storm packing 90-mile-per-hour winds ripped through the BWCA, uprooting trees, blocking portages, and stranding campers. In all 370,000 acres in the BWCA were affected by the storm.

Cross-Border Study Examines Cormorants

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An on-going study of cormorants on Rainy Lake will include increased attention on birds dwelling on the Canadian side of the international water-body this summer. Cormorants have been a lightening-rod species among some anglers who fear the birds are impacting game-fish populations

Island Life Author to Speak at Voyageurs

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Ted Gostomski, the co-author of Island Life: An Isle Royale Nature Guide and a Biologist/Science Writer at the Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Program of the National Park Service, will speak on Friday at Voyaguers National Park in International Falls.

Weather Hampers Voyageurs Burn Efforts

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Rainy weather has confounded Voyageurs National Park’s efforts to conduct four prescribed burns this spring to further pine and oak regeneration in the International Falls-area park. While the window for spring burning may have passed, burning during the summer months is still a possibility.

New Book Spotlights BWCA Wildflowers

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Betty Vos Hemstad’s new book spotlights Boundary Waters area wildflowers in a new way. “Wildflowers of the Boundary Waters: Hiking Through the Seasons” depicts northern Minnesota’s wildflowers in various stages of development — from bud, to flower, to seed.