A symposium aimed a getting a better understanding of moose population dynamics in a world affected by climate change is set to take place this Thursday in International Falls. The “Moose in a Warming World” symposium, co-sponsored by Voyageurs National Park Association and the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, is open to the public.
Lily and Hope the celebrity bears being observed by researchers at the North American Bear Center continue to live separate lives, although both appear to be doing well. Lily, the mother bear, and Hope, her cub who’s birth was web-cast earlier this year, have been apart since May 31.
Common Loons, birds emblematic of the Quetico-Superior region, could face survival problems due to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Many of the loons that nest on Minnesota and Ontario lakes in summer, winter along the Gulf Coast.
Hope, the most famous black bear cub in North America, has been abandoned again by her equally famous mother Lily. The latest separation comes just a week after the pair first became separated but were dramatically reunited.
The bear cub known as Hope, which was separated from its mother over the weekend and feared dead, was found yesterday, hiding in a tree in Eagles Nest township west of Ely. Researchers were able to successfully reunite the cub with its mother.
An Ely area bear cub whose birth last winter was shown world-wide by a remote web-camera focused on its mother’s den is missing. The North American Bear Center, which has been following the cub and its mother since the birth, reported that mother and cub had separated on Saturday.
The early-spring of 2010 was the warmest on record in the Quetico-Superior region according to data from the International Falls weather station, which has observed conditions longer than any other station in the area.
A combination of challenges threaten Minnesota’s sensitive moose populations – warming temperatures, changes in precipitation, increased varieties of diseases and parasites, and changes in predator populations. Are we watching the end of moose in Minnesota?
Although weekend rains may have lessened the immediate fire danger in the Quetico-Superior region, wildland fire experts say this year could shape up to be one of the worst fire years in a generation.
Rain predicted for later today should lessen the extreme fire danger that has accompanied the earliest and driest spring on record in Northeastern Minnesota. Yesterday, despite high winds and dry air, firefighters were able to control new fires and keep others contained.
Despite some light showers over the weekend, wildfire danger in Northeastern Minnesota is still high according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
Fire restrictions will be tightened on Friday in the Superior and Chippewa National Forests as continued dry weather raises the risk of wildfire. The Minnesota DNR is also tightening fire regulations.
Fire danger is high across the Quetico-Superior region as agencies tighten burning restrictions and brace against ripe conditions for wildfires.
University of Minnesota forest ecologist Lee Frelich will discuss the long-term future for vegetation in the Quetico-Superior region in a lecture kicking off the Heart of the Continent Partnership’s quarterly meeting later this month.
Will record warm temperature for March in northern Minnesota translate into record ice-out dates on area lakes? In International Falls, last month was the warmest March on record.
The decline in northeastern Minnesota’s moose population continues, according to new survey data released by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources this week. An aerial survey done in January estimated that 5,500 moose reside in northeastern Minnesota.
Voyageurs National Park officials plan to radio-collar 14 moose this month to investigate the potential effects of climate change and other factors on the long-term viability of moose in the park.
Retired Quetico Provincial Park naturalist and author Shirley Peruniak, who was named to the Order of Ontario yesterday, was recently profiled by the Canadian newspaper the Kingston Whig-Standard.
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.
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.