News

Wilderness News Spring 2010 is Online

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Featured in this issue:
Big Bill Wenstrom — Last Man Standing by Barbara Wenstrom Shank and William P. Wenstrom. Special Report: New Trends in Visits to Quetico-Superior Wilderness by Charlie Mahler. Book Review: A Modern-Day Voyageur Family; Paddling the 3,000 Mile Fur Trade Canoe Route Across the U.S. and Canada, by Timothy J. Kent. Wilderness Essay: Moments of Clarity by Andy Wright. The Heart of the Continent Partnership Comes of Age, by Rob Kesselring.

Fire Danger Very High in Region

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Fire danger is high across the Quetico-Superior region as agencies tighten burning restrictions and brace against ripe conditions for wildfires.

Voyageurs National Park Turns 35

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Voyageurs National Park will celebrate its 35th birthday on Thursday, commemorating the April 8, 1975 date of its authorization by Congress as the country’s 36th national park. The northern Minnesota park will remember the anniversary on its birthday and throughout 2010.

Voyageurs’ Park Ice Road Open

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It’s truly winter at Voyageurs National Park these days: the ice road from the Dove Island Boat Landing to Rainy Lake City and the Black Bay Ski Trail is now open. In addition, all of the park’s ski and snowmobile trails are groomed and open for recreation.

Cross-Border Partnership Recognized

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The Heart of the Continent Partnership was honored recently for its “ongoing effort to promote trans-boundary cooperation and research” at the World Wilderness Congress, the organization has announced.

Fall 2009 Issue of Wilderness News

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The Fall 2009 issue of Wilderness News (the print edition) is here! If you’re a subscriber, watch for your mailed copy soon. Or download a PDF of the full issue, and read all of the stories, with full-color photographs, and help us save on mailing costs.

Ely Mayor Charged with BWCA Violations

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Ely Mayor Roger Skraba has been charged with three counts of federal wilderness violations in the BWCA. He is accused of entering the wilderness area without a permit, possessing a motor vehicle within the wilderness, and removing property.

Hummel Named New Deputy Supervisor

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Mark Hummel has been named the Superior National Forest’s new Deputy Forest Supervisor. Hummel comes to the Superior National Forest after working in Alaska and Nevada.

Update: Namakan River Dam Project

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The Spring 2008 issue of Wilderness News covered a proposed dam at High Falls on the Namakan River west of Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario. A project with environmental impacts on both sides of the border, the Ojibway Power and Energy Group (OPEG) is preparing to release its Environmental Assessment as part of a proponent-led approval process.

Report: State Sweetened Vermilion Park Deal

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The Minneapolis Star-Tribune is reporting that the State of Minnesota looked for ways to sweeten the deal for U.S. Steel to sell land to the state for a state park on Lake Vermilion. The paper questions whether laws were skirted to procure land for the park strongly supported by Governor Tim Pawlenty.

Time-Out Called in Roadless Tug-O-War

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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a temporary order requiring all new projects in U.S. Forest Service-managed roadless areas be approved by his office. Apart from the permanently protected Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness, the Superior National Forest contains roughly 62,000 acres of roadless areas, mostly adjoining the BWCAW.

Sentence Upheld in BWCA Incident

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A three-year prison sentence for Boundary Waters terrorizer Jay Andrew Olson was upheld by the Minnesota Court of Appeals this week. Olson was one of six men convicted of participating in a drunken shooting spree that frightened campers on Basswood Lake in the BWCA in August of 2007.

PolyMet Environmental Statement Delayed

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PolyMet Mining, the Canadian company hoping to develop a copper-nickel mine near Hoyt Lakes, annouced in a media release this week that the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the project will not be released until the third quarter of this year.

The draft EIS was originally expected earlier this year.

Welcome

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Welcome to Wilderness News Online! We couldn’t be more excited to launch the online version of the Quetico Superior Foundation’s publication Wilderness News. Our goal is to become your online news …

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One Big Fire

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  In July of last year, a lightning strike ignited the Cavity Lake fire in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). Over 32,000 acres burned in what was then called …

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