Wolves have made a spectacular recovery the past twenty years through
protection by the federal endangered species act. But now the
State of Minnesota is debating a public hunting and trapping season. The
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Nick Van Der Puy reports.
Tag: minnesota
Highway Threatens Sacred Tribal Lands
A Minnesota highway relocation project is getting national attention as
Native American tribes are attempting to stop state and federal projects
from destroying tribal lands. The Highway 55 re-route would cost an
estimated 100 million dollars and would provide a faster route from
downtown Minneapolis to the local airport and Mall of America. A
Minnesota tribal group says that if construction for the highway takes
place, they will lose sacred land. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Jesse Hardman reports:
State May Stop Testing Auto Emissions
Minnesota legislators are close to passing a bill which would eradicate
the state’s vehicle emissions testing program. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Jesse Hardman has more:
A Backyard Encounter
Covering the wilderness experience during the cold winter months has
taken Knight-Ridder outdoors writer Sam Cook on snow-shoeing and camping
trips throughout the Great Lakes region. But in a
sampling from his latest book "Friendship Fires", Cook points out that
it’s not necessary go any farther than your own backyard to share a
winter encounter:
U-V Light May Be Viral Catalyst
Ultraviolet light, which some scientists say may be the culprit behind
the Great Lake’s epidemic of mutated frogs, is now part of an
investigation into a smaller but equally important part of the
environmental web. Scientists in Duluth are looking into the viruses
that infect bacteria in the Great Lakes, and how increasing amounts of
U-V light might affect that relationship. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Stephanie Hemphill reports:
Leeches Stuck in Sport Fishing Battle
Another skirmish is erupting in the ongoing battle between Ontario and
Minnesota over sport fishing. Ontario recently banned the importation
of leeches without a permit. The reason – the Province says it doesn’t
want to risk exotic species piggy-backing on the popular bait. But as
the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Stephanie Hemphill reports, experts
on controlling exotic species say the reasoning is faulty:
Voluntary Effort Targets Mercury Emissions
Minnesota is setting a goal to reduce mercury emissions 70-percent by 2005.
An advisory group of industry representatives, environmentalists, and
government agencies came up with the plan. As the Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Stephanie Hemphill reports, it’s all supposed to happen through
voluntary efforts:
Preserving Remnants of the Tallgrass Prairies
There’s an effort underway in western Minnesota to preserve the Midwest’s last remaining acres of northern tallgrass prairie. Once, the grasslands spanned close to 25 million acres through parts of Minnesota, the Dakotas and Iowa. More than 90% of the original tallgrass prairie was plowed under – what remains today are only patches of the early grasslands. Under a new U.S. Fish and Wildlife program the hope is to keep these last few areas intact for years to come. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Gretchen Lehmann reports:
Native Americans Run for Treaty Rights
A group of ten Indian tribal members are running from northern Wisconsin to Washington D-C to show their support for Chippewa hunting and fishing rights. On December 2nd, the U-S Supreme Court will hear a case between the State of Minnesota and the Millelacs Band of Chippewa. A favorable ruling for the state may jeopardize hunting and fishing rights for Native Americans nationwide. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Nick Van Der Puy reports:
Old Mercury Resurfacing
A study to be published this month shows mercury, deposited in riversas long as forty years ago, is still getting into the food chain andcausing environmental and human health problems. The Great Lakes RadioConsortium’s Stephanie Hemphill explains: