Yes, I was sick of writing.

My specialty being forest ecology, spring in the Northern Hardwoods is always a fascinating time, as the blossoms in the understory appear, grabbing the sun before the sun is stolen by the leaves in the canopy. I apologize for the shots as the lighting was difficult...

A Trillium

A Wild Ginger Flower

And a Bloodroot Blossom

This area had a fairly rich understory. I saw one earlier in the day that had obviously been hit hard by Lumbricis terrestris, the invasive nightcrawler. Notice the complete lack of understory and bare soil.

With a cohort of worm species and heavy deer browsing, the understory is dominated by sedge and a few survivors. Notice the lack of seedlings...

As the canopy trees die off, there is nothing to replace them. The question becomes, what will? What is the extinction deficit for this location? Will it simply be colonized by invasive species and the biomass will be essentially equivalent?

Big Stone II, Minnesota Public Utilities Commission the EPA and Excelsior:

I'll defer to Legalectric for their coverage, but change can come quickly. Something unthinkable only two weeks ago happened; The EPA objected to the Big Stone II permit. This after the Minnesota PUC and its South Dakota equivalent let the thing walk with a "promise us you will do thigns right permit". Maybe now the reasonable choices needed in Minnesota can actually be made, since the state is controlled by the right wing. Hopefully, this will have an effect on boondoggles like Excelsior.

Warning...Environmental policy, so it is a bit wonkish. Having worked for different divisions within the DNR( no longer), and with my research and current work in this very field, it is very dear to me.

The details for the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment:

How much will it raise and what will it be used for?

The current general sales and use tax rate is 6.5%. Sales tax
revenue is deposited in the state General Fund.) It raises the state sales tax to 6.875% and dedicates the additional proceeds as follows:
• 33% to a newly created Outdoor Heritage Fund to be spent
only to restore, protect, and enhance wetlands, prairies, forests,
and habitat for game, fish, and wildlife (approximately
$80 million in FY 2010 and $91 million in FY 2011);
• 33% to a newly-created Clean Water Fund to be spent only
to protect, enhance, and restore water quality in lakes, rivers,
streams, and groundwater, with at least 5% of the fund spent
to protect drinking water sources (approximately $80 million
in FY 2010 and $91 million in FY 2011);
• 14.25% to a newly created Parks and Trails Fund to be
spent only to support parks and trails of regional or statewide
significance (approximately $35 million in FY 2010 and $39
million in FY 2011);
• 19.75% to a newly created Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund
to be spent only for arts, arts education, and arts access, and
to preserve Minnesota’s history and cultural heritage
(approximately $48 million in FY 2010 and $54.5 million in
FY 2011).

The money does not automatically go to the Minnesota DNR. It is competitive money, meaning agencies and groups propose projects which are then evaluated for funding.

Finally, some stability, and maybe some new projects and repairs...Believe me, I have my stories.

A suicide due to bad policy?

There is an old saying regarding forest fires: "The government puts out fires by throwing money at them until it rains". Having some experience and qualification in this field, it is a truth beyond absurdity. It is, essentially, a welfare program for civil service firefighters, contractors and property owners. Blame is always fixed on the person who started it, whether one exists or not, rather than official policy of allowing building in fire prone vegetation then spending millions defending the property of the stupid. And now the man whom blame was fixed upon for the Ham Lake Fire has committed suicide. And still, except in a few academic circles or in grumbles amongst certain government employees, no one will ask ask questions, and certain forums will affix blame on this man. The Ham Lake fire cost 11 million dollars, and like most fires, the weather actually put it out. The usual term used was tragedy, and blame needed to be affixed somewhere, and finally someone.

Fundamentally, however, there is a problem. We have allowed, continue to allow, and support by bucketloads of taxpayer money, the insanity of supporting people building within some of the most fire-prone vegetation in the hemisphere, near-boreal forest on shield rock:



If the fire had not been started by someone, lightning would have caused it, and the results would have been the same. The only thing that slowed it down was the prescribed burns which had been done to burn off the fuel left from the blow down...often over 50 tons per acre. This was not a tragedy. It was the result of ignoring nature, of allowing people to build expensive structures in a place so fire prone every July or August that managers cringe any time there is lightning. And they continue to bill us for the privilege.

Until that fundamental fact is accepted, this insanity will continue.

While there are many writings on the subject, the best by far is Roger Kennedy's ( A good Minnesotan also!)"Wildfire and Americans:How to Save Lives, Property, and Your Tax Dollars"...a very good read which should be required reading in every school.

Like the mineral bodies, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Northeastern Minnesota have much in common. And now, of all things, we have sulfide mining in common. For more information, check out this site: http://www.savethewildup.org/ . The site, of all places, is the Yellow Dog Plains, an area of Jack Pine holding a population of the spruce grouse. And how do I know this? A month ago, at a half price book store ( the greatest stores ever!!), I found, from what I believe, one of the few books on this bird, a more boreal and naive species of grouse that also lives in areas of Northern Minnesota. A fascinating read combining stories and results of research. But I digress. As here, the ore is a low grade sulfide ore copper-nickel, and low grade and sulfide are key words. Low grade means tons of rock and thus, land, followed by much processing and tailings, another key word. For as pointed out, but never answered or solved, is that every sulfide mine has polluted. Every Single One. No exceptions. And despite the claims for Polymet and others, their mines will be the same...Again, with no example of any one of them having not polluted. Not one. Ever. And, for decades, this same acid mine drainage has been flowing into Dunka Creek, then into Dunka bay on Birch Lake between Ely and Babbit. The State, meaning taxpayers, has been paying to solve this for years, just as we have been paying and subsidizing most mine research, including the Taconite process, since the beginning. And we still end up with giant holes and pollution problems. And so, I am against all of this. The arguments will all be economic, and about saving communities now dying or becoming retirement communities, and the word will be jobs, ignoring the words pollution and profits. And again, locals will be suckered into a fools game...that of selling their souls and, land, air and water for jobs guaranteed to be unstable, like all mining jobs, with the community left to pick the mess yet again. If you wish to find out more..go here

Reasons to live here:

The first picture is from this spring, wild leeks through last years leaves;


And this, a monarch catepillar on milkweed at the family homestead:


By the way, the blueberry crop is wonderful this year...I will post pics once I stop eating them.

Finally, of all things, a large social networking site for non-theists ( code words: people who don't believe in god), meaning humanists, agnostics, atheists or just plain anyone not believing in the supernatural: http://www.atheistnexus.org/. For anyone isolated in smaller cities or rural areas, being a non-believer can be pretty lonely sometimes, so this could be a blessing for many...