Outdoors

On Tuesday, Sept. 12, Vermilion Ridge Campground will open at Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park, Minnesota’s newest state park. Beginning at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 6, campers can make reservations for arrivals Sept. 12 and later, just in time for fall color.

The campground has 33 campsites with electricity and Wi-Fi, three large group camps with screened picnic shelters and modern shower buildings, designed with a focus on energy efficiency and a light carbon footprint.

“As you drive into the park, you’ll notice a new style of signs, a new style of buildings that incorporate local stone and better Wi-Fi connectivity than at any other Minnesota state park,” Rivers said. “These are examples of what makes this a ‘next-generation’ park.”

ELY AREA RACERS (l-r) Ian VanVickle, Eric Mattila, Kael Richards, Nick Mattila and Kyle Lakner made up five of the six racers in the Semi Pro Open Final at the International Watercross Association races on Fall Lake in Winton on Sunday. Photos by Eric Sherman.

People can give input on a proposed late season antlerless only deer hunt in southeastern Minnesota.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will host two public input meetings about the proposed hunt, potential dates, bag limits and other restrictions.

The first meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 23, in the Houston Elementary School gymnasium, 310 S. Sherman St. in Houston. The second meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 24, in the DNR Central Office lobby, 500 Lafayette Road in St. Paul. Online input will be taken from Monday, Aug. 28, through Monday, Sept. 11.

“We want to discuss why this hunt is proposed, at both meetings. And DNR staff will explain the purpose of the proposed dates and bag limits,” said Adam Murkowski, Big Game Program leader.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 11, 2017
Contact: Beth Nelson, President

2017 MINNESOTA STATE FAIR SURE TO BE A “WILD” ONE
Wild rice taste samples, recipes, and “wild rice wear” available in the Dairy Building!

The Forest Service has completed a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a proposed land exchange with the State of Minnesota.
As proposed, the Forest Service would acquire approximately 31,000 acres of Minnesota School Trust lands in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW).
In exchange, the Forest Service would convey federal lands on the Superior National Forest outside the BWCAW.
The amount of federal lands conveyed would be equal in value to the acquired lands, and would be selected from a pool of federal candidate parcels of up to 39,000 acres.

There is an updated draft management plan for northern Minnesota’s Lake Vermilion, and the Department of Natural Resources is seeking input on it beginning Monday, July 17.

The new six-year plan (2017-2022) retains the walleye regulation implemented in May 2017 and is more specific than the previous plan about management goals and activities for individual fish species including walleye, muskellunge, northern pike, smallmouth and largemouth bass and panfish.

Other changes include new stocking guidelines for walleye and muskie, evaluation of the northern pike regulation, and adjustments to fish survey methods and the timing of sampling.

The plan was developed in partnership with the Lake Vermilion Fisheries Input Group comprised of a diverse group of stakeholders representing local, statewide and tribal perspectives. The 20-member group held eight meetings over eight months in 2016.

HAPPY ANGLER Scott Loe, Minnetonka MN and his 30” walleye caught on Gun Lake (Mudro lake area). “We took some quick pics and released it. It was 30.5 inches and caught ‘by the trigger’ on Gun Lake. I caught it at dusk jigging. Fought it for about 10 minutes. We did not have a net so I tired it out and my canoe partner Joshua Dirlam grabbed it and scooped it in the canoe. Fish of a lifetime! So much fun!” Registered at Voyageur North Outfitters. Appears in this week’s North Country Angler in the Ely Echo

A Great Horned Owl with a broken wing was captured and brought to a rehabilitation center by an Ely couple.
Lexy Worth and Casey Fenske noticed ravens circling in the woods near the house off Highway 21. Fenske went out to see what the ravens were circling and found the owl.
Worth brought her camera and Fenske brought a fishing net to rescue the owl which could not fly.
With some definite bravery on Fenske’s part, the large bird was captured and later transported to a rehabilitation center.
“If all goes as planned to be released back on our property,” Worth wrote on FaceBook. “This was once in a lifetime. We’re so thrilled to have been able to save it!”

Rescuers were again sent into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.
On Tuesday evening a group of three young males from Duluth called for help after attempting to run rapids in the Lake One and Lake Two area.
Some guests staying at Kawishiwi Lodge heard the calls for help, called 911 and then paddled over to the area where Lake Two flows into Lake One.
They located three young males in the water. The boys did not have personal floatation devices on and their gear was noticed floating in the lake. The people got the boys to shore.
According to Kurt Erickson with the St. Louis County Rescue Squad, the three young men had been trying to paddle/walk a canoe up a set of rapids when one of them slipped and washed downstream.
“This one apparently reported after, that his leg briefly became entangled in a tree and rocks in the rapids. He felt luck to have not drowned,” according to Erickson.

by Tom Coombe -