In this edition of Lake Superior Magazine, you’ll
find two significant science articles because of the timing of certain
results. What makes the combination interesting is that the articles deal
with the life blood of Lake Superior. On one hand, we’re talking about
a characteristic of the region that gives it unique status - massive forests
(“Seeing the Trees and the Forests,” page 16). On the other hand, we’re
talking about discovering how the lake moves water around, taking nutrients
and animals with the flow (“Keweenaw Current,” page 35).
Our story on the sustainability of forests has been scheduled for some
time, but it just happens that the research on the Keweenaw Current is
at a stage that a first report from the participating scientists became
available for this issue. This knowledge about the lake’s processes only
helps to strengthen our understanding and respect for this largest of the
world’s fresh-water lakes. We know that the ongoing research will eventually
yield some important revelations that may help protect and even save other
large lakes in the world.
The research on the Keweenaw Current points to how little study has really
been done on this huge body of water. In fact, we’re rather excited about
the prospects for research in the foreseeable future and what it may mean
for the rest of the world. This new century will see Lake Superior become
the focal point for worldwide fresh-water research. Also, 2000 promises
to be a year of exploration and discovery. It will be a year that sees
the opening of the new Great Lakes Aquarium at Lake Superior Center. There
will be expanded research by the Large Lakes Observatory at the University
of Minnesota-Duluth, University of Wisconsin-Superior’s Lake Superior Research
Institute, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Mid-Continent Ecology
Division, Northland College and the Sigurd Olson Institute in Ashland,
Wisconsin, Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and Michigan Technological
University in Houghton, to name a few. We’re encouraged to see the cooperative
efforts being made between so many organizations. This all bodes well not
only for the protection of Lake Superior, but also the expansion of our
knowledge on the lake’s systems and ecology.
You’d think in this day and age that we’d have learned just about all there
is to learn about … everything. Obviously when it comes to Lake Superior
we’ve just scratched the surface, and that’s the point. Although it’s in
the initial stages, study of the Keweenaw Current shows that our lake has
a lot to offer below the surface if we reach for it.
We’ve long stated that people will protect that which they know, understand
and love. For more than 20 years our mission has been to surprise, inform
and delight our readers. We continue to do our best to bring you the stories
that make a difference in our understanding of our lake. We hope you enjoy
the insight.
Paul L. Hayden
Editor
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