Paul L. Hayden / Lake Superior Magazine
Susie Islands
The Susie Islands start just 1,000 feet off the mainland.
Grand Portage Band gets back Big Susie Island
The full Susie Island archipelago likely will again be under ownership of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa thanks to the donation of Susie Island from The Nature Conservancy.
The arrangement, once fully approved, will put the island into trust for the Grand Portage Band through the U.S. government. That process has already been started, and members of the Cook County Board have unanimously backed the transfer.
The 145-acre Susie Island (or Big Susie Island, as it is sometimes called) is the largest of 13 small rocky islands in Lake Superior that start less than a mile off shore near Grand Portage. The Grand Portage Band already owns the other 12 islands, all of which are within the reservation boundaries.
Use of the protected Susie Island will remain very similar to its current status and to how the band manages the other 12 islands, says Tribal Chairman Norman Deschampe. “We allow recreation out there, but we don’t allow any kind of development. It’s preserved for the band here and the people here. … The big thing is we can mange the whole area, we’ll be able to keep it that way.”
Read the rest of the story, by Konnie LeMay.
A freighter’s final journey
The Algomarine, a 730-foot laker built in 1968, departed for Montreal this week, its last voyage on the Great Lakes. It will be towed overseas and scrapped in Turkey, SooToday reports.
The vessel had been in the Algoma Central Corporation fleet since 1986. Over the years, the Algomarine carried a variety of cargoes – like coal, iron ore, limestone and salt – to and from many Great Lakes ports, including Duluth, Marquette, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay.
Split Rock receives heritage grant
Lee Radzak, historic site manager at Split Rock Lighthouse, wrote in about new funding the Minnesota Historical Society received to preserve the famous light station:
The MNHS applied for, and was granted, a $68,000 grant from the 2015 National Maritime Heritage Grant Program. ... The federal grant is part of a $136,000 MNHS project to support research and production of a Cultural Landscape Report (CLR) for Split Rock Light Station. The CLR will provide guidance to potential treatment and preservation activities, such as accessibility, and be a tool for long-term management of the important maritime site.
Minnesota lawmakers chimed in about the good news in this Duluth News Tribune article.
Vote for our communities in a national contest: Outside magazine’s 2016 Best Towns bracket includes three Lake Superior cities: Bayfield, Wisconsin; Grand Marais, Minnesota; and Marquette, Michigan. Voting for the first round ends tonight. Bayfield and Grand Marais are currently ahead in their matchups, but Marquette needs a bump to beat Sedona, Arizona.
Plastic beads wash up on Nipigon beach: Known as nurdles, they’re believed to have entered the Lake after a train derailment in 2008. CBC News’ Amy Hadley reports on a Nipigon resident’s continued cleanup efforts. Nurdles have also been found as far away as the Sault Ste. Marie area.
The Beaver House to reopen: The iconic bait shop in downtown Grand Marais, Minnesota, has been remodeled ahead of a May 1 reopening and May 2 open house, reports WTIP’s Joe Friedrichs.
U.P. wolf population holds steady: That’s according to the Michigan DNR’s latest winter survey. Researchers estimate the Upper Peninsula has a minimum of 618 wolves – not a statistically significant change from the previous survey of 636 in 2014.
Fika Coffee moves to Lutsen: The local roaster, currently based in Grand Marais, Minnesota, will open a coffee shop and production facility in Lutsen’s downtown this summer.
Family-owned Washburn Ironworks turns 40: “On any given day they process as much as 30,000 pounds of metal, recycled over and over again until most of it is turned into castings,” writes Hope McLeod in the Bayfield County Journal.