Anglers Iced Out: Duluth made the national news a few times this week. First it showed up multiple times on national weather maps with an OMG! attitude about those -20s° F temps and -40° F windchills. Then it made the news when 27 ice anglers needed rescuing Monday after an ice floe on Lake Superior cracked off, leaving them stranded with a too-large-to-traverse line of open water between them and shore. The Duluth Fire Department had the right stuff to come to the rescue out from the Beacon Pointe housing development in the eastern part of town. The crews first rescued about six anglers, a few of whom were transported in the rapid deployment craft (without a motor). By then a crew arrived with Marine 3, a motorized inflatable boat and rescued 26 ice fisherfolk all told. One additional angler headed out from the eastern site intending to walk a few miles on the ice to Park Point. He was picked up in the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Rescue Squad's airboat. So within an hour, everyone was safe. The news coverage ended up, among other places, on the Chicago Tribune's website, on Good Morning America (thanks to local
station WDIO). The fire department notes stories reaching as far as Australia and Germany.
Meanwhile … Rear Adm. Donna Cottrell commands the U.S. Coast Guard around the Great Lakes and has created a bumbling alter ego to educate about such things as boater safety or, say, the dangers of venturing out on the ice. She's posted several such "training" videos for public view. And just so Duluth anglers don't feel too badly – the newest ice-danger video posted Sunday had nothing to do with their exploits. "With the Great Lakes’ ever-changing conditions changing even faster than usual this week," posted the USCG, "resulting in the mass rescue of 66 anglers from an ice floe that detached from shore in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin — perhaps now would be a good time to meet the bemused alter ego of Rear Adm. Donna Cottrell, commander of Coast Guard forces in the Great Lakes region." That's right, it was on Lake Michigan were no less than 66 anglers had to be rescued. Not that Lake Superior couldn't have stranded another 40 anglers or so ... just that it didn't have to. Be careful out there!
Wandering Wolf: A female wolf, transplanted from the Grand Portage Ojibwe lands in Minnesota to Isle Royale as part of the national park's program to repopulate wolves on the island, took a pass on the new locale and used in ice bridge in 2019 to return to the mainland. Wolf W003F (seen here being released on the island), like other transplants, was radio collared and her walkabout after leaving the island became a part of a study reported on this week by Tanda Gmiter of MLive. She walked across the frozen water to Ontario (the closest mainland shore to the island) and then in the last two years has crossed thousands of miles and criss-crossed the border. She traveled back to her home area, but returned to Ontario and last February and March trotted over to Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota. "All this long-distance roaming makes her a rare wolf, scientists say. Most wolves travel to find a mate or join an existing pack," Tandra writes. "But W003F’s preference to be on the move and cover a lot of ground is not something researchers see every day." Researchers following her movements, along with those of three other transplants, published their findings in November under the title "Emigration and First-Year Movements of Initial Wolf Translocations to Isle Royale." The National Park Service posted a PDF – "Wolves and the Isle Royale Environment: Restoring an Island Ecosystem 2018-2020" – that includes information from that study along with many others about the wolves.
Greening on Campus: Thanks to a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Forest Service via the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., will be able to implement its St. Marys River Green Stormwater Demonstration Project on the site of the planned Richard and Theresa Barch Center for Freshwater Research and Education Building. According to the LSSU release, "The St. Marys River Green Stormwater Demonstration Project will use green infrastructure to increase runoff infiltration and pollutant removal, create wildlife habitat in a unique riparian area, and provide community education opportunities on the importance of sustainable stormwater management. CFRE will engage students and the community and lead the development of rain gardens, pollinator habitats, and treescapes that will include approximately 50 new trees, 400 shrubs, and more than 4,000 native flowers planted across the CFRE and Alford Park properties." The Barch Center, shown in this architect rendering, was launched by a $1 million donation from Richard and Theresa and is expected to be completed this year.
Halt the Hunt (for a Day): Meanwhile at Lake Superior State University, the Department of Natural Unicorns celebrated its 50th anniversary this week with what it calls a wink alert: "Feel free to devour chocolate delectables, arrange rose bouquets, and pen poetic tributes on Valentine’s Day – but do not, under any circumstances, hunt unicorns on Feb. 14." It's all an effort to keep the rare species from going extinct, notes the tongue-in-cheek release. It continues, quoting Department Game Warden Peter Szatmary (who doubles as LSSU's executive director of marketing and communications): “A half-century ago, Lake Superior State University smiled as it established one of the most fantastic branches of pursuit in all of higher education: the Department of Natural Unicorns. Over the decades, countless questers at LSSU, across the U.S., and around the world have not only embraced the unique search but also suspended their affectionate trail on Valentine’s Day as a further gesture of endearment toward the prized figures. Unicorn hunters understand the importance of the 24-hour pause in the fabulous chase just as they know that questing hours normally run day and night except when the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus is around because there’s only so much magic available at one time.” The late W.T. "Bill" Rabe, a Detroit-area publicist known for clever PR stunts, founded the Unicorn Hunters in 1971 shortly after being hired as LSSU’s director of public relations just after the university became independent instead of a branch of the current Michigan Technological University. "The university continues to grant unicorn hunting licenses, currently free of charge, to anyone who wants one through its idiosyncratic Department of Natural Unicorns – so long as applicants follow the 'specifications, rules, and misinterpretations of enclosed regulations,'" the release notes. Despite COVID craziness, LSSU also continued another long tradition, publishing its Banished Words for 2021 from a list created by contributors around the world submitting their least favorite or overused phrases and words. High on the list of words they'd like to hear or read no more: COVID, coronavirus and the colloquial "Rona." Also disparaged, the phrase "I know, right?" See the full list here.
Rabbit Residency: Who needs a COVID bubble when you've got an island? Rabbit Island along the Upper Peninsula coastline is as much a concept as a locale. This week it announced the opening of its Rabbit Island 2021 Residency for creative folk. The three chosen will get a $3,200 honorarium, the ability to live and work on the island for three weeks between mid-June and late September, and will be featured in the annual Rabbit Island publication. "This program season is made possible with the grant support from the National Endowment for the Arts and contributions from donors," the site notes. Find complete details and a downloadable form online. Applications are due by March 14. Jennifer Billock did a story about the Rabbit Island artists' retreat in 2015 for Lake Superior Magazine.
Dream of Camp Fires & Tents: Outdoor writer/photographer James Smedley this week contributed "A Beginner's Guide to Camping in Algoma" on the Algoma Country website. "Within Algoma’s 72,000 square kilometers," James writes, "rests a vast network of lakes and rivers, spanning the Great Lakes St. Lawrence forest and the vast northern boreal forests to provide a foundation for camping and wilderness exploration that is virtually limitless. Not only is there unrivaled potential for the expert, but there are plenty of user friendly camping options to ease the beginner into the joys of outdoor living." With can't-wait-for-summer photos and some straight up tips and tidbits, the story makes a lovely escape from subzero temperatures outside.
Thrillers on the Lakes: Landon Beach has been self-publishing a series of thrillers to be set on each of the Great Lakes. The Sail features the story of a last voyage on Lake Superior by a dying father and his teenage son, who at first does not know his father's condition. Paralleling their journey, and eventually violently intersecting with it, are the workings of some dangerous people. The plot is imbued with plenty of suspense and bold action. Landon, formerly of Michigan, now lives in Florida. Editor Konnie LeMay corresponded with him about his series and his work. See the full interview, including Landon's take on self-publishing, and a review of the book online.
LSM: Have you visited Lake Superior or sailed on it?
LANDON: I have visited Lake Superior – majestic and nothing quite like it – but have never sailed on it. I hope to one day.
LSM: I know you had some tidbits about Lake Superior and a few of the Lake's wrecks in the book, but was there anything else about the Lake that gave you a different scene-setting opportunity than on the other Great Lakes?
LANDON: One reason is that I love transporting readers to new locales, and, unless you have seen Lake Superior and the surrounding area, I don’t think most people know just how spectacular and awe-inspiring they are. Another reason that Lake Superior works well for The Sail is that long stretches of the shoreline are remote – perfect setting for mystery, suspense and mayhem to occur.
LSM: Without revealing the plot line, what is your personal favorite part of The Sail?
LANDON: My favorite part of writing The Sail was the night I reached the point where the two storylines converged – still remember hitting the keystrokes and smiling. Having written three screenplays and four novels now, I can wholeheartedly affirm that balancing storylines while keeping the book’s pace brisk while also maintaining tension/suspense is incredibly difficult to do, but I remain satisfied with how The Sail came together. And once those two storylines merge, the book takes off and is filled with non-stop suspense and thrills until the end.
Photo & graphic credits: Duluth Fire Deparment; National Park Service; Lake Superior State University; LSSU; Rabbit Island; James Smedley/Algoma Country; Landon Beach