A few years ago a logger friend suggested clear cutting some of the aspen on our Brimson property. I was hoping he would take some of the balsam, but he said there is no market for it. About two years ago, he and his partner cruised the property to assess how much they would cut. I thought they would be working that winter. They never did because “It was too damn cold!”
Last fall some people expressed interest in buying the property. My wife was eager to sell and I went along reluctantly. I called my logger friend to tell him not to cut because of the possible sale. Well, the buyers couldn’t get a loan unless there was a working well. Our dug well hadn’t produced much water in probably ten years. We sure didn’t feel like spending the money to have a drilled well. End of sale.
I called my logger friend back and said he could start when ready.
I assumed he would be cutting in an area of about two football fields, and so I said I would pick up the slash. I would use it for chips or firewood.
We walked the area in which they were cutting and discovered a clump of five large birch trees, each probably at least fifteen inches in diameter at the base. One was already rotted, and my wife and I cut that down and salvaged the bark for fire starter. We thought we would cut the other four down after the loggers were through. But they offered to cut them down for us, and they even dragged them to the landing area (the place where they put cut logs on a truck to take the chip-board company).
Meanwhile, they kept working across the property until they had cut double what I thought they would. And then they cut three times what I thought they would. Then the spring road restrictions went into force and they stopped. They want to come back next year to take even more!
Before I go on, let me say a few words about clear cutting. Aspen (popple or poplar) is a weed! It is a large plant whose root system extends over several acres and keeps putting up shoots wherever conditions are right. When we bought the property, an area had been clear-cut a few years before. In fact, we have an aerial photo that was taken after the clear cut – “desolation” for acres and acres. When we bought the property, that area was covered with thousands of trees one to two inches in diameter and eight to ten feet tall. A few years later, I was taking out trees for firewood that had fallen over; they were three to five inches in diameter or larger.
Also, a DNR forester who did a stewardship plan for us, said, “If you want moose, clear cut!” We did see a few moose tracks about that time, but we haven’t seen any for years. It may be wishful thinking, but I think I saw a single moose track on one of our trails a week or two ago.
And, many of the smaller trees that were not knocked over by the heavy machinery are six to eight feet tall and greening nicely. Oh, about ten years ago, the Forest Service put out a contract for clear cutting on the property that runs behind ours. The only way we know it was clear-cut is that there are no really big trees.
One of our disappointments in our first few years owning the property was all of the dying or dead birch. They were so far gone that only their bark was useful, and we haven’t even collected all of that yet. Birch is a tree that grows out of old stumps, and we now have hundreds of newer birch trees. I made up a rule of thumb that if I couldn’t put my thumbs together and reach my forefingers around the birch, it was a candidate for firewood.
Those trees are safe for awhile. I finally got the four big birches cut into rounds for splitting and am awaiting the loan of a splitter. We may have three to four years worth for our cabin. our sauna, and our fireplace in Duluth.
Meanwhile, I am working through a jumbled pile of “slash” that must have been thirty feet long, ten feet wide, and six feet high. The majority of it is four to fifteen inches in diameter and from four to sixteen feet long. These were either too small or two crooked to take to the chip mill. I think I have the pile down to about a sixth of what it was. And the pile of rounds of aspen is probably three times the size of the stacked birch.
Meanwhile the pile of stuff too small for firewood keeps growing. For a change of pace I do put that through my chipper and pave the paths with the result.
The problem with all this wood cutting and splitting is that I don’t have time or energy to keep all the paths mowed or cleared of brush. I haven’t even taken the time to go around “The Path”, a triangle that is about three-quarter of a mile in length. And there are two other loops that I have neglected over the years.
My wife insists, and I agree, that the loggers should clean up the slash of next year’s cutting, and even clean up what I haven’t removed of this year’s slash. After all, as that same DNR forester said, “Don’t make it a sweat farm!”
Showing posts with label DNR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DNR. Show all posts
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Hunter, know your ground!
’Tis the season for blam, blam, and blam from an unknown distance. Is it on my cabin property or is it on Forest Service land? It may be a nuisance on Forest Service land, but I have no right to stop people from hunting there.
Unfortunately, there are a few hunters who think they have the right to shoot from wherever they please. Some years ago, a hunter shot right down our driveway with a red pickup clearly visible.
A couple of years ago, a pair of hunters shot from the road into our property, entering ten feet from a “No Trespassing” sign, about 100 feet from an occupied building on the opposite side of the road, and less than 500 feet from our cabin.
Last year a pair of hunters shot into our property within 500 feet of our cabin and less than 100 feet from a cabin on the other side of the road.
I guess they have other priorities than knowing the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) hunting regulations:
Many deer hunters occupy a stand and know exactly where they are. In fact, some of my deer hunter friends do not think much of bird hunters. Even if they hunt birds themselves, they have disdain for bird hunters who don’t respect property rights.
We’ve always assumed that we had to post our land with “No Trespassing” or “No Hunting” signs. We’ve found it annoying and time consuming. Why should we have to post our land? Shouldn’t the hunters know where they are hunting?
Many counties have plat maps available. St. Louis County had KMZ files that one could overlay on Google Earth. The KMZ files contain the property information for every parcel in the county. Now St. Louis county has gone one step further and has all this information online with Google Earth maps. See http://gis.stlouiscountymn.gov/planningflexviewers/county_explorer/. With this you can “fly” to any area of the county and know which land is private, county, state, or federal. If you have a computer, there is no excuse for not knowing where you are hunting.
Carlton and Lake Counties have information by parcel, but you need a street address to find this information. See http://www.parcelinfo.com/.
You can also get public hunting maps from major sports retailers.
The DNR regulations are a bit ambiguous. The 2014 regulations state:
“Always ask permission before entering private land. Any entry onto the private property of another without permission is considered trespass. Land owners may be able to pursue court action against trespassers whether the property is posted or not.”
Two notable exceptions are that a hunter may enter land that is not posted to retrieve a wounded animal or to retrieve a hunting dog. In the latter case the hunter may not carry a firearm. In both cases the hunter must be on foot.
But then after the second suggestion that hunters always ask permission to enter non-posted lands, the regulations state the requirements for posting! Signs must be posted every year, must have letters of a certain height, have landowner name or signature, and be posted at certain intervals. The intervals are at the corner of every parcel and in wooded areas every 500 feet or less. But if some hunters ignore signs, why even bother?
Those who ignore property lines or “No Trespassing” signs should be lucky they don’t live in a “Stand your ground” state. Consider that a cranky old man is sitting with a shotgun hidden among the trees, just waiting for you to step from the road. Blam! You’re dead! Does the cranky old man even have to to be in a “Stand your ground” state? A sympathetic jury may consider his actions self-defense.
To end on a positive note;
I don’t eat meat anymore, and when I did, I considered hunting an expensive way to get meat. Others disagree and enjoy hunting, fishing, and the food it gives them. If you are one of these people, if you know where you are, and if you have permission to hunt there, may you have a good hunting season. May you get your limit in the time you want to spend. May you enjoy each meal from your hunting.
Mel can’t complain too much about noise: He does operate noisy equipment. But so do his neighbors and all know where the sound is coming from.
Unfortunately, there are a few hunters who think they have the right to shoot from wherever they please. Some years ago, a hunter shot right down our driveway with a red pickup clearly visible.
A couple of years ago, a pair of hunters shot from the road into our property, entering ten feet from a “No Trespassing” sign, about 100 feet from an occupied building on the opposite side of the road, and less than 500 feet from our cabin.
Last year a pair of hunters shot into our property within 500 feet of our cabin and less than 100 feet from a cabin on the other side of the road.
I guess they have other priorities than knowing the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) hunting regulations:
On another person’s private land or a public right-of-way, a person may not discharge a firearm within 500 feet of a building occupied by humans or livestock without permission.It seems some bird hunters are more prone to ignore “property rights” than deer hunters. Many bird hunters cruise the roads looking for likely spots along the road and pay no attention to land use.
Many deer hunters occupy a stand and know exactly where they are. In fact, some of my deer hunter friends do not think much of bird hunters. Even if they hunt birds themselves, they have disdain for bird hunters who don’t respect property rights.
We’ve always assumed that we had to post our land with “No Trespassing” or “No Hunting” signs. We’ve found it annoying and time consuming. Why should we have to post our land? Shouldn’t the hunters know where they are hunting?
Many counties have plat maps available. St. Louis County had KMZ files that one could overlay on Google Earth. The KMZ files contain the property information for every parcel in the county. Now St. Louis county has gone one step further and has all this information online with Google Earth maps. See http://gis.stlouiscountymn.gov/planningflexviewers/county_explorer/. With this you can “fly” to any area of the county and know which land is private, county, state, or federal. If you have a computer, there is no excuse for not knowing where you are hunting.
Carlton and Lake Counties have information by parcel, but you need a street address to find this information. See http://www.parcelinfo.com/.
You can also get public hunting maps from major sports retailers.
The DNR regulations are a bit ambiguous. The 2014 regulations state:
“Always ask permission before entering private land. Any entry onto the private property of another without permission is considered trespass. Land owners may be able to pursue court action against trespassers whether the property is posted or not.”
Two notable exceptions are that a hunter may enter land that is not posted to retrieve a wounded animal or to retrieve a hunting dog. In the latter case the hunter may not carry a firearm. In both cases the hunter must be on foot.
But then after the second suggestion that hunters always ask permission to enter non-posted lands, the regulations state the requirements for posting! Signs must be posted every year, must have letters of a certain height, have landowner name or signature, and be posted at certain intervals. The intervals are at the corner of every parcel and in wooded areas every 500 feet or less. But if some hunters ignore signs, why even bother?
Those who ignore property lines or “No Trespassing” signs should be lucky they don’t live in a “Stand your ground” state. Consider that a cranky old man is sitting with a shotgun hidden among the trees, just waiting for you to step from the road. Blam! You’re dead! Does the cranky old man even have to to be in a “Stand your ground” state? A sympathetic jury may consider his actions self-defense.
To end on a positive note;
I don’t eat meat anymore, and when I did, I considered hunting an expensive way to get meat. Others disagree and enjoy hunting, fishing, and the food it gives them. If you are one of these people, if you know where you are, and if you have permission to hunt there, may you have a good hunting season. May you get your limit in the time you want to spend. May you enjoy each meal from your hunting.
Mel can’t complain too much about noise: He does operate noisy equipment. But so do his neighbors and all know where the sound is coming from.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Summer Idyll or Sweat Farm
Here I sit in the screen “house” about noon at our cabin after hauling some chips and cut brush. The sky is blue, the trees are green, the wind is blowing through the trees, and birds are chirping. Do I even want to move?
The weather forecast was for 30% chance of thunderstorms, but I am going by my own weather “advisory”. If bad weather is predicted, there is often a bigger chance that the weather will be just fine. This is one of those “just fine” days.
We are here on a too infrequent four-day weekend. Even though it is the weekend of the Fourth of July, there are surprisingly few neighbors around. The only thing we heard from neighbors who often shoot off fireworks was some late evening hooting. Maybe they were watching a soccer match on TV. Somebody was shooting yesterday in the woods, hopefully not on our land. The only person who I think might have had access to that area is already gone.
“Don’t make it a sweat farm” was from Bruce Berggren, a DNR forester, who gave us a stewardship plan in the early Nineties. I don’t remember if we had more than a dome tent, a picnic table, and a tarp then. We weren’t doing more than cutting brush to expand our “living area” and to make room for planting trees.
Now we have a “yard” that is three times as big as our yard in Duluth and three loops of trails with some side paths. But, because we found much to occupy ourselves in Duluth, two of the loops and the side paths have grown over. On the other hand, the “yard” seems to be getting bigger.
Our first major “expansion” was to put cots in our dome tent. Oh! We had so much more room. We could put our packs and coolers under the cots.
Our first building was an 8x8 shed that I built probably within our second year here. We moved our cots into it. Oh! We had so much room. We could even dress standing up. We could even put a propane heater in it and stay overnight in the winter. With each stay, it seemed more and more space was taken up with tools.
A couple years later, I built a cabin with some assistance from others. We decided that a nominal 12x16 should be sufficient for our needs until we built a house here. When I first put in a cot, Oh! We had so much room. Over the years, we have added more and more. Before the second winter we had a wood stove. We added a foldout couch and a card table. We used an Ikea counter for our “kitchen” counter. I had used it for my darkroom when we lived in Sweden. I cut a hole in it for a sink which drains into a bucket on the floor. We added a microwave and a mini-refrigerator. I forgot to mention that we had electricity and telephone before I put the wallboard up. We stuck a portable toilet in one corner.
At some point, I built an outhouse. We can even use it in the winter in “comfort” with a small heater screwed onto a 20-lb propane tank. Last year I installed a solar shed light.
The same year we moved to Duluth we had a well dug. It’s only twenty feet deep, but the water was so nice to have. Then came the drought years and we were back to hauling water.
We built an 8x12 sauna with the help of some friends. A battery and a solar panel provide lighting.
Other buildings include a ramshackle woodshed built out of scrap lumber and a metal shed where we store our power equipment. I wish I hadn’t been stingy on the cost. I’m constantly bumping my head on the low ceiling.
A recent plus is that we have better internet service. From 25Kbps (that’s right, K not M) with a landline to sometimes 10Mbps with cellular. As this is off my cellphone contract with Consumer Cellular, my guess is that I’m paying about a third for phone and internet at the cabin than I was for the landline.
One big project I would like to do is get rid of all the “Toimi sand”. Toimi is the neighboring township and the sand grains are from fist-size to boulders to climb onto. This area is also called Kivi Country, kivi being Finnish for stone. I would really like to get rid of many of them because those that stick up only an inch or two are lawnmower busters. Even bigger ones make it hard to pull a cart over.
Two years ago I really hurt one shoulder using a ten-pound hammer on a 4x3x2 boulder to no avail other than chips flying all over. I wonder if a small electric jackhammer would work. Probably I couldn’t take the strain.
Well, I better wrap this up. It looks like 30% chance of thunderstorms getting closer. There are more clouds, some even dark, in the sky and the wind is getting stronger. I hope I can cut the grass on at least one short path. Oh well, if the rain comes, I still have many books to read and last week’s Reader Weekly.
Mel did get more than one path cut, edited this, and sent it. The rain still hadn’t come.
This was also published in the 2014-07-10 issue of the Reader Weekly at http://duluthreader.com/articles/2014/07/10/3701_summer_idyll_or_sweat_farm.
The weather forecast was for 30% chance of thunderstorms, but I am going by my own weather “advisory”. If bad weather is predicted, there is often a bigger chance that the weather will be just fine. This is one of those “just fine” days.
We are here on a too infrequent four-day weekend. Even though it is the weekend of the Fourth of July, there are surprisingly few neighbors around. The only thing we heard from neighbors who often shoot off fireworks was some late evening hooting. Maybe they were watching a soccer match on TV. Somebody was shooting yesterday in the woods, hopefully not on our land. The only person who I think might have had access to that area is already gone.
“Don’t make it a sweat farm” was from Bruce Berggren, a DNR forester, who gave us a stewardship plan in the early Nineties. I don’t remember if we had more than a dome tent, a picnic table, and a tarp then. We weren’t doing more than cutting brush to expand our “living area” and to make room for planting trees.
Now we have a “yard” that is three times as big as our yard in Duluth and three loops of trails with some side paths. But, because we found much to occupy ourselves in Duluth, two of the loops and the side paths have grown over. On the other hand, the “yard” seems to be getting bigger.
Our first major “expansion” was to put cots in our dome tent. Oh! We had so much more room. We could put our packs and coolers under the cots.
Our first building was an 8x8 shed that I built probably within our second year here. We moved our cots into it. Oh! We had so much room. We could even dress standing up. We could even put a propane heater in it and stay overnight in the winter. With each stay, it seemed more and more space was taken up with tools.
A couple years later, I built a cabin with some assistance from others. We decided that a nominal 12x16 should be sufficient for our needs until we built a house here. When I first put in a cot, Oh! We had so much room. Over the years, we have added more and more. Before the second winter we had a wood stove. We added a foldout couch and a card table. We used an Ikea counter for our “kitchen” counter. I had used it for my darkroom when we lived in Sweden. I cut a hole in it for a sink which drains into a bucket on the floor. We added a microwave and a mini-refrigerator. I forgot to mention that we had electricity and telephone before I put the wallboard up. We stuck a portable toilet in one corner.
At some point, I built an outhouse. We can even use it in the winter in “comfort” with a small heater screwed onto a 20-lb propane tank. Last year I installed a solar shed light.
The same year we moved to Duluth we had a well dug. It’s only twenty feet deep, but the water was so nice to have. Then came the drought years and we were back to hauling water.
We built an 8x12 sauna with the help of some friends. A battery and a solar panel provide lighting.
Other buildings include a ramshackle woodshed built out of scrap lumber and a metal shed where we store our power equipment. I wish I hadn’t been stingy on the cost. I’m constantly bumping my head on the low ceiling.
A recent plus is that we have better internet service. From 25Kbps (that’s right, K not M) with a landline to sometimes 10Mbps with cellular. As this is off my cellphone contract with Consumer Cellular, my guess is that I’m paying about a third for phone and internet at the cabin than I was for the landline.
One big project I would like to do is get rid of all the “Toimi sand”. Toimi is the neighboring township and the sand grains are from fist-size to boulders to climb onto. This area is also called Kivi Country, kivi being Finnish for stone. I would really like to get rid of many of them because those that stick up only an inch or two are lawnmower busters. Even bigger ones make it hard to pull a cart over.
Two years ago I really hurt one shoulder using a ten-pound hammer on a 4x3x2 boulder to no avail other than chips flying all over. I wonder if a small electric jackhammer would work. Probably I couldn’t take the strain.
Well, I better wrap this up. It looks like 30% chance of thunderstorms getting closer. There are more clouds, some even dark, in the sky and the wind is getting stronger. I hope I can cut the grass on at least one short path. Oh well, if the rain comes, I still have many books to read and last week’s Reader Weekly.
Mel did get more than one path cut, edited this, and sent it. The rain still hadn’t come.
This was also published in the 2014-07-10 issue of the Reader Weekly at http://duluthreader.com/articles/2014/07/10/3701_summer_idyll_or_sweat_farm.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Bear with me as I am mad and sad
I went to our cabin last Thursday intending to stay through Sunday, trying to catch up on all kinds of undone tasks, including lots of un-mowed trails. Although thunderstorms were predicted, I followed my old habits of weather prediction interpretation. If good weather is predicted for the day, then the weather will be good. If bad weather is predicted, then the weather may not be as bad as predicted.
My assumptions proved warranted. I had gray weather but very little rain. The grass was too wet to mow mostly because of dew, but I did set to on many other tasks.
No, I don’t make our cabin a sweat farm as a DNR forester warned us years ago. My preferred rhythm is an hour of some wood cutting, brush clearing, or whatever and then an hour of reading, playing SuDoKu, or browsing the web.
My wife didn’t join me partly because she wasn’t so optimistic about the weather and partly because she had a long list of activities she wanted to do in Duluth. Also we did have a guest but we often let the guest take care of himself.
Well, it was a good thing my wife stayed behind. The guest managed to clog the toilet and left for his planned activity. My wife tried the hot water treatment, the plunger treatment, and the snake treatment. Nothing worked to unblock the toilet.
When she called me to report this, I decided I should come back to Duluth to help her. One hour later I was home.
I tried the snake and could not get it in as far as I knew it should go. Then I pushed the snake while my wife turned the handle. Success! We cleared it!
My feeling that I had to come back to Duluth was my first “mad” of the day.
I headed back to Brimson. I declined making coffee at home and opted to get some at Bixby’s. I had to wait a bit, chatted with the barista, and was on my way.
As had been true most of the last part of the week, Duluth was foggy, but from Glenwood and north it was clear. I turned off Jean Duluth Road and proceeded east on Hwy 44. I passed the marsh and drove among the trees where it was darker.
Then a black shape came from the right. It was a black bear that walked right into my car which slammed into its head. I stopped as quickly as I could. Looking behind me, I saw the bear lying of the side of the road, its head over the solid white line.
I called 911 with a non-emergency call. I reported the incident and was transferred to the state highway patrol. The state dispatcher said the DNR would be notified.
Several people stopped to ask if I was OK. I said I was fine and that authorities had been be notified. Some said the bear was still alive and that I should stay away from it. One man said he could get his gun and shoot the bear.
Finally I inspected the damage. There was a small triangular break in the front bumper and a piece of trim was hanging down to the road on one side. Later I found that the wheel well plastic was loose and the right side of the bumper was loose.
I walked back to the bear, probably about two hundred pounds and three to four years old. It was breathing with great quick heaves.
I walked back to my car and picked up lots of pieces of auto debris. These can’t all be mine! Many were in shapes I didn’t recognize. There must have been previous crashes here.
A sheriff’s deputy pulled up by the bear and I walked back. He checked my auto license on his computer and asked for other details. He gave me a case number for insurance purposes.
I walked back to my car and got out some tools to get the hanging trim off. While I was doing this, I heard “crack”. The deputy shot the bear.
This was both a mad and sad event. I was mad that it had even occurred and I was sad for the bear.
Finally, I called my insurance company while all the details were fresh in my memory.
As I drove off, I got mad again. The sun was out and I had missed some good working and loafing time at the cabin.
Sunday the prediction for Brimson was more thunderstorms. Fortunately, that didn’t deter my wife from joining me. The weather was a mix of clear and cloudy with only a brief bit of pitter-patter when I was reading in the screen tent. I got lots of grass mowed and she picked rhubarb for next week’s Rhubarb Festival.
On the way back I noticed how dark the area of the incident was compared to the marsh area to the west.
I also had another mad. Three drivers behind me didn’t want to go the speed limit and were bunched up behind me, the first car being three or four car-lengths behind me. If this same group had been behind me when I had stopped for the bear, I would have had rear-end damage as well as front-end damage.
Mel's first Reader article was "Bear Stories", published in the September 30, 1999 Northland Reader..
The current article was also published in the Reader Weekly, June 26, 2014 at http://duluthreader.com/articles/2014/06/26/3622_bear_with_me_as_i_am_mad_and_sad.
My assumptions proved warranted. I had gray weather but very little rain. The grass was too wet to mow mostly because of dew, but I did set to on many other tasks.
No, I don’t make our cabin a sweat farm as a DNR forester warned us years ago. My preferred rhythm is an hour of some wood cutting, brush clearing, or whatever and then an hour of reading, playing SuDoKu, or browsing the web.
My wife didn’t join me partly because she wasn’t so optimistic about the weather and partly because she had a long list of activities she wanted to do in Duluth. Also we did have a guest but we often let the guest take care of himself.
Well, it was a good thing my wife stayed behind. The guest managed to clog the toilet and left for his planned activity. My wife tried the hot water treatment, the plunger treatment, and the snake treatment. Nothing worked to unblock the toilet.
When she called me to report this, I decided I should come back to Duluth to help her. One hour later I was home.
I tried the snake and could not get it in as far as I knew it should go. Then I pushed the snake while my wife turned the handle. Success! We cleared it!
My feeling that I had to come back to Duluth was my first “mad” of the day.
I headed back to Brimson. I declined making coffee at home and opted to get some at Bixby’s. I had to wait a bit, chatted with the barista, and was on my way.
As had been true most of the last part of the week, Duluth was foggy, but from Glenwood and north it was clear. I turned off Jean Duluth Road and proceeded east on Hwy 44. I passed the marsh and drove among the trees where it was darker.
Then a black shape came from the right. It was a black bear that walked right into my car which slammed into its head. I stopped as quickly as I could. Looking behind me, I saw the bear lying of the side of the road, its head over the solid white line.
I called 911 with a non-emergency call. I reported the incident and was transferred to the state highway patrol. The state dispatcher said the DNR would be notified.
Several people stopped to ask if I was OK. I said I was fine and that authorities had been be notified. Some said the bear was still alive and that I should stay away from it. One man said he could get his gun and shoot the bear.
Finally I inspected the damage. There was a small triangular break in the front bumper and a piece of trim was hanging down to the road on one side. Later I found that the wheel well plastic was loose and the right side of the bumper was loose.
I walked back to the bear, probably about two hundred pounds and three to four years old. It was breathing with great quick heaves.
I walked back to my car and picked up lots of pieces of auto debris. These can’t all be mine! Many were in shapes I didn’t recognize. There must have been previous crashes here.
A sheriff’s deputy pulled up by the bear and I walked back. He checked my auto license on his computer and asked for other details. He gave me a case number for insurance purposes.
I walked back to my car and got out some tools to get the hanging trim off. While I was doing this, I heard “crack”. The deputy shot the bear.
This was both a mad and sad event. I was mad that it had even occurred and I was sad for the bear.
Finally, I called my insurance company while all the details were fresh in my memory.
As I drove off, I got mad again. The sun was out and I had missed some good working and loafing time at the cabin.
Sunday the prediction for Brimson was more thunderstorms. Fortunately, that didn’t deter my wife from joining me. The weather was a mix of clear and cloudy with only a brief bit of pitter-patter when I was reading in the screen tent. I got lots of grass mowed and she picked rhubarb for next week’s Rhubarb Festival.
On the way back I noticed how dark the area of the incident was compared to the marsh area to the west.
I also had another mad. Three drivers behind me didn’t want to go the speed limit and were bunched up behind me, the first car being three or four car-lengths behind me. If this same group had been behind me when I had stopped for the bear, I would have had rear-end damage as well as front-end damage.
Mel's first Reader article was "Bear Stories", published in the September 30, 1999 Northland Reader..
The current article was also published in the Reader Weekly, June 26, 2014 at http://duluthreader.com/articles/2014/06/26/3622_bear_with_me_as_i_am_mad_and_sad.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Where have all the great white pines gone? Part 2
All the great white pines have not been lost. There are those in The Pinery on St. Louis County Rd. 2, several miles north of Two Harbors MN. They are estimated to have started growing in George Washington's time. They are beat by The Big White Pine in Itasca State Park; it is over 300 years old.
You can't go a few hundred feet without seeing one or more downed trees, from four inches to two feet in diameter. Many that blocked roads or paths have been cut up, but there are many more that can be seen. Will they be left for the woodpeckers and for nutrients for new trees or will they be removed? Probably the former because of the amount of work to remove them.
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